Poison in the Pen

CHAPTER 18

Valentine Grey was walking in the woods behind the Manor. She had come there to meet Jason. When he came he put his arms around her and they stayed like that for quite a long time, just holding one another. Presently he said,

“When are we going to get married?”

“I don’t know. You haven’t ever asked me.”

“I don’t need to ask you. I couldn’t before I went away, because it didn’t seem so very likely that I should come back. And now there’s no need. You know.”

“I might like to be asked.”

“On bended knee in the proper romantic style!” He went down on the carpet of pine needles and kissed both her hands. “Will you do me the very great honour of marrying me?”

She looked down at him, her eyes shining, her lips not quite steady. This was not the Valentine who had stood at the chancel step to rehearse her marriage to Gilbert Earle. Her hands shook in his, her colour came and went. She said,

“I don’t know-” Her voice shook too.

“You do. You know perfectly well. And mind you, it’s your only chance, because I certainly shouldn’t let you marry anyone else.”

Her lips quivered into a smile.

“How would you stop me?”

He got up without letting go of her.

“I should forbid the banns. You know it’s a thing I’ve always wanted to do.”

“Does anyone ever?”

“Oh, I believe it’s been done. You stand up and get it off your chest good and loud, and the parson stops and says he will see you in the vestry afterwards. And no one listens to another word of the service, least of all you, because of course you are thinking up what you are going to say in the vestry.”

“And what would you be going to say? It would have to be a just cause or impediment, you know.”

He said,

“There’s an old posy ring of my mother’s that I want to give you. It has been in the family since about the same time of the Armada. The writing inside is so small that you have to use a magnifying glass to read it, and it has had to be renewed a great many times. It says:

‘If you love me as I love you,

Nothing but death shall part us two.’

“Don’t you think that’s a just cause and impediment to your marrying anyone else?”

“I suppose-it might be-”

It was some time later that she said, “Will you have-to go-again-”

“Not to the same places. They got wise to me this time, so I shouldn’t be very much use. Would you like to settle down and farm?”

“I’d love it.”

“Then when will you marry me?”

“Jason, I don’t know. You see, as far as anyone can tell I’m still engaged to Gilbert. People just think the wedding was put off on account of Connie Brooke.”

He gave a half angry laugh.

“That is all you know! I get the low-down from Mrs. Needham. Half the village is talking about poor Mr. Earle, and the other half thinks he must have blotted his copy-book pretty badly or you wouldn’t have done it. But they are all quite sure that he has been given the push, and that the wedding is definitely off. The postman has noticed that he doesn’t write, and the girls in the telephone exchange are quite positive he hasn’t rung up, so the matter is considered to be settled. You had better get on with informing the family and putting a notice in the papers.”

“Oh, I’ve told Roger and Maggie, and I suppose Roger has told Scilla. She hasn’t said anything.”

“And what did Roger and Maggie say?”

She lifted his hand and laid it against her cheek.

“Oh, Maggie cried and said marriage was very uncertain, and she had often felt thankful that she had escaped it.”

“Poor old Maggie.”

“Darling, she was rather pathetic. She said how unhappy my father and mother had been, and she talked about Roger and Scilla.”

“And what did Roger talk about?”

“He hardly said anything at all. I told him I shouldn’t be marrying Gilbert, and he didn’t even ask why. He stood with his back to me and looked out of the window, and all he said was, ‘Well, I suppose you know your own business.’ So I said yes, I did, and that was just about all.”

Jason did not speak. After a moment she went on.

“I had one of those horrible letters on Thursday morning. I can’t help wondering whether Roger had one too.”

“Tommy did.”

“Tommy!”

“Yes, I saw it.”

“Jason-”

“Look here, this is just between you and me.”

“Of course. What did it say?”

“Accused Gilbert of intending to commit bigamy, and asked Tommy if he was prepared to aid and abet. Put him in quite a spot. On the one hand you don’t take any notice of anonymous letters, and on the other you can’t take a chance about letting a girl in for a bigamous marriage. Tommy ought to be blessing us for getting him out of the mess.”

She was leaning against him. Gilbert was gone, and everything felt very safe and comfortable. She said,

“Did Tommy’s letter say Gilbert had married a girl called Marie Dubois in Canada?”

“It did. Without saying where or when. Anonymity strictly preserved throughout. Let me see-he was in Canada, wasn’t he?”

“A long time ago. He couldn’t have been more than about twenty. I wonder if he really did marry Marie.”

“May have done. If he was had for a mug when he was all that young and she was dead, he might not have thought it necessary to mention her. Or there might have been a divorce. I should hardly think he would risk being run in for bigamy. We’ll ask him about it some day. Just casually, you know-at a cocktail party, or a railway station, or any of the other places where you are liable to have a head-on collision with the people you don’t want to meet.”

“Darling, what a fool you are!”

What a heavenly feeling to be able to laugh at something that had been a nightmare. They laughed together. Jason said,

“What do you bet I don’t do it? Some day when we are safely married. I would, you know, for tuppence. Something on the lines of ‘Oh, by the way, what happened to that girl you married in Canada, Marie Dubois?’ ”

“You wouldn’t!”

“You wait and see!”