costs were borne by Mr Rutson of Newby Wiske, but a handsome donation to erect a stone cross in the churchyard came from my good friend, Colonel Tarleton. Is that not so?’
‘Yes, it is, but I regard that as irrelevant.’
‘He worshipped regularly in your church.’
‘All the more reason for him to set a good example to the rest of my flock,’ said the rector. ‘Instead of that, he causes distress in the mind of every true Christian by his abominable act.’
‘Is suicide always abominable?’ asked Colbeck.
‘It’s abominable and unforgivable.’
‘Then I’m surprised that you haven’t been to Westminster Abbey to open the tomb of Viscount Castlereagh. He slit his own throat with a letter opener yet he was given a Christian burial there. He was a peer of the realm and held some of the highest offices of state. Would you have him disinterred so that he could lie beneath a public highway with a stake through his body?’
‘That was a different case,’ said Skelton, irritably, ‘and bears no parallel to this one. Viscount Castlereagh, poor man, committed suicide in a fit of madness. That’s an extenuating factor.’
‘Could it not also be an extenuating factor here?’
‘No,’ Tallis interjected. ‘Colonel Tarleton was as sane as I am.’
‘My wife can bear witness to that,’ asserted the rector. ‘She actually met him when he was on his way to commit the vile act. In fact, she may have been one of the last people to see him alive. That thought has troubled her beyond measure.’
‘What exactly happened?’
‘He strolled through the village as if on one of his normal perambulations. He raised his hat to my wife and smiled at her. In short, he behaved as he would always have done and that, I may tell you, is my definition of sanity.’
‘The inquest may decide otherwise,’ said Colbeck.
‘Not when Mrs Skelton gives her evidence.’
‘The coroner will not reach a verdict on the basis of a brief encounter in the village with a single individual. Testimony will be taken from everyone who saw Colonel Tarleton that day. And whatever the outcome, his right to be buried in consecrated ground remains.’
‘I intend to enforce that right,’ cautioned Tallis.
‘You can do as you wish,’ said the rector, ‘but I repeat what I came here to inform you. No suicide will lie within the precincts of my churchyard. Law or no law, I’ll not let it be corrupted.’
Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and swept out of the room, brushing back his luxuriant hair before putting on his hat. Tallis was fuming. Colbeck sought to reassure him.
‘Nobody can deny him the right of burial, sir,’ he said.
‘He’ll have that right,’ said Tallis, hotly, ‘even if I have to dig the grave with my own bare hands.’
‘I appreciate your feelings but you can’t usurp the privileges of the children. They are his heirs, Superintendent. We must bow to their wishes. It’s up to them to make the funeral arrangements.’
Wearing mourning attire and with her face hidden behind a black veil, Eve Doel embraced Mrs Withers with an amalgam of fondness and grief. They wept copiously on each other’s shoulders. Adam Tarleton, meanwhile, supervised the driver who was unloading their luggage before carrying it into the house. When that was done, the man collected his fare, tugged his forelock in gratitude then climbed back up on the seat of his carriage. As the vehicle rumbled away, Tarleton looked with disapproval at the two women.
‘That’s enough of that,’ he said, brusquely. ‘We can’t stand out here all day.’
‘No, no, of course not,’ said Mrs Withers, disentangling herself and dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. ‘Welcome back, sir. It’s been a long time since we saw you.’
‘It’s been far too long.’
‘Do come inside.’
She stood back to let the brother and sister go into the house. Waiting in the hall was a tremulous Lottie Pearl, her mother’s black dress looking baggier than ever. Not knowing whether to speak or to curtsey, she opted for a nervous smile that neither of them even saw. Ignoring her completely, they went through to the drawing room. The housekeeper followed and took a close look at them. Eve Doel had been there during the search for her mother but Adam had not been to the house for a long time.
Dark-haired and elfin-faced, Eve was still the same petite beauty as ever. Two children had robbed her of none of the bloom that came into view as she removed her hat. Her brother, on the other hand, was showing even more obvious signs of dissipation. He was of medium height with a sallow complexion and with dark bags beneath his watery eyes. At thirty, he was four years younger than his sister but he looked much older. He, too, was in full mourning wear, sweeping off his top hat as if it were an imposition and handing it to Mrs Withers.
‘It’s been a long journey,’ he said. ‘We’ll need refreshments.’
‘I’ll see to it at once, sir,’ said Mrs Withers.
‘I’d have been here earlier,’ explained Eve, ‘but my husband is abroad at the moment and I had to wait for Adam to come for me.’
‘I’m so sorry that this has happened, Mrs Doel.’
‘When I read your letter, I was in despair.’
‘So are we all.’
‘Everyone has to die sooner or later,’ remarked Tarleton.
‘Adam!’ reproved his sister.
‘Well, it’s true. I’d have preferred it to have been by natural means, of course, but he had other ideas and he’s left us to face the scandal. That was typical of him.’
‘I dispute that, sir,’ said Mrs Withers, loyally.
‘I thought you were fetching refreshments.’
‘Colonel Tarleton always tried to spare people any trouble. He was a very considerate man.’
‘We can do without your opinion, thank you.’
‘Excuse me.’ Hurt by his manner, the housekeeper went out.
‘There’s no need to be so rude to her, Adam.’
‘I hate the way that she dithers.’
‘She’s served the family faithfully and she’s as distressed as any of us over what happened to Father.’
‘He was never my father, Eve.’
‘That was your fault. You never accepted him.’
‘He kept badgering me to go into the army. Why? I loathed the very idea. If I’d been stupid enough to agree, I’d probably be in the Crimea right now getting shot at by those bloodthirsty Russians.’
‘At least you’d have done something honourable.’
‘We can’t all marry and have children the way that you did. I value my freedom and our so-called father let me have very little of that in this house. I’ll not weep for him.’
‘That’s a terrible thing to say.’
‘I’m only being honest, Eve. I never understood why Mother consented to marry him in the first place and I still think that he had something to do with her disappearance.’
‘Adam! You can’t believe that, surely?’
‘I’d believe anything of him.’
‘You’re so cruel,’ she said, holding back tears. ‘He was mortified when Mother went missing. You should read the letter he sent me about it. He said that it was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He was paralysed with fear.’
‘Yes, he was afraid that the truth would come out.’
‘I won’t let you sneer at him like this.’
‘I’m not sneering, Eve. I simply don’t see the point of being a hypocrite. He and I never saw eye to eye. Why pretend to mourn his passing when I’m glad that he’s gone?’
She was stunned. ‘You’re actually glad that he died in such a dreadful way? How can you be so callous? If that’s how you feel, why did you bother to come here today?’
‘I came for Mother’s sake,’ he replied. ‘I want to find out exactly what happened to her. Since we must accept that, after all this time, she’s dead, I’ll admit that something else brought me here as well.’
