Lonesome Road

Chapter Twenty-four

Upon one pretext or another the family had been assembled in the drawing-room. Outside the day was dark and lowering. Within, though a bright fire burned on the hearth, there was a chill, a feeling of uneasiness.

Richard Treherne was the last to appear. They had waited for him in a silence which no one except Mabel seemed inclined to break. Cosmo Frith picked up the clock from the mantel-piece, remarked that it needed regulating, and busied himself with it.

“Cosmo can’t keep his hands off a clock,” Mabel complained. “I believe he winds his own every time he goes near it.” To which Miss Maud Silver replied that in her opinion clocks should be wound once a week and never touched in between.

Mabel Wadlow, who still reclined amongst her cushions and had apparently neither moved nor attempted to occupy herself, had welcomed her return with effusion. But before resuming her chair Miss Silver drew it back into line with the couch in such a manner as to command a view of Miss Comperton in the armchair on the right of the fire, Mr. Frith now standing fair and square in the middle of the hearth-rug with the Times held out at arm’s length before him, and Rachel Treherne leaning back in the armchair on the left.

Caroline Ponsonby had pulled a low stool close to Rachel. She sat forward with an elbow propped on her knee and her chin in her hand. She had so pale a look that no one could have called her pretty now. Miss Silver thought her very near the breaking-point, and permitted herself to wonder what would happen when it came.

Richard Treherne sat on the arm of Rachel’s chair. Miss Silver saw him stoop down and say a word in her ear, and she saw the answer too, a shake of the head.

Caroline looked round once, and then went on staring past Cosmo at the fire.

Ernest Wadlow brought a chair up to the sofa and leaned over his wife, asking her solicitously how she felt, and whether she had remembered to take her drops.

Miss Silver coughed, and, as if it had been a signal, Rachel Treherne spoke. She turned to Richard and said,

“Will you find yourself a chair? I have something rather serious to say.”

Richard did not start, but he was certainly startled. And there was nothing in that, for, apart from the words, neither Rachel’s voice nor her manner were natural. She was plainly putting a force upon herself. Perhaps even now she had Miss Silver’s words in her mind. Perhaps, instead of. assuming Richard’s innocence, she had for a horrible moment feared his guilt. Miss Silver saw the hand which lay upon her knee contract upon itself until the knuckles whitened. Then, as Richard moved to a chair on the other side of the hearth, she saw the hand relax.

The Times rustled as Cosmo turned a page. He said rather abstractedly,

“Well, my dear, here we are. Do you know-a most extraordinary thing-here’s a man Ferguson who was at school with me marrying a film star. Never heard of her, but they call her a star. The man must be off his head. I beg your pardon, Rachel-what were you going to say?”

“Something serious?” said Ernest Wadlow. He rumpled his hair and looked sideways over the tilted pince-nez. “I hope it is nothing-er-that is to say-nothing-” His voice trailed off without finishing the sentence.

Mabel raised herself on both hands until she was clear of her cushions and said in agitated accents.

“Something has happened to Maurice-I felt sure of it! Oh! Tell me quickly-is it an accident?”

“It’s nothing to do with Maurice,” said Rachel, and in the middle of saying it a shiver took her, because how did she know that it wasn’t Maurice’s hand that had pushed her over the cliff?

Mabel sank back, half sketched a palpitation, and then decided to postpone it until she knew what Rachel had really got to say.

Miss Silver looked at Ella Comperton, and found her nervous-oh dear, yes, decidedly nervous. She was picking at a little bag and missing the clasp, and when she found it, fumbling with it. When she did get it open, all the contents came tumbling out into her lap. The hand with which she extricated a handkerchief and pressed it to her nose was by no means steady. The nose twitched, the handkerchief twitched, the hand twitched. Miss Silver reflected, not for the first time in her career, that it must be very uncomfortable indeed to have a guilty conscience. She looked at Richard Treherne, and Richard said,

“What’s the matter, Rachel? I hope you don’t mean anything really serious.”

“I’m afraid I do.” Rachel was sitting up now with, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “I thought you ought to know-all of you-that something very serious did happen yesterday. I thought you ought to know.”

Miss Silver saw all the faces-all except Caroline’s, and Caroline’s face was turned away from her and turned towards Rachel. Miss Silver could see nothing of it. But the other faces showed her, surprise-that was Cosmo Frith; a grave attention-that was Richard; fear-yes, certainly fear- that was Ella Comperton; and a deepening of the lines of habitual worry-that was Ernest Wadlow. Mabel Wadlow’s expression remained a blend of fretful inquiry and her recent relief. If it wasn’t Maurice it didn’t really matter.

It was Richard who spoke again. He said,

“What ought we to know?”

Rachel looked round at them all. Then she said,

“Something happened-when I was coming back from Nanny’s. I said I had had a fall, and that was true. But it wasn’t all that happened. I didn’t fall on the patli-I fell over the cliff. And I fell over the cliff because someone pushed me.”

