There was a silence.
Then Newth cleared his throat. “I have told her Ladyship what you told me – that you’ve been to see Mr Chiddham.”
“May I ask,” Lady Ridgleigh drawled, “why you did that? Perhaps it will explain why I’ve been summoned here in this rather melodramatic manner.”
“I was interested in what had happened to Mrs Selsby’s jewels. And what had happened to your jewels before that.”
“Ah.” Any hope there might have been in Lady Ridgleigh’s voice had gone from that monosyllable. “So now I assume you know what happened to them?”
“I think so.”
“Tell me, then. I’ll let you know whether your speculation is correct or not.” Lady Ridgleigh sounded reproving; there was in her voice the tone that the Queen might be expected to use to a Commonwealth leader who has just announced his intention of leaving the Commonwealth.
“Well, the way I see it is this…” Mrs Pargeter began comfortably. “After your husband’s death, you found that you were very financially embarrassed. You told me once that he had lost all your money, but I still think you were shocked by quite how much he had lost.
“Still, a lot of widows have found themselves in that position, and what most of them have to do is just swallow their pride and settle down to managing on a smaller income…effectively they have to cut their standard of living. To do that was very hard for you. You’d always had large houses, servants…To admit you could no longer maintain that style of life was a bitter pill for you to swallow.”
“Yes, but I did it,” said Lady Ridgleigh with some asperity. “Do you think, when I was a young gel, I expected to end my life somewhere like the Devereux Hotel?”
Mrs Pargeter would have liked Miss Naismith to hear the contempt that was put into those last two words. Gentility was one thing, but aristocracy something else. To Lady Ridgleigh, living at the Devereux was definitely slumming.
“Yes, all right, you cut down your standard of living. You sold the house, houses maybe.”
“Not worth anything, though. Froggie had mortgaged them all to the hilt.” There was still a hint of pride when she spoke of her late husband’s improvidence.
“Yes, you remained hard up. Even living here. And then of course you had…other expenses.”
There was a long silence. Mrs Pargeter could sense the intensity with which Newth was looking at her. It was a disorienting, uncomfortable feeling.
“What do you mean by ‘other expenses’?” Lady Ridgleigh asked finally.
“I mean your son.”
“What do you know about Miles? You’ve hardly met him.”
“I don’t know a great deal. Just that he takes after his father where money’s concerned.”
“So? What’s wrong with that? God, I wouldn’t want to spawn some penny-pinching little wage-slave. Miles knows his place in society and he enjoys himself. If you can’t have a good time when you’re young, what’s the point of life?”
“Miles is thirty-six,” said Mrs Pargeter softly.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just that he’s a bit old to be behaving like a deb’s delight. Isn’t it about time he got a job?”
“He hasn’t found anything suitable,” Lady Ridgleigh replied, dismissing the subject.
“Well, I would think he’s a bit old still to be sponging on his mother…”
Lady Ridgleigh flared up. “How dare you use that word in connection with my son! What business is it of yours how he behaves? And what business of yours is it if I choose to…help him a little with his expenses?”
“Not my business at all.”
“Exactly. Thank you. I happen to believe that someone of his age shouldn’t have to worry about money. In fact, I don’t think anyone should have to. Worrying about money is demeaning, depressing, and unutterably vulgar!”
“I agree. The fact remains that a large percentage of the population spend most of their time worrying about it.”
“Which is exactly why I have always been determined that Miles shouldn’t!”
“Even if it means committing criminal acts to keep him in funds?”
“Criminal acts? What on earth are you talking about?”
“We’re back to Desmond Chiddham.”
“I don’t know Mr Chiddham personally. I have done business with him, but I’m afraid if he is a criminal, I can hardly see that it’s my responsibility.”
“No. How did you hear about his service?”
“Through a friend,” came the huffy reply. “A friend, who had experienced similar embarrassments, recommended him.”
“And the idea was that you should send him the Ridgleigh family jewels, he should replace the stones with replicas, sell the original stones for you and pay you the profit?”
“That, I believe, was the arrangement.”
“You didn’t ask him to remake any of the settings in cheaper metals?”
“Good heavens, no. The idea was that the jewellery should look as much as possible as it had before.”
“But it didn’t, did it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It didn’t look good enough to meet with your high standards, did it? Which is why you never wore it once it had been altered…why you continued to wear your one remaining genuine necklace, your pearls, all the time…even with clothes for which they were inappropriate.”
“Yes. Very well. That’s true.”
“But the jewels were good enough to maintain your image of wealth with someone like Miss Naismith. Which is why, although they are virtually worthless, you still keep them in the safe in the Office.”
“That may be true, but I don’t see how it’s relevant.” Lady Ridgleigh was at her haughtiest. “And I would now like you to substantiate your accusations that I have been guilty of criminal acts.”
“First, I want you to tell me how Newth came to be involved in your dealings with Desmond Chiddham.”
“I could hardly be expected to handle the transactions myself, could I?” She spoke as if this idea were totally incongruous. “Obviously, when I was living in the big house, I would have had a member of staff to do that sort of thing for me. Here…well, there was no one else, so I asked Newth if he would help me, and he was good enough to oblige.”
“And what was the deal with him?”
“I’m sorry. I’m afraid I don’t understand that expression.”
“Presumably you wanted discretion. How much did you pay Newth for his silence?”
Lady Ridgleigh’s reply was tinged with distaste at the idea of speaking so nakedly of money. “Newth was paid a ten-per-cent handling fee.”
“Right,” said Mrs Pargeter. “So what happened when the jewellery ran out?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“When you had sold off all the stones from all the valuable pieces you possessed, what did you do?”
The bony shoulders shrugged in the half-light. “Well, what could I do? I sold a few shares. I tried to cut down on my expenses – gave up drinking alcohol and so on. And I kept putting off the moment when I would have to sell the pearls. But I feared that moment had finally come – until this week.”
“This week?”
“The happy news of Mrs Selsby’s bequests to all of the people living here at the Devereux.”
“Oh yes. Of course. A very welcome lifeline.”
“Indeed.”
“So…since her name’s come up – what about Mrs Selsby’s jewels?”
Lady Ridgleigh looked blank. “Well, they were stolen, weren’t they? I don’t think Mrs Selsby’s jewels have anything to do with me.”
“No, I don’t think they have,” said Mrs Pargeter slowly, and turned in her chair to face Newth.
