Some quite nice stuff here, he said. One or two good pictures. А Romney and a Reynolds. I dont know if youre interested?
I shook my head. My taste at the moment was entirely for modern artists.
Several dealers here, Phillpot went on, a couple down from London. See that thin man over there with the pinched lips? Thats Cressington. Pretty well known. Not brought your wife?
No, I said, shes not awfully keen on sales. Anyway, I didnt particularly want her to come this morning.
Oh? Why not?
Theres going to be a surprise for Ellie, I said. Did you notice Lot 42?
He took a glance at the catalogue and then looked across the room.
Hm. That papier mache desk? Yes. Rather a beautiful little piece. One of the best examples of papier mache Ive seen. Desk rather rare too. Plenty of hand desks to stand on tables. But this is an early example. Never seen one quite like it before.
The little piece was inlaid with a design of Windsor Castle and the sides of it had bouquets of roses and thistles and shamrock.
Beautiful condition, said Phillpot. He looked at me curiously. I shouldnt have thought it was your taste but
Oh, it isnt, I said. Its a little too flowery and ladylike for me. But Ellie loves the stuff. Its her birthday next week and I want it as a present for her. А surprise. Thats why I didnt want her to know I was bidding for it today. But I know theres nothing I could give her that shed like more. Shell be really surprised.
We went in and took seats and the sale began. Actually, the piece I wanted was run up pretty high. Both the London dealers seemed keen on it although one of them was so practised and reserved about it that you could hardly notice the almost infinitesimal motion of his catalogue which the auctioneer was observing closely. I bought a carved Chippendale chair as well which I thought would look well in our hall and some enormous brocade curtains in good condition.
Well, you seem to have enjoyed yourself all right, said Phillpot, rising to his feet when the auctioneer completed the mornings sale. Want to come back this afternoon?
I shook my head.
No, theres nothing in the second half of the sale that I want. Mostly bedroom furniture and carpets and things like that.
No, I didnt think youd be interested. Well he looked at his watch, wed better be getting along. Is Ellie meeting us at the George?
Yes, shell be there.
And er Miss Andersen?
Oh, Gretas gone to London, I said. Shes gone to what they call a white sale. With Miss Hardcastle, I believe.
Oh yes, Claudia said something about it the other day. Price of sheets and things are fantastic nowadays. Do you know what a linen pillow case costs? Thirty-five shillings. Used to buy em for six bob[61].
Youre very knowledgeable on household purchases, I said.
Well, I hear my wife complaining about them. Phillpot smiled. Youre looking in the pink of condition, Mike. Happy as a sandboy.
Thats because Ive got the papier mache desk, I said, or at any rate thats partly it. I just woke up feeling happy this morning. You know those days when everything in the world seems right.
Mm, said Phillpot, be careful. Thats whats known as being fey.
Fey? I said. Thats something Scottish, isnt it?
It comes before disaster, my boy, said Phillpot. Better curb your exuberance.
Oh, I dont believe those silly superstitions, I said.
Nor in gipsies prophecies, eh?
We havent seen our gipsy lately, I said. Well, not for a week at least.
Perhaps shes away from the place, said Phillpot.
He asked me if Id give him a lift in my car and I said I would.
No use taking the two of them. You can drop me here on your way back, cant you? What about Ellie, will she be bringing her car over?
Yes, shes bringing the little one.
Hope the George will put on a good meal, said Major Phillpot. Im hungry.
Did you buy anything? I asked. I was too excited to notice.
Yes, youve got to keep your wits about you when youre bidding. Have to notice what the dealers are doing. No. I made a bid or two but everything went far above my price.
I gathered that although Phillpot owned enormous quantities of land round about, his actual income did not amount to much. He was what you might describe as a poor man though a large landowner. Only by selling a good portion of his land would he have had money to spend and he didnt want to sell his land. He loved it.
We got to the George and found a good many cars standing there already. Possibly some of the people from the auction. I didnt see Ellies though. We went inside and I looked around for her but she hadnt turned up yet. However, it was only just past one.
