“Really and truly married. He set her up in a nice little house and then he’d go away and come back. He paid regular visits. I said, ” Where does he go to, then? ” And Alice said, ” Oh, he’s explained all that. He’s got a big house in Cornwall. It’s been in the family for years. He said I wouldn’t like it. and he wouldn’t want me to be there. I’m better off here. ” Alice was a girl who didn’t ask questions. She liked everything to be peaceful. That’s all she asked.
Any trouble and she didn’t want to know. So that’s how it was. He would come to see her and then they’d be like any other married couple. Then he’d go away for a spell. Then the boy came. “
“I see,” I said.
“And when he was five years old … Alice died.”
She nodded.
“There was the question of where Simon would go. I guessed I’d have to have him, she being my sister. I didn’t know what I’d do with the boy. Father had died a year or so before. He’d never liked that marriage though he’d been to the church and seen that it was all properly done and this Edward never stinted her with anything. She was better off than any of us and there was no doubt he thought the world of her. When Father died, I was left comfortably off. Everything was for me. Father had said that Alice was well taken care of. I got this cottage. Alice came here once, bringing the boy.”
“Yes,” I said.
“He mentioned the place to me. That is how I found you.”
“Well, it came out that the one who was murdered was Sir Edward’s son.
It was the first time I knew he was Sir
Edward. At first I thought that he had deceived our Alice and that when he’d gone to the church with her he was married already. But then it came out when there was a lot about the family in the papers that he’d married a Miss Jessica Arkwright and when . and that was after he’d married our Alice. The one who was murdered, his eldest son, was a year or more younger than Simon. It was all a bit fishy, I thought but it was clear as daylight. Alice was his wife and this other woman had no right to the title. Our Alice was the real Lady Perrivale. So the two boys he’d had after were the illegitimate ones not Simon. It’s all a bit of a mystery . I was well out of it then, and I did not want to hear another word about it. You don’t believe me, do you? “
“Oh yes, I do.”
“Well, I can prove it. I’ve got the marriage lines. I said to Alice, ” That’s something you want to keep by you always. ” She was careless about that sort of thing. But I thought there was something odd even at the start. Husbands don’t usually go off like that and leave their wives … not unless they’re trying to get away from them. So I made her be sure to keep her marriage lines. Not that he wanted to get away from her. He was really sad when she died. Then I made sure that I kept the lines. I’ll show them to you.”
“Will you?” I said.
“Of course I will. She was married and no one’s going to say she wasn’t. I’ve got them upstairs. I’ll go now and get them.”
When we were left alone. Felicity said to me: “We didn’t expect this.”
“No.”
“It seems incredible. That strong pillar of the church to commit bigamy.”
“If this is a genuine certificate of marriage …”
“It must be. And she was there at the ceremony. She’s not the sort to say so if she wasn’t.”
“Might she have some idea about protecting her sister’s honour?”
Miss Ferrers came back into the room, proudly waving the document.
We looked at it. There could be little doubt of its authenticity.
“I think,” I said, ‘it may be that someone knew about this, and that Simon was the true heir to his father’s estates and title. It makes a motive. “
“But they didn’t kill him.”
“No … but he was implicated.”
“You mean someone arranged to be rid of both the elder brother and Simon at the same time.”
“It could be. It would be useful if we could have this proof of the marriage.”
I could see at once that Miss Ferrers in no circumstances would allow the certificate to pass out of her hands.
“You can see it in the church records,” she said.
“It’s St. Botolph’s in Headingly, near Bath.
You really do believe in his innocence, don’t you? “
“Yes,” I said firmly.
“It would have broken Alice’s heart,” she said.
“I was glad she died before she could know that. But then if she’d been alive he would never have gone to that place. Alice would never have let him go. She loved him so much.”
“You have helped us a great deal,” I said.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
“If you can clear his name …”
“I’m going to try. I’m going to do everything in my power …”
She insisted on making us a cup of tea. She talked to us while we drank it, going over everything she had already told us; but we did get an impression of the affection she had had for Alice, which was none the less genuine because it was faintly contemptuous. Alice had been soft . too trusting . loving unwisely . believing all that was told
her. But Alice had been her dear sister, closer to her than anyone had been before or after.
I was glad we had convinced her of our sincerity. And so we left Rowan Cottage with the knowledge that Sir Edward Perrivale had married Alice Ferrers and the date on the certificate showed clearly that the marriage had taken place before the ceremony he had undergone with the present Dowager Lady Perrivale.
Encounter in a Copse
That night Felicity and I talked continuously of our discovery. It was beyond our wildest hopes.
“I still can’t believe it!” I said.
“How could Sir Edward, with his strong moral stance, enter into a bigamous marriage, have two sons whom he accepted as his own, while his legitimate son, though brought up in the house, was treated as an outsider?”
“We have to remember that he wanted the boy to be given every chance.”
“Poor Simon!”
“Well, he had your Nanny Crockett.”
“It would have been sad for him if he hadn’t.”
“Oh, there are always compensations. But why did Sir Edward not only break the law but go against his strong religious principles?”
“I think I can guess. You see, there is a great tradition in the Perrivale family. The old house is at the root of it. The place was falling down and Sir Edward was in financial difficulties. He had never brought Alice to Perrivale. Much as he loved her, he did not think she would be a suitable chat elaine You see how strong the family tradition was. I daresay he had been brought up to believe that the great family of Perrivale was all-important. It had been kept going all through the centuries by its members doing their duty. It was his, therefore, to save Perrivale. Along comes the ironmaster or coal owner, whatever he was, from Yorkshire. He will supply the money required to save the house. Sir Edward’s financial problems can be solved … but at a cost, of course. The price is marriage to the rich man’s daughter.”
“But Sir Edward couldn’t accept those terms. He had already married little Alice.”
“But who knew? Only those people in the country. Alice was quiet and docile. She would accept everything he told her. She would not make trouble, even if she knew what was happening … but she didn’t. He thought he could pull it off, and he did. I dare say it troubled him a great deal. There was no other way of saving Perrivale. He had
