‘He told you that Miss Cara had actually contemplated marrying Alan Thompson?“
Stephen frowned.
‘He put up an extremely circumstantial story. It seems that his brother Cyril was the Rector of the old parish church of Hilton, and that for some reason Underhill falls within that parish.’
Miss Silver exclaimed.
‘Dear me! They surely did not put up the banns there!’
‘Oh, no. But Alan Thompson came to the Rector about getting a licence – in the strictest confidence.’
Miss Silver looked shocked.
‘Then surely he did not tell his brother! It would be a very serious breach!’
‘Oh, no, he didn’t tell anyone. But he seems to have been a good deal troubled at the idea of such a marriage, and he wrote about it in his diary.’
Miss Silver’s disapproval deepened.
‘Colonel Gatling should have regarded such a diary as sacred.’
Stephen was inclined to agree with her, but he said,
‘Well, he was his brother’s executor, and he wasn’t just rummaging in the diary. There was some question about rents that had been remitted, and he went to the diary to see whether it backed up what the tenants said. The date was a matter of three years ago, and he stumbled on the Reverend Cyril’s heart-searchings over what he called “this most unnatural marriage”. He appears to have made strong representations to Thompson, and to have entirely failed to impress him. Colonel Gatling quoted him as saying that the young man admitted that the marriage would be a business arrangement, and defended it on the grounds that Miss Cara had always had a bad time and been bullied by her sister, and that if he was her husband he would be in a position to see that she got better treatment. Cyril Gatling seems to have been very unhappy about the whole thing, but both parties being of age and compos mentis, he didn’t feel justified in refusing his services. And – this is what will interest you particularly – the licence was actually in his possession when he heard that Alan Thompson had gone off into the blue.’
Miss Silver turned the stocking on her needles.
‘Did Colonel Gatling say whether a date had been fixed for the marriage?’
‘Yes, he did. Alan went off on the fourth of March three years ago. The marriage was to have taken place on the tenth.’
‘And what conclusions did he draw?’
‘He seems to have been quite bewildered, saying again and again that he couldn’t understand it. Colonel Gatling repeated phrases like “I simply cannot understand it. He seemed so determined, so set upon this marriage, so lacking in any response to any attempts to deter him.” Colonel Gatling, of course, found the whole thing quite easy of explanation. He just said, “The fellow got cold feet and bolted.” And that was that.’
Miss Silver knitted in silence for a while. Roger’s stocking, the second of the pair, was almost finished. Another half inch and she would have to begin to think about turning the heel. She said,
‘That would be a natural but superficial explanation. It is possible that it is the true one, but it does not seem to me to agree with what I have heard of Alan Thompson’s character. In all the accounts of him he appears as a good-looking young man with one settled aim in life, to use his good looks and his charms as a substitute for application and industry. He had been two years at Underhill when he disappeared, and from what I have learned from Louisa and others he was during that time steadily increasing his influence over the Miss Benevents, and particularly over Miss Cara. When he found that she could be persuaded into a marriage, and that she would have the power to leave him a life interest in her property – ’
Stephen said, ‘What!’
It was an interruption which Miss Silver would not have excused in the days when she presided over a well-ordered schoolroom, yet at this moment she regarded it with indulgence. There is a certain satisfaction in the delivery of a piece of startling news, and it was quite apparent that what she had just imparted was news which startled Stephen Eversley. She contented herself therefore with a slight reproving cough and proceeded,
‘Louisa is my informant, and I have no reason to doubt what she says. Under the grandfather’s will each daughter who succeeded was to have this power of appointment. As no doubt you know, it is not an unusual provision. It was the knowledge that his daughter Candida would have this power if she ever came into the property which particularly annoyed Mr. Benevent. He used to come here and talk to Canon Arnold about it, and the Canon repeated a good deal of what was said to Louisa. So I feel quite sure that her information is correct. And now, Mr. Eversley, pray consider whether a young man of Alan Thompson’s determination to settle himself in life would have thrown away such an opportunity of doing so.’
‘I suppose he could have got cold feet at the last minute. Look here, what about his letters home? His mother was alive then, wasn’t she? Did they give any indication of his state of mind?’
Miss Silver’s needles clicked.
‘There were no letters, Mr. Eversley.’
‘Do you mean none at all?’
‘From the time that he threw up his clerkship and left Lenton he never communicated with his family. He made it quite clear to his stepfather’s sister, Mrs. Kean, that he did not want to be associated with trade in any way. He seems to have been unaware that she and her husband had a bookshop in Retley, and when she recognised him he made it quite clear that he did not wish to have anything to do with her. These things are indications of a settled determination to leave his origins behind him and to establish himself in as favourable a manner as possible. I am unable to believe that he would throw away such a chance as this marriage would have offered him.’
‘Well, you know what was said about his going off. Suppose he had been taking advantage of his opportunities to line his pockets and Olivia had found him out. She is pretty sharp, you know, and if she had found out about the proposed marriage at the same time, do you suppose she would have hesitated to put the screws on him – “Clear out, or we prosecute”? He wouldn’t really have had much choice, would he?’
Miss Silver smiled.
‘That is quite an ingenious theory, Mr. Eversley, but I believe that it will not bear any closer scrutiny. It does not reckon with the certain fact of Alan Thompson’s influence with Miss Cara. When you consider that it had brought her to within six days of marrying him, and that it was strong enough to induce her to keep the fact a complete secret from the sister who had dominated her all her life, it is clear that Alan would only have had to go to Miss Cara and she would have protected him by declaring that she had given him the money. By far the larger part of the income was hers, and she had only to say the missing sum was a gift from herself. Louisa has told me that she saw Miss Cara just once after Alan disappeared. They met by accident in the precincts of the cathedral, and for the moment Miss Cara was alone. She took Louisa by the hand with the tears running down her face and said, “Oh, why did he go? There was no need – I would have given him anything!” And then Miss Olivia came up and took her away. They went abroad a day or two later.’