We went and had a drink at the bar while we were waiting for Ellie to arrive. The place was pretty crowded. I looked into the dining-room but they were still holding our table. There were a good many local faces that I knew and sitting at a table by the window was a man whose face seemed familiar to me. I was sure I knew him but I couldnt remember when and where wed met. I didnt think he was a local, because his clothes didnt fit in with these parts. Of course Ive knocked up against a great many people in my time and it is unlikely that I can remember them all easily. He hadnt been at the sale as far as I could remember, though, oddly enough, there had been one face that I thought Id recognized but couldnt place. Faces are tricky unless you can connect up when and where youd seen them.
The presiding goddess of the George, rustling in her usual black silk of affected Edwardian style which she always wore, came up to me and said:
Will you be coming to your table soon, Mr Rogers? Theres one or two waiting.
My wife will be here in a minute or two, I said.
I went back to rejoin Phillpot. I thought perhaps that Ellie might have had a puncture.
Wed better go in, I said, they seem to be getting rather upset about it. Theyve got quite a crowd today. Im afraid, I added, that Ellie isnt the most punctual of people.
Ah, said Phillpot in his old-fashioned style, the ladies make a point of keeping us waiting, dont they? All right, Mike, if thats all right by you. Well go in and start lunch.
We went into the dining-room, chose steak and kidney pie off the menu and started.
Its too bad of Ellie, I said, to stand us up like this. I added that it was possibly because Greta was in London. Ellies very used, you know, I said, to Greta helping her to keep appointments, reminding her of them, and getting her off in time and all that.
Is she very dependent on Miss Andersen?
In that way, yes, I said.
We went on eating and passed from the steak and kidney pie to apple tart with a self-conscious piece of phoney pastry on top of it.
I wonder if shes forgotten all about it, I said suddenly.
Perhaps youd better ring up.
Yes, I think Id better.
I went out to the phone and rang. Mrs Carson, the cook, answered.
Oh, its you, Mr Rogers, Mrs Rogers hasnt come home yet.
What do you mean, hasnt come home? Home from where?
I wonder if shes forgotten all about it, I said suddenly.
Perhaps youd better ring up.
Yes, I think Id better.
I went out to the phone and rang. Mrs Carson, the cook, answered.
Oh, its you, Mr Rogers, Mrs Rogers hasnt come home yet.
What do you mean, hasnt come home? Home from where?
She hasnt come back from her ride yet.
But that was after breakfast. She cant have been riding the whole morning.
She didnt say anything different. I was expecting her back.
Why didnt you ring up sooner and let me know about it? I asked.
Well, I wouldnt know where to get at you, you see. I didnt know where youd gone.
I told her I was at the George at Bartington and gave her the number. She was to ring up the moment Ellie came in or she had news of her. Then I went back to join Phillpot. He saw from my face at once that something was wrong.
Ellie hasnt come home, I said. She went off riding this morning. She usually does most mornings but it only lasts half an hour to an hour.
Now dont worry before you need to, boy, he said kindly. Your place is in a very lonely part, you know. Maybe her horse went lame and she might be walking it home. All that moorland and downs above the woods. Theres nobody much in that part to send a message by.
If she decided to change her plans and ride over and see anyone, anything like that, I said, shed have rung here. Shed have left a message for us.
Well, dont get het up yet, Phillpot said. I think wed better go now, right away, and see what we can find out.
As we went out to the car park, another car drove away. In it was the man I had noticed in the dining-room and suddenly it came to me who it was. Stanford Lloyd or someone just like him. I wondered what he could be doing down here. Could he be coming to see us? If so, it was odd he hadnt let us know. In the car with him was a woman who had looked like Claudia Hardcastle, but surely she was in London with Greta, shopping. It all floored me rather
As we drove away Phillpot looked at me once or twice. I caught his eye once and said rather bitterly:
All right. You said I was fey this morning.
Well, dont think of that yet. She may have had a fall and sprained an ankle or something like that. Shes a good horsewoman, though, he said. Ive seen her. I cant feel an accident is really likely.
