“Thank you, dear,” said Edwina, reaching for a handkerchief in her handbag. She dabbed her eyes. “Excuse me, this is really very silly of me. It’s just rather a lot to take in all at once. Mark, too?”
“I’m sorry,” Banks said. “You liked him?”
She put her handkerchief away, took a sip of gin and tonic and reached for another cigarette. “Very much,” she said. “And he was 5 8 P E T E R
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good for Laurence. I know their backgrounds were very different, but they had so much in common, nonetheless.”
“The theater?”
“I like to think Laurence got some of his love for the theater from me. If it hadn’t been for the rag trade, you know, I might have become an actress. God knows, he spent hours hanging about backstage with me at various theaters.”
“So Laurence was interested in the theater?”
“Very much so. That’s where they met. He and Mark. Didn’t you know?”
“I know very little,” said Banks. “Please tell me.”
“I visited Laurence just before Christmas, and he took me to the theater here. It’s very quaint.”
“I know it,” said Banks.
“They were doing a panto.
“Did you see much of them after that?”
“Every time I visited. And they came to see me in Longborough, of course. It’s so lovely in the Cotswolds. I do wish they could have enjoyed summer there.” She took out her handkerchief again. “Silly me.
Getting all sentimental.” She sniffed, gave a little shudder and sat up as upright as she could. “I wouldn’t mind another drink.”
This time Annie went and came back with another round.
“How would you characterize their relationship?” Banks asked when Edwina had a fresh drink before her.
“I’d say they were in love and they wanted to make a go of it, but they moved cautiously. You have to remember that Laurence was sixty-two and Mark was forty-six. They’d both been through painful relationships and split-ups before. Strong as their feelings were for one another, they weren’t going to jump into something without thinking.”
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5 9
“Mark hung on to his f lat,” Banks said, “yet it seemed they were practically living together at Castleview. Is that the kind of thing you mean?”
“Exactly. I imagine he would eventually have given it up and moved in with Laurence completely, but they were progressing slowly.
Besides, Laurence has a pied-a-terre in Bloomsbury, so I should imagine Mark didn’t want to feel left out in that department.”
“Was he competitive?”
“He came from nowhere,” Edwina said, “and he was ambitious.
Yes, I’d say he was competitive, and perhaps material things meant more to him than they do to some people. Symbols of how far he’d come. But it didn’t stop him from being a wonderful, generous person.”
“You mentioned a pied-a-terre. Would Mark have stayed there, too, when he was in London?”
“I can’t see why not.”
“Would you give me the address?”
Edwina gave him an address near Russell Square. “It really is very tiny,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine the two of them staying there together. It would drive any couple crazy. But if you’re alone, it’s perfect.”
“Did you ever sense any tension between them? Any problems? Did they argue? Fight?”
“Nothing that stands out,” said Edwina. “No more than any other couple. Actually, they laughed a lot.” She paused. “Why? You’re not . . . ?
Surely you can’t . . . ?”
“We’re not really suggesting anything yet, Mrs. Silbert,” Annie said quickly. “We don’t know what happened. That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
“But that you can even believe there’s a possibility of Mark’s . . . of Mark’s doing something like that.”
“I’m afraid it
“Hindswell? Oh my God, no. Oh, Mark. That was their favorite 6 0 P E T E R
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