Free Silence in Court by Patricia Wentworth Page B

had been deceived, and that was the one thing she never could forgive, and I was to ring up Mr. Aylwin and tell him to come round at once because she was going to alter her will. I tried to soothe her down and get her to wait, but she simply wouldn’t listen. I was afraid she would make herself ill, so I did it. But Mr. Aylwin is in Scotland, so then she said she would have Mr. Hood, and he came round and was there a long time—at least it seemed like it.”
    â€œHave you seen her since?”
    â€œNo. Nora came in and had tea with her. And then Honor, and she saw her too. That was after Nora went out again. What did she say to you just now?”
    â€œThe same as she said to you—someone had deceived her, and she was going to put it across them. Theme with variations. All very temperamental and not at all what the doctor would order. And right in the middle of it Magda had to come in and say of course she couldn’t take her evening, Mrs. Maquisten was so upset. And then the fur did begin to fly. She told Magda just where she got off—said Ellen had put her to bed for thirty-five years and she supposed she could do it again, and if there was another word about it, Magda could take herself off for keeps. I think she’d have loved to knock up a row, but Magda stayed perfectly calm—the triple shield of starch. It emerged that she thought Aunt Honoria ought to have a sleeping-draught after all the excitement, and she thought she ought to be in to give it to her. She doesn’t like taking anything, but if she gets too excited she’s supposed to take these tabloids—only she can’t swallow them, or she thinks she can’t, which comes to the same thing, so they have to be melted down, and she takes them in coffee, with a dash of brandy to take away the taste. Well, I said, ‘Look here, you’re making no end of a song and dance about this. What’s wrong with your putting the stuff ready and Ellen can give it to her?’ I could see Aunt Honoria was mad keen to get Magda out of the way. She’s working up for a major family scene and she wants a free hand and no eavesdropping.” He paused, shifted his position, grimacing as if the movement jarred him, and said, “Did she tell you who she was cutting off with a shilling?”
    â€œNo, she didn’t.”
    â€œNo hint—nothing to guess on?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œNor she did to me—just raged and said they’d be sorry they’d ever been born.”
    â€œDid she say they? ”
    â€œYes. But not meant plural—meant to avoid saying he or she. At least that’s the way I took it. And you’ll see she won’t say anything to the others either—not to whoever it is, or anyone. She’ll just leave us all to simmer, searching our consciences and shaking in our shoes, wondering which of our sins has found us out, and then she’ll stage a grand scene of repudiation.” He laughed a little. “She’s deep. I wouldn’t put it past her to be fishing for a confession. Rattle people enough, and they do confess, you know. And wouldn’t it be meat and drink to her if we trooped up one by one and each got a different confession off our chests—” He broke off abruptly and asked, “When will Aylwin be back?”
    â€œTomorrow night.”
    â€œThen I should think she’d wait for him. But I don’t know—she’s feeling very fierce, and there’s nothing she hates like waiting. She told me Ernest Hood had gone away with the draft of her new will, and he was to get it all ship-shape and bring it back tomorrow for her to sign. That looks as if she wasn’t going to wait. Of course she might sign the will and keep the terms up her sleeve until she could get Aylwin round to assist at the execution of the criminal. She likes a good full house when she puts on one of her acts.”
    Carey said, “Do you mean