‘I did, and received two very tired pilchards in exchange.’
‘I was saying,’ said Miss Crimp, ignoring Sebastian and again addressing his father, ‘that, if anything had happened to Eliza, I should have heard.’
‘What report did you receive from the people at the farm?’
‘What people at what farm?’
‘I understood that you had asked them to cross to the mainland last Friday and tell Eliza to hurry back.’
‘Oh, that? You have the facts slightly distorted, Mr Lovelaine. Mr Cranby and his wife were going over to do some ordering for themselves and, as usual, they very kindly sent to ask whether I had any commissions I wished executed. I mentioned Eliza and they promised to look out for her on the quay on their return journey, that is all.’
‘I see. Well, if I may repeat my question, what report did you receive from them?’
‘None. I assume they did not run into Eliza.’
‘We were told they had been briefed by you to find my aunt and ask her to return at once,’ said Sebastian.
‘That is absurd. Eliza is the senior partner. I do not give orders as to what she is or is not to do.’
‘From what I remember of my sister,’ said Marius, with a slight smile, ‘I doubt whether it would be of much use if you did.’ His expression altered. ‘I shall be glad to see her for several reasons,’ he added, ‘not least to find out why my booking, which was completely arranged for by letter, does not appear in your records.’
Miss Crimp snorted and turned away from him.
‘I don’t like that woman,’ said Sebastian to his father, as they walked back to the lounge. ‘What are you going to do with yourself today, Father?’
‘I think,’ said Marius, ‘that I shall give myself the pleasure of calling upon Dame Beatrice at
‘Will she welcome visitors, Father?’ asked Margaret.
‘I can but send in my card, my dear. How do the two of you propose to occupy your time?’
‘Oh, we have a good deal of the island to explore yet. We’ve done the east side pretty throughly, but we don’t know so much about the west cliffs or the southern end, west of the landing stage,’ replied Sebastian.
‘I see. Er… I don’t propose to dictate your movements in any way, of course, but I do not think you should become too friendly with Ransome Lovelaine.’
‘Oh, why not, Father? He’s a very nice man,’ said Margaret, ‘and you surely can’t hold his parentage against him?’
‘I hold nothing against him, my dear, and I am sure he is an estimable fellow. However, too close an acquaintanceship with him at this juncture might prove an embarrassment later on.’
‘Oh, but why?’ asked Sebastian. ‘I mean, let’s face it, Father. The object of our coming here, as I understood it, was to ingratiate ourselves with Aunt Eliza in the hope of benefits to come. Well, I must say it now appears to me that there won’t be any benefits so far as our family is concerned. Ransome and his father are the people on the spot and are quite evidently in favour with Aunt Eliza. Then there is Miss Crimp, a shareholder in the hotel. Ransome is a thoroughly decent fellow and we should like to pursue the acquaintanceship with no strings attached to it. We have nothing either to gain or to lose where Aunt Eliza is concerned, as I see it, and it would seem very odd if we dropped Ransome without any apparent reason, after he has shown himself so friendly.’
‘Oh, well,’ said Marius, ‘you must please yourselves. There is a good deal of truth in what you say. Nevertheless, if Lizzie has not returned to the island by Wednesday, I shall be forced to the conclusion that she is deliberately staying away because she has changed her mind and does not want to meet me after all. In that case I adhere to my decision. We return on the Wednesday or the Thursday steamer. I shall have no second thoughts about that.’
‘Poor old buster,’ said Sebastian, as he and his sister left the hotel to go for a walk. ‘He’s an awful ass, but I do feel sorry for him. Underneath all that pompous blah, he’s cut to the heart that Aunt Eliza is dodging meeting him again. His ideas are not entirely mercenary, you know. He genuinely wants a reconciliation. I believe, in fact, that that has been the truth all along. The inheritance thing was only a sop to Boobie.’
‘And didn’t work,’ said Margaret. ‘Do you really think he’ll have the cheek to call at
‘I don’t know, and I don’t care. I wish I knew whether there was any part of the island where these blasted bird-watchers won’t be swarming. If I’d known the place was going to be turned into a sort of pop festival without even the advantage of the pop, I would never have come.’
‘Don’t you mind if we have to go home on Wednesday?’
‘Oh, well, we may have exhausted all the local resources long before that.’
‘I don’t want to leave. I like it here,’ said Margaret.
‘Hey! You haven’t gone all girlish about Ransome, I hope!’ said her brother.
chapter seven
The Body in the Sea
‘Adieu! farewell earth’s bliss,
This world uncertain is:
Fond are life’s lustful joys,
Death proves them all but toys.’
« ^ »
Wednesday was an anxious day for Marius. The boat was not due until the middle of the afternoon if the previous Wednesday, the day of his arrival on the island, was anything to go by, and the time of waiting was tedious. He breakfasted late, and intended to lunch early and then sit out on the cliff top with his binoculars.
Sebastian and Margaret had departed immediately after breakfast, but upon what errand he did not enquire. His mind was occupied elsewhere. Indignation with Eliza was giving place to anxiety and he found it impossible to banish the thought that she might not even be on Wednesday’s boat and that he might have to face the alternatives of quitting the island and washing his hands of her or of setting on foot all sorts of enquiries which might involve seeking assistance from the police. Neither course recommended itself to him and more and more he wished he had never resumed contact with his sister or come to spend a holiday on her island.
The returning steamers carried mail to the mainland and he had written to Clothilde on Thursday announcing safe arrival and giving an impression of the hotel, but he had not mentioned anything about Eliza’s absence from it. He did not know how the mainland postal service operated, but he had hopes that, whatever the delay in the delivery of his letter, his wife’s reply would come on the boat which, with any luck, would also bring back his sister. If it did not, he tried to persuade himself that he was determined to return home on the following day.
Meanwhile his children were setting out on an expedition proposed, organised and provisionally financed by Margaret. There was only one shop on the island. As she and her brother had already noted, it formed the other half of the public house.
‘But they won’t sell turpentine,’ Sebastian had objected when she disclosed her plan for their morning. ‘Besides, why should we clean up the local yobs’ horrid insignia?’
‘I aim to keep Britain tidy. I shouldn’t think it’s the islanders, anyway. They’ve probably had a boatload of skinheads or some such types come over from the mainland all ripe for mischief. It looks like that to me.’
‘Would they bring red paint with them?’
‘Of course, if they came prepared to paint their filthy slogans over everything.’
‘Those aren’t skinhead slogans.’
‘Why aren’t they? You didn’t mean it when you talked about satanists, did you?’
‘They’re all satanist symbols.’
‘The swastika?’
‘If you noticed, it’s not a true swastika; it’s a crooked cross.’
‘There’s the Star of David.’