I said, Accidents can happen at any time.
We drove fast and came at last to the road over the downs above our property, looking about us as we went. Now and again we stopped to ask people. We stopped a man who was digging peat and there we got the first news.
Seen a riderless horse I have, he said. Two hours ago maybe or longer. I would-a caught it but it galloped off when I got near it. Didnt see anyone though.
Best drive home, suggested Phillpot, there may be news of her there.
We drove home but there was no news. We got hold of the groom and sent him off to ride the moorland in search of Ellie. Phillpot telephoned his own house and sent a man from there too. He and I went up a path together and through the wood, the one that Ellie often took, and came out on the downs there.
At first there was nothing to be seen. Then we walked along the edge of the wood near where some of the other paths came out and so we found her. We saw what looked like a huddled heap[62] of clothes. The horse had come back and was now standing cropping near that huddled heap. I began to run. Phillpot followed me faster than Id have thought a man of his age could have kept up.
She was there lying in a crumpled-up heap, her little white face turned up to the sky. I said:
I cant I cant and turned my face away.
Phillpot went and knelt down by her. He got up almost at once.
Well get hold of a doctor, he said. Shaw. Hes the nearest. But I dont think its any use, Mike.
You mean shes dead?
Yes, he said, its no good pretending anything else.
Oh God! I said and turned away. I cant believe it. Not Ellie.
Here, have this, said Phillpot.
He took a flask out of his pocket, unscrewed it and handed it to me. I took a good deep pull at it.
Thanks, I said.
The groom came along then and Phillpot sent him off to fetch Dr Shaw.
Chapter 18
Shaw came up in a battered old Land-Rover. I suppose it was the car he used for going to visit isolated farms in bad weather. He barely looked at either of us. He went straight and bent over Ellie. Then he came over to us.
Shes been dead at least three or four hours, he said. How did it happen?
I told him how shed gone off riding as usual after breakfast that morning.
Has she had any accidents up to this time when shes been out riding?
No, I said, she was a good rider.
Yes, I know shes a good rider. Ive seen her once or twice. Shes ridden since she was a child, I understand. I wondered if she might have had an accident lately and that that might have affected her nerve a bit. If the horse had shied[63]
Why should the horse shy? Its a quiet brute
Theres nothing vicious about this particular horse, said Major Phillpot. Hes well behaved, not nervy. Has she broken any bones?
I havent made a complete examination yet but she doesnt seem physically injured in any way. There may be some internal injury. Might be shock, I suppose.
But you cant die of shock, I said.
People have died of shock before now. If shed had a weak heart
They said in America that she had a weak heart some kind of weakness at least.
Hm. I couldnt find much trace of it when I examined her. Still, we didnt have a cardiograph. Anyway no point in going into that now. We shall know later. After the inquest.
He looked at me consideringly, then he patted me on the shoulder.
You go home and go to bed, he said. Youre the one whos suffering from shock.
In the queer way people materialize out of nowhere in the country, we had three or four people standing near us, by this time. One a hiker who had come along from the main road seeing our little group, one a rosy-faced woman who I think was going to a farm over a short cut and an old roadman. They were making exclamations and remarks.
Poor young lady.
So young too. Thrown from her horse, was she?
Ah well, you never know with horses.
Its Mrs Rogers, isnt it, the American lady from The Towers?
It was not until everyone else had exclaimed in their astonished fashion, that the aged roadman spoke. He gave us information. Shaking his head he said:
I must-a seen it happen[64]. I must-a seen it happen.
The doctor turned sharply on him.
What did you see happen?
I saw a horse bolting across country.
Did you see the lady fall?
No. No, I didnt. She were riding along the top of the woods when I saw her and after that Id got me back turned and I was cutting the stones for the road. And then I heard hoofs and I looked up and there was the horse a-galloping. I didnt think thered been an accident. I thought the lady perhaps had got off and let go of the horse in some way. It wasnt coming towards me, it was going in the other direction.