Free The Alington Inheritance by Patricia Wentworth Page B

quiet. And then Mrs. Forbes came in, and she shut the door and they began to talk. She said, ‘What did you want to say to me, Mac?’ and when he didn’t answer she said, ‘Mac, what is it?’ And he said, ‘All right, you can have it.’ He said he had only known for a week. And then he went on, ‘It’s Jenny.’ And then he said, ‘She’s legitimate. He married Jennifer Hill.’ Mrs. Forbes said, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said, ‘I’m talking about Jenny.’ And she was angry—she was very angry. She said, ‘You’re talking nonsense! There was no marriage!’ And he said, ‘There was a marriage. And I’m not asking you to take my word for it. I’ve seen the certificate at Somerset House.’ ”
    “What!”
    Now that it was said, Jenny felt better. It was like a calm after the storm. She said,
    “They went on talking. There was a letter from my father. Garsty talked about it when she was dying. She said it was in a little chest. She said my father called my mother his wife. She said she didn’t read any more but she kept it for me. Poor Garsty—she loved me so much—she was so good to me. She wasn’t sure about the marriage, and she didn’t like to make sure because she was afraid that I should be taken away from her. That was how it was. You didn’t know Garsty. Nobody who didn’t know her could tell how good she was. She died ten days ago, and I went up to Alington House to look after the little girls. That was how I came to be there in the schoolroom. So I waited till they would all be asleep and came away.”
    There was a long, long pause. She stood there waiting. Waiting for him to make up his mind. If he helped her, it wouldn’t end with his giving her a lift to wherever she wanted to go. He was quite sure about that. This wasn’t a light-hearted adventure, it was deadly serious. His brows drew together in a frown.
    “Where do you want to go?”
    She answered without any hesitation.
    “I don’t mind. I want to get away.”
    “Have you any money?”
    “Oh, yes, I’ve got nearly ten pounds. I thought they’d take me in at a cottage, and I could look for something to do—something with children. I like children.”
    He said reluctantly—he was surprised to find how reluctantly,
    “Look here, don’t you think you had better go back and do things properly? If you are really Richard Forbes’ daughter, they can’t make any bones about it. They’re bound to acknowledge you, and it will save a lot of talk.”
    She shrank back, and then checked herself. She said,
    “I can’t do that.”
    “Why can’t you?”
    Jenny caught her breath.
    “I can’t.” The colour rose in her cheeks.
    He said a little impatiently,
    “It’s the sensible thing to do.”
    “I can’t do it. Oh, you don’t understand.”
    “I can’t understand if you don’t tell me.”
    “It’s because of what he said—Mac. He said—he could marry me. He said it just like that. When his mother said, ‘No—no,’ he laughed, and he said, ‘You don’t suppose I want to marry the girl, do you?’ And he went on to say worse things. He said he would marry me, and they would hold their tongues. If it ever came out it would be just too bad, but there would be nothing to be done about it. They didn’t know, and I didn’t know. Once we were married it didn’t really matter. That’s what Mac said. He said, ‘I shall be the noble cousin who married her when she was the illegitimate poor relation.’ ”
    Jenny had said her say. She had said it quietly. If it had come out, as it might have done, in a storm of sobs, it would not have been nearly so convincing. As it was, he was convinced. And something more. He was swept by such an insensate fury against Mac that it took him all he knew to fight it down. He said shortly,
    “All right, get in. We’d better be on our way.”

Chapter XII
    They drove along without speaking. He had to swallow his anger, and that wasn’t easy. It was in fact quite surprisingly