Curtain

'Well, I suppose I ought to be going to see about Mrs Franklin's malted milk.'

She moved away slowly and Boyd Carrington stood looking after her.

'Good-looking girl,' he remarked. 'Lovely hair and teeth. Fine specimen of womanhood. Must be a dull life on the whole always looking after sick people. A girl like that deserves a better fate.'

'Oh, well,' I said. 'I suppose she'll marry one day.'

'I expect so.'

He sighed – and it occurred to me that he was thinking of his dead wife. Then he said:

'Like to come over with me to Knatton and see the place?'

'Rather. I'd like to. I'll just see first if Poirot needs me.'

I found Poirot sitting on the verandah, well muffled up. He encouraged me to go.

'But certainly go, Hastings, go. It is, I believe, a most handsome property. You should certainly see it.'

'I'd like to. But I didn't want to desert you.'

'My faithful friend! No, no, go with Sir William. A charming man, is he not?'

'First class,' I said with enthusiasm,

Poirot smiled.

'Ah yes. I thought he was your type.'

III

I enjoyed my expedition enormously.

Not only was the weather fine – a really lovely summer's day – but I enjoyed the companionship of the man.

Boyd Carrington had that personal magnetism, that wide experience of life and of places that made him excellent company. He told me stories of his administrative days in India, some intriguing details of East African tribal lore and was altogether so interesting that I was quite taken out of myself and forgot my worries about Judith and the deep anxieties that Poirot's revelations had given me.

I liked, too, the way Boyd Carrington spoke of my friend. He had a deep respect for him – both for his work and his character. Sad though Poirot's present condition of ill health was, Boyd Carrington uttered no facile words of pity. He seemed to think that a lifetime spent as Poirot's had been was in itself a rich reward and that in his memories my friend could find satisfaction and self-respect.

'Moreover,' he said, 'I'd wager his brain is as keen as ever it was.'

'It is; indeed it is,' I assented eagerly.

'No greater mistake than to think that because a man's tied by the leg it affects his brain pan. Not a bit of it. Anno Domini affects headwork much less than you'd think. By Jove, I wouldn't care to undertake to commit a murder under Hercule Poirot's nose – even at this time of day.'

'He'd get you if you did,' I said, grinning.

'I bet he would. Not,' he added ruefully, 'that I should be much good at doing a murder anyway. I can't plan things, you know. Too impatient. If I did a murder, it would be done on the spur of the moment.'

'That might be the most difficult crime to spot.'

'I hardly think so. I'd probably leave clues trailing along behind me in every direction. Well, it's lucky I haven't got a criminal mind. Only kind of man I can imagine myself killing is a blackmailer. That is a foul thing, if you like. I've always thought a blackmailer ought to be shot. What do you say?'

I confessed to some sympathy with his point of view.

Then we passed on to an examination of the work done on the house as a young architect came forward to meet us.

Knatton was mainly of Tudor date with a wing added later. It had not been modernized or altered since the installation of two primitive bathrooms in the eighteen-forties or thereabouts.

Boyd Carrington explained that his uncle had been more or less of a hermit, disliking people and living in a corner of the vast house. Boyd Carrington and his brother had been tolerated, and had spent their holidays there as schoolboys before Sir Everard had become as much of a recluse as he afterwards became.

The old man had never married, and had spent only a tenth of his large income, so that even after death duties had been paid, the present baronet had found himself a very rich man.

'But a very lonely one.' he said, sighing.

I was silent. My sympathy was too acute to be put into words. For I, too, was a lonely man. Since Cinders had died, I felt myself to be only half a human being.

Presently, a little haltingly, I expressed a little of what I felt.

'Ah yes, Hastings, but you've had something I never had.'

He paused a moment and then – rather jerkily he gave me an outline of his own tragedy.

Of the beautiful young wife, a lovely creature full of charm and accomplishments but with a tainted heritage. Her family had nearly all died of drink, and she herself fell a victim to the same curse. Barely a year after their marriage she had succumbed and had died a dipsomaniac's death. He did not blame her. He realized that heredity had been too strong for her.

After her death he had settled down to lead a lonely life. He had determined, saddened by his experience, not to marry again.

'One feels,' he said simply, 'safer alone.'

'Yes, I can understand your feeling like that – at any rate at first.'

'The whole thing was such a tragedy. It left me prematurely aged and embittered.' He paused. 'It's true – I was once very much tempted. But she was so young – I didn't feel it would be fair to tie her to a disillusioned man. I was too old for her – she was such a child – so pretty – so completely untouched.'

He broke off, shaking his head.

'Wasn't that for her to judge?'

'I don't know, Hastings. I thought not. She – she seemed to like me. But then, as I say, she was so young. I shall always remember her as I saw her the last day of that leave. Her head a little on one side – that slightly bewildered look – her little hand -'

He stopped. The words conjured up a picture that seemed vaguely familiar, though I could not think why.

Boyd Carrington's voice, suddenly harsh, broke into my thoughts.

'I was a fool,' he said. 'Any man is a fool who lets opportunity slip by him. Anyway, here I am, with a great mansion of a house far too big for me, and no gracious presence to sit at the head of my table.'

To me there was a charm in his slightly old-fashioned way of putting things. It conjured up a picture of old- world charm and ease.

'Where is the lady now?' I asked.

'Oh – married.' He turned it off briefly. 'Fact is, Hastings, I'm cut out now for a bachelor existence. I've got my little ways. Come and look at the gardens. They've been badly neglected, but they're very fine in their way.'

We walked round the place and I was much impressed with all I saw. Knatton was undoubtedly a very fine estate and I did not wonder that Boyd Carrington was proud of it. He knew the neighbourhood well and most of the people roundabout, though of course there had been newcomers since his time.

He had known Colonel Luttrell in the old days and expressed his earnest hope that the Styles venture was going to pay.

'Poor old Toby Luttrell's very hard up, you know,' he said. 'Nice fellow. Good soldier too and a very fine shot. Went on safari with him in Africa once. Ah, those were the days! He was married then, of course, but his missus didn't come along, thank goodness. Pretty woman she was – but always a bit of a Tartar. Funny the things a man will stand from a woman. Old Toby Luttrell who used to make subalterns shake in their shoes, he was such a stern martinet! And there he is, henpecked and bullied and meek as they make 'em! No doubt about it, that woman's got a tongue like vinegar. Still, she's got a head on her. If anyone can make the place pay, she will. Luttrell never had much of a head for business – but Mrs Toby would skin her grandmother!'