“It is not a thing I like to speak about; but I am fully prepared to tell you. Mr. Brooklyn came to make to me a dishonourable suggestion that I should help him to extract money from Mr. Prinsep.”
“In what way?”
“Mr. Prinsep had refused to give Mr. Walter Brooklyn a certain sum of money which he wanted. He came to ask me to bring pressure to bear on Mr. Prinsep to give it to him. He suggested that I had a hold over Mr. Prinsep—I suppose I must tell you what made him think that too—and that if I was to ask he would get the money.”
“And on what ground did he ask you to do this?”
“He threatened that if I did not he would tell Sir Vernon about me and Mr. Prinsep. He made the most horrible insinuations.”
“You were friendly with Mr. Prinsep?”
“Two years ago John Prinsep asked me to marry him, and I accepted him. Our engagement was kept secret at his request.”
“Miss Lang, I am sorry if I give you pain; but I must ask you whether you were engaged to Mr. Prinsep at the time of his death.”
The answer came clearly, but in a voice totally devoid of expression. “I do not know,” said Charis Lang. “The engagement had at least not been formally broken off.”
“And of course you rejected Walter Brooklyn’s proposal?”
“I did.”
“Did you tell Mr. Prinsep about it?”
“No. It was not a matter I could bring myself to mention to him.”
“You understood that Walter Brooklyn intended to carry the story to Sir Vernon?”
“Yes, and of course Sir Vernon would have been very angry. He has always wanted John to marry his ward, Miss Cowper.”
“What had Walter Brooklyn to gain by telling Sir Vernon?”
“I suppose he thought that Sir Vernon would soon make John give me up, and that between them they could fix up for John and Miss Cowper to marry. Or perhaps he relied on my telling John, and thought John would let him have the money to prevent him from going to Sir Vernon.”
“Yes, that seems the most probable explanation. And did you see Mr. Prinsep after your meeting with Walter Brooklyn?”
“Yes, for a few moments. He had seen Mr. Brooklyn, too, and was very angry. Mr. Brooklyn had used the same threat to him as he used to me.”
“And how had Mr. Prinsep taken it?”
“He had refused to give Mr. Brooklyn a penny, and said he would see Sir Vernon himself.”
“In order to tell him of your engagement?”
Again came the answer, painfully given, “I do not know.”
“I am sorry, Miss Lang, but I have not quite done. Did you see Mr. George Brooklyn on Tuesday?”
“Yes, he came here to see me after he had left Liskeard House in the evening.”
“At what time was that?”
“It was after ten o’clock—probably about a quarter past. I am off the stage for a long time then.”
“Was Mr. George Brooklyn a friend of yours?”
“Yes, in a way. At least, Mrs. George Brooklyn is a very dear friend. I used to understudy her when she was Isabelle Raven. She was the Isabelle Raven, you know.”
“Yes. Then there was nothing unusual in Mr. George Brooklyn’s coming to see you here?”
“I don’t think he had ever been to my room before. I had often met him at his own house or at Liskeard House.”
“Did he come for some special purpose?”
“Yes, he came to see me about my engagement to Mr. Prinsep.”
“Do you mind telling me more exactly what you mean?”
“Until recently, Mr. Prinsep always behaved to me as if we were engaged. Lately, his manner to me had changed. When I spoke to him about it, he laughed it off, and I tried to go on treating him as I had done. But about a fortnight ago I had a letter from Mr. Carter Woodman—you know him, I expect—saying he would like to discuss with me certain matters placed in his hands by Mr. Prinsep. I wrote back saying that I could not conceive that there was anything in my relations with John that called for a lawyer’s interference. Then I took the letter to John, and we had a real quarrel about it. I asked him if I was to consider our engagement at an end; but he put me off, and before I could get him to answer we were interrupted. I did not see him again until Tuesday, and then only for a minute. I meant to try to clear matters up, and to tell him I could not go on like that; but he was called away, and I had no chance. Then in the evening George Brooklyn came to see me.”
“Will you tell me what happened then?”
“He asked me point-blank whether I had been engaged to John. I said that I certainly had been, but that I didn’t know whether I still was. I told him that I still loved John; but I asked him to let John know—he had promised to see him when he left me—that I considered our engagement definitely at an end, unless he desired to renew it.”
“Miss Lang, my questions must have been very painful, and it has been very good of you to answer them so freely. I think there is only one thing more I need ask. At what time did Mr. George Brooklyn leave you?”
“A few minutes after half-past ten. I went on the stage again almost immediately afterwards.”
“And you did not see Mr. George Brooklyn again?”
“No.”
“You saw no more of either Mr. Prinsep or Mr. Walter Brooklyn, I suppose?”
“Yes, as it happens, I caught sight, out of my window, of Mr. Prinsep walking in the garden behind the theatre. That must have been about a quarter past eleven.”
“And that is all you saw. He was alone?”
“Yes. I saw no one else.”
“Then I have only to thank you again for the way in which you have told me what you know.” And with that the inspector took
