bribed a fisherman to take her across to Falmouth...At least there would be no trouble with Immigration Officials. She was a British subject born and bred...But the problem was never to be resolved.
As she drove into the courtyard and saw the ambulance, her mind switched to the terrible possibility that one of the visitors had gone down with food poisoning. Those mushrooms she had used in the coq au vin...She got out and hurried into the hall and was stopped by Dr Grenoy.
'What has happened?' she asked.
'I can't explain here,' said Grenoy, hustling her into the dining room and shutting the door. 'They've found you. A man with a gun was here during the night looking for you.'
The Countess sat down. She felt sick. 'For me?'
'He demanded of the guests where you were. He asked specifically for the Countess.'
'But no one knows. Except you and Marie-Louise and some of the servants,' she said. 'This is all your fault. They must have traced me through you and your stupid enquiries in the States.'
'I didn't make enquiries myself. I hired a detective. He didn't know who I was.'
'He knew you were French. And doubtless you paid him by cheque.'
'I paid in cash. I am not indiscreet. You think I wanted my wife's family to be known to be involved with such people? I have my reputation to consider.'
'And I've got my life.'
'Exactly,' said Dr Grenoy, 'You must leave here at once. Go to Paris. Go anywhere. This affair could become a national scandal. Professor Botwyk has already had to be rescued from the river and the Russian delegate and the dreadful Englishman, Hodgson, were both assaulted. Not to mention other most unpleasant events concerning the wife of Mr Rutherby and Mr Coombe. The situation is extremely awkward.'
Deirdre smiled. It had occurred to her that there was another explanation. They wanted her out of the Chateau and she had no intention of leaving except in her own good time. 'Dr Grenoy,' she said, 'with your influence I am sure I shall be well protected. In the meantime, no one knows who I am and, if what you say is correct, no one need know. I shall speak to the servants. You need have no worry. I can take care of myself.'
She went down to the kitchen and found Dr Voisin gleefully helping himself to coffee from the pot on the stove. 'Ah, madame la Comtesse,' he said, 'my illusions of a lifetime have been destroyed. I had always believed that French women, my dear wife in particular, were the most possessive in the world. But now I know better. Madame Voisin, and I thank the good God for it, is only interested in possessing material things. True, one may count the male organ as material, though for myself I prefer a more personalistic approach. Monsieur Coombe shares my prejudice. But Madame Rutherby...what a woman! Passion and possessiveness to that degree are fortunately beyond my experience. And one speaks of women's liberation...'
'What on earth are you talking about?' asked the Countess, when she could get a word in. 'I understood a gunman was here...' She stopped. The less said about the purpose of his visit the better.
'The English,' continued Dr Voisin. 'An amazing species. One cannot designate them as a race. And one would not describe Madame Rutherby as a particularly desirable woman. It is all a mystery. And finally to find that the American has been rescued by an English eccentric with one eye who claims to be on a walking tour in the middle of the night, no, that is not explicable either. And when I offered him a sedative it was as though I was trying to poison him.'
'An Englishman with one eye rescued Mr Botwyk? Did he give his name?'
'I think he said Pringle. It was difficult to tell, he was in such an agitated state. And how the American came to be at the foot of the cliff is another mystery. But I must be off. I have my other patients to think of if I can bring my thoughts to bear on anything except the English.'
