I felt numb with shock.
Lucian went on: “So you did not know that Dr. Marline was found guilty?
The governess was deeply involved, but she got off. She was going to have a child. Some people thought that helped her. But there wasn’t enough evidence against her. There was some person . a writer or some thing . who took it up and campaigned for her release. “
I murmured: “Dr. Marline. Miss Carson. It’s hard to believe. Dr. Marline would never have murdered anyone … not even Mrs. Marline.”
“He had his supporters. He had a reputation for caring and great concern for his patients, and many of them thought highly of him.” He looked at me with an odd expression, and I thought for a moment he wanted me to accept the doctor’s guilt.
“He had a motive,” he went on.
“His wife was giving him a bad time and he wanted to marry Miss Carson who was to have his child. There couldn’t have been a stronger motive.”
“I still don’t believe it. Miss Carson was such a good person. We all loved her. She did more for Adeline than anyone. People like that can’t commit murder.”
“People can be goaded too far. That must have happened in the Marlines’ case. It must.”
“I wish I hadn’t discovered all this. I just thought the doctor died and the family dispersed. All these years, I have known nothing about this.”
“Your father obviously thought it better that you did not know.”
“You must have been here when it was all happening.”
“I was away at school. Henry left and went to his aunt. I didn’t know anything about it until it was all over. Then the doctor was dead, the house empty and the rest of them gone.”
We were silent for a while, after which he said: “I think it was wise of your father to do what he did. If you had not come back, you need never have known about it. I can see it has upset you. I am sure he would have realized how you would feel.”
“I really belong to the family,” I said.
“Mrs. Marline was my father’s sister … my aunt, in fact. My father must have thought it better that I should not know, as I was connected with them.”
“I am sure that is what he had in mind. I am sorry this has depressed you. This should have been a pleasant reunion of old friends.”
“I am so pleased to see you again, Lucian.”
“And I you. Tell me about Australia.”
Over sherry trifle and coffee we talked, but my thoughts were really with the Marline tragedy. I felt sure it was on Lucian’s mind too.
I told him about Elsie and her goodness to me; and how Toby had died and she had married her good friend Joe Lester, and how relieved that had made me, because it had enabled me to leave her with a good conscience.
“You don’t plan to go back, then?” he said.
“Well, not at the moment. Later perhaps.”
“Is there anything … anyone … you want to go back for?”
“My friend Gertie is here. I suppose we are rather like sisters. We went to school together. I’m quite friendly with her brother. Well, with all the family really. We all came out to Australia together. They were emigrating. “
I told him something about the life out there and how the Formans had bought a property not far from Sydney, and including an account of the sundowner’s visit and its consequences.
He was very interested and wanted to hear more about James.
“He’s ambitious. He plans on making a fortune out of opals … or perhaps he’ll turn to gold. But I think opals seem to fascinate him.
There’s some place called Lightning Ridge, where there have been some exciting finds. According to James, the best black opals in the world are to be found there. “
Lucian was staring into his coffee cup.
He said slowly: “A fascinating stone, the opal. They interested me at one time. The colours are so beautiful.”
“There is a certain superstition about them, I believe. They are said to be unlucky.”
“That grew up because they break easily,” said Lucian.
“It’s absurd to think a stone can be unlucky.”
“Of course,” he said vehemently.
I was suddenly transported back to Commonwood House in my thoughts.
That was not surprising. Scenes from the past had so often intruded, and now, here I was, not far from the place where it all happened. I was seeing poor Adeline sitting on the floor in her mother’s bedroom, with the contents of the drawer which she had pulled out all around her.
“I wanted to show Lucian the opal ring …”
“What’s the matter?” said Lucian.
“Oh … I was just thinking. I have never really forgotten what happened at Commonwood House. It keeps coming back to me. There was a scene in the house just before Mrs. Marline died. You were there. You had been talking about opals. You and Henry went off somewhere and
Adeline poor Adeline went to her mother’s bedroom to look for the opal she had. She wanted to show it to you. She pulled out the drawer. There was this scene.”
Lucian was sitting back in his chair, his eyes cast down.
“Poor Adeline,” he said.
“Mrs. Marline was very angry and Adeline was terrified of her. Miss Carson comforted her and then she fainted. I suppose a great deal was clear to some of them. I was in a sort of mist. I knew certain things without realizing their significance.”
“It’s no use going back over it,” said Lucian.
“It’s finished. Nothing we can do can alter anything.”
“I know. And I didn’t mean to talk of it. It was all because of the opals and thinking they were unlucky … and it was just after that when Mrs. Marline died.”
“I told you everything pointed to Dr. Marline. It’s horrible and it’s all in the past. Tell me what happened to James.”
“Well, he hadn’t begun to search when I left. He will go soon, I believe. He would have gone long ago if it hadn’t been for the sundowner.”
“Would you like a liqueur to drink to James’s success?”
I declined and we sat there talking, though I could not forget the tragedy at Commonwood House. There was something else I wanted to know about. That was Lucian’s marriage, but I sensed his unwillingness to talk of it.
I was a little puzzled about him. There were moments when he seemed genuinely delighted to see me, and others when he seemed to find the encounter slightly disconcerting. Had that been when we talked of the happenings at Commonwood House?
I mentioned Gertie’s coming wedding.
He said: “You will obviously be here for some time. I get to London occasionally. Perhaps we could meet again. Give me your address. I suppose you will be there for a little time yet.”
“I am rather vague at the moment about what I shall do.
Gertie’s people are most hospitable, but obviously I can’t encroach on them for ever. I think they are certain to want me to stay until the wedding. However, I shall see. “
I wrote out my address and he carefully put it away in his wallet.
He ordered a fly and took me to the station. As the train moved slowly out of the station, he stood, hat in hand, looking after me rather wistfully, I imagined.
I sat back in my seat, thinking about this strange day. The derelict house, the shocking revelations, and my thoughts then turned to Lucian. Of course, he had known great tragedy. He seemed like a man with a secret. I wondered if that were so.
The Warning
“The house in Brier Road doesn’t please Aunt Bee,” said Gertie.
“I think it is because the nursery is too small. It will only accommodate two infants and she is looking for at least ten. How was your visit?
Was it a success? “
I hesitated.
“So it wasn’t,” she said.
“It’s often a mistake to expect to find old acquaintances just as you left them. I know you vow eternal friendship when you part, but naturally you forget … and there’s nothing left really. Dear old Aunt Bee is going house-hunting with a vengeance.”