Once more Miss Silver watched the faces and, more revealing still, the hands.

Ella Comperton said, “Nonsense!” but her hands shook. Cosmo Frith crumpled up the Times and turned with astonishment in every line of his features. Mabel and Ernest Wadlow did exactly the same thing. They both said, “Oh!” and their mouths dropped open. Richard Treherne made a sharp movement and said, frowning deeply, “Rachel! Good God-you don’t mean that!” Caroline made no movement and no sound. Her eyes were fixed on Rachel’s face, and only Rachel herself could see what was in them.

Rachel said quite firmly, “Yes, I do mean it. Someone came up behind me in the dark and pushed me over the cliff.”

There was some sound from everyone in the room-a catch of the breath, a sharp release, something very near a gasp-and from Miss Silver herself a fluttered, “Dear, dear me!”

“But, my dear-” said Cosmo Frith. He let the paper fall and came close. “Rachel, my dear, you can’t mean it! Why didn’t you tell us at once? There must be some madman about-that is, if you really do mean-My dear, the police should have been informed.”

Miss Silver said in her prim, cool voice,

“Perhaps the police were informed. Did you inform them, Miss Treherne?”

She received a protesting look which left her quite unmoved. Rachel said,

“No.”

“But, my dear,” said Cosmo, “they ought to be communicated with at once. Tell me everything you can, and I’ll ring them up-”

Rachel stopped him.

“No-I won’t call in the police-” She paused, and added, “this time.”

If there was anyone in the room who realized the significance of those added words, no sign betrayed it.

“Won’t you tell us exactly what happened?” said Richard Treherne.

“It’s all nonsense!” said Mabel querulously. “Because if you went over that cliff, why weren’t you killed? It really is nonsense.”

Ernest put a hand on her arm.

“Now, now-don’t excite yourself, Mabel. I don’t really think you should have been subjected to a shock like this. But what you say is, of course, perfectly correct.”

Ella Comperton joined the chorus.

“There is surely some exaggeration. You have, I believe, some bruises and a scratch or two, but you cannot expect us to believe that you fell off the cliff on to the rocks and got off with no more than that.”

Rachel sat up a little straighter.

“If I had gone down on to the rocks, you would all be attending an inquest instead of sitting here and telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Cosmo’s hand came down on her shoulder.

“My dear, I think we hardly do know what we’re talking about-any of us. This has been a great shock. Speaking for myself, I-my dear, it’s a terrible shock.” His hand pressed down for a moment, and was withdrawn. He got out a handkerchief and blew his nose. “I don’t mind saying that it’s knocked me over.”

“Rachel, please tell us exactly what happened,” said Richard.

She told them without emotion.

“If I had gone down on to the rocks-as I said just now-I shouldn’t be here. I didn’t go down. I caught at a bush, and it held me.”

“Dear me,” said Miss Silver-“most providential!”

“But you couldn’t have been pushed,” said Ella Comperton. “It’s really quite impossible. Besides, who would push you? It is absurd.”

Ernest Wadlow plucked off his glasses with a nervous gesture and set them back upon his nose at a different angle.

“As Ella says-”

“And how did you get up again?” said Mabel in an accusing voice.

Caroline leaned forward and caught a fold of Rachel’s skirt. They heard her whisper something. Richard thought it was “You’re here.”

Rachel’s eyes went from one to another before she said,

“I was certainly pushed. I went over the cliff because I was pushed. The hand that pushed me rolled a stone down over the edge-afterwards-while I was hanging there-to make sure-at least I suppose it was to make sure. One of those big stones-it just missed me. I was able to hold on till Gale Brandon came by. He ran to Nanny’s cottage- and tore up her sheets to make a rope-and got me up. He saved my life.”

Cosmo blew his nose again, and pushed the handkerchief back into his pocket.

“My dear-this is really-I don’t know when I’ve been so shocked. You will forgive me-you must know what we all feel about you. It seems quite incredible that anyone should try to harm you. But we’ve got to be practical. The police should be called in at once.”

“I have nothing to say to the police.”

“Dear me,” said Miss Silver, “I should suppose-of course I am very ignorant about such matters, but surely you must have some idea as to the identity of the person who attacked you.” She looked about her as she spoke, in a manner at once artless and inquisitive. “You must have some idea, surely?”

The room was suddenly silent. It was just as if all the small, usual, unnoticed sounds had ceased, and because they had ceased you noticed them. They left that strained, waiting silence.

Rachel broke it. She said, “None,” and all the sounds began again.

Ella Comperton let go the arms of her chair and sat back. Richard got up in a hurry. Caroline Ponsonby dropped her hand from Rachel’s skirt and pitched sideways off her stool in a dead faint.