Free The Silent Pool by Patricia Wentworth

how wonderful you are?’
    The door shut. Janet was waved to a chair. She thought, ‘It’s like being in some kind of a queer dream.’ And then Adriana was saying,
    ‘I am going to ask you a question. I want an honest answer to it. Is that agreed?’
    There was no change in Janet’s face, or in her voice as she said,
    ‘It would depend on what you asked me.’
    ‘Meaning you wouldn’t undertake to be honest?’
    ‘I mightn’t know the answer.’
    ‘Oh, I think you would, or I shouldn’t be asking. Well, here it is. You and Ninian and Star grew up together. There isn’t much that children don’t know about each other, and I want to know just how far you think Ninian is to be trusted.’
    Janet sat there silently. Adriana’s eyes searched her. The question echoed in her mind. In the end she said,
    ‘There are different kinds of trust.’
    ‘That is true. Did he fail you?’
    Janet did not speak. After what seemed like a long time Adriana said,
    ‘That is not my affair? I suppose not. But this is – would he fail me?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ The words sprang to her mind, to her lips. She gave them no conscious thought. They were there.
    Adriana said,
    ‘You didn’t take long over that. In other words, he would play fast and loose with a girl, but he wouldn’t pick a pocket.’
    Janet said, ‘No, he wouldn’t pick a pocket.’
    Adriana’s voice went deep.
    ‘Sure about that? He wouldn’t play a lying part for money? He wouldn’t try and scheme, and pull strings for his own advantage.’
    Janet heard her own voice very clear and steady,
    ‘Oh, no, he wouldn’t do that.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘It isn’t in him.’
    ‘As sure about it as that?’
    ‘Oh, yes.’
    ‘That is how you thought of him when you were children. How do you know he hasn’t changed?’
    ‘I should know it if he had.’
    Adriana laughed.
    ‘Well, you don’t beat about the bush, anyhow! How well do you know Robin Somers?’
    If Janet was startled, she did not show it. If the change of subject was a relief, she did not show that either. She said,
    ‘It’s two years since I’ve seen him.’
    One of Adriana’s pale hands rose and fell.
    ‘That is no answer at all. It’s two years since Star divorced him. How well did you know him before that?’
    Janet considered.
    ‘I used to see him – not very often. He could be charming.’
    ‘Did he charm you?’
    ‘Not very much.’
    ‘What did you think of him?’
    ‘I don’t see that matters, Miss Ford.’
    ‘I don’t care about being Miss Ford. Call me Adriana. And if it didn’t matter, I shouldn’t be asking you.’
    Janet said, ‘I didn’t like him very much. I thought he was selfish.’
    Adriana laughed.
    ‘Men are — and so are women.’
    ‘He was making Star unhappy.’
    ‘Was he fond of her?’
    ‘In his own way’
    ‘And of Stella?’
    ‘I suppose so.’
    ‘And what do you mean by that?’
    ‘Well, he didn’t bother about her, did he? She was down here, and he was up in town – how often did he come and see her?’
    ‘Not very often.’
    Janet said with finality,
    ‘She talks about Ninian, but she doesn’t talk about her father.’
    Adriana smiled.
    ‘That might mean that she cares too little – or too much. She is an odd child – it might be quite difficult to tell. Well, you don’t like him, and he made Star unhappy, and of course that damns him!’ The smile mocked her. ‘Would you take his word about anything?’
    There was no hesitation at all about Janet’s ‘Oh, no.’
    Adriana laughed.
    ‘So now we know! Well, that’s all for the moment, and it’s your turn for the dressing-room. Send Ninian in. You needn’t read the press notices if you don’t want to.’
    She found Ninian absorbed in them and reluctant to put them down. He went through to the sitting-room with a laughing ‘I’m like all her other adorers, I can’t be torn away!’ As he shut the door between the two rooms, Adriana said sharply,
    ‘Don’t stand there