Nevertheless, you did not like him the better for it, I thought to myself. Aloud, I asked, ‘Was your daughter happy that matters should be thus arranged?’
‘She wasn’t consulted,’ Miles replied simply. ‘Her assured inheritance of all that is mine was a part of her dowry, along with the sum of money I settled on her and Gideon at the time of their wedding. These are men’s concerns, not women’s. She was sufficiently content to be married at last, after years of being a maid.’ He tried to compose his features into an expression of acceptance for a situation that had plainly irked him. Miles had not cared for his son-in-law, I decided, however much he might have tried to persuade himself and the world otherwise.
‘You haven’t yet answered my question, sir,’ I reminded him, as a further squall of rain spattered against the windows.
‘Question? What question?’ Brooding upon Gideon’s shortcomings, he had forgotten what it was that I had asked him.
‘Was there any good reason why Mistress Bonifant should have been suspected of murdering her husband?’
Once again, the short-sighted, pale blue eyes looked into mine while their owner debated whether or not to tell me the truth.
‘There was none on her part,’ Miles answered at last. ‘Isolda’s affection for Gideon in the weeks and months leading up to the murder appeared to be what it had ever been, I’ll swear to that. And so will everyone else in the house.’ Or incur his undying displeasure was implicit in his tone, although the words remained unspoken.
‘In that case, what can you tell me about Master Bonifant? Did you have any reason to believe that his affection for your daughter had altered in any way? Did he ever give you any hint that all might not be well between them?’
Rain pattered down the chimney and hissed among the burning logs like a plague of snakes. The silence stretched, thin as a tautly drawn wire, but at last Master Babcary shrugged resignedly.
‘Gideon had told me some weeks, maybe a month or so, before the evening of his death that he suspected Isolda of cuckolding him with another man.’
I was betrayed into a gasp, hastily suppressed. ‘And did he happen to mention this other man’s name?’ I asked.
‘No, not directly, but he did tell me on a separate occasion that he had overheard Christopher boasting to his sister of being in love with an older woman, and that he — Christopher, that is — was almost certain that his love was requited.’
I thought about this. ‘You were not the only person in whom Master Bonifant confided his doubts about your daughter and nephew, obviously.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Miles’s tone was accusatory. ‘Have you been talking to other people before you came here?’
I shook my head. ‘Only to Mistress Shore, but you know about that. No, I’m judging by the fact that if you had been the sole recipient of Gideon’s confidence, his accusation would not have become generally known. You would have said nothing that would in any way have incriminated your daughter, and certainly not once your son-in-law had been murdered.’
‘Why should I? I had no idea if the slander were true or false,’ was the indignant rejoinder. ‘Would you expect me to repeat something detrimental about my own child for which I only had Gideon’s word?’
‘I’m not blaming you,’ I said hurriedly. ‘I have a daughter of my own, and whatever might be right in the eyes of God or the law, I know that I could never do anything that might harm her.’
‘Not even if you thought she had committed some great sin?’ Miles Babcary asked in a voice so low that I almost failed to hear him.
‘No, not even then,’ I admitted, ‘for that’s the nature of the tie between my child and me.’ He nodded to show that he understood, and I continued, ‘So who else did your son-in-law confide in?’
‘In Gregory Napier, the last person in the world I should ever have wished to be privy to my family’s affairs.’ Miles spoke bitterly, and I could see that his hands had begun to tremble. ‘There were also one or two others who came forward to say that Gideon had made them free of his suspicions. One was his former master, Ford, the apothecary, whose shop is in Bucklersbury.’
‘And what was Mistress Bonifant’s response to these accusations?’
‘She just laughed at them. She said they were absurd and that we must be making them up. At first, she didn’t seem to grasp how serious they were, especially after Gideon had been poisoned.’
‘And when she did?’
‘She was completely bewildered, poor girl. She couldn’t begin to imagine why Gideon would have wanted to spread such lies about her, and demanded to know the identity of the man with whom she was supposed to have been unfaithful.’
‘And when it emerged that it was her cousin, what did your nephew have to say?’
Master Babcary rubbed the side of his nose with his finger. ‘Kit denied it furiously. He also denied that he had ever told his sister that he was in love with an older woman, and that the woman might be in love with him. Nell, of course, upheld his story.’
‘Of course! But did you believe her?’
Master Babcary pursed his lips. ‘Ye-es,’ he said, but with a lack of conviction that made me raise my eyebrows. Reluctantly he confessed, ‘Nell has led a very sheltered life, first with her father, then with me. She is inclined to get flustered when she is hostilely questioned, or feels herself under threat in any way.’ He stared long and hard into the burning heart of the fire. ‘Sometimes, she sounds as though she’s lying when she isn’t. There are people like that, you know,’ he added eagerly. ‘She’s very shy.’
I agreed that there were indeed people in whom the mildest interrogation aroused the strongest sensation of guilt, even when they were entirely innocent of any wrongdoing. Eleanor Babcary could well be one of them, but it was also possible that, on this particular occasion, she might not have been telling the truth in order to protect her brother. I suspected from his general demeanour that her uncle had thought her denial less than ingenuous. But when I suggested this possibility to him, Miles sprang hotly to her defence.
‘I’ll swear that she wasn’t lying. You don’t know that girl as I do, Master Chapman. She is as open and as honest as the day. She abhors untruths, I tell you. She simply gets confused, as I have already explained, when faced with a barrage of questions.’
‘And who questioned her?’
‘One of the Sheriff’s officers, naturally, for of course we were obliged to send for the Law as soon as we realised that my son-in-law had been poisoned. The officer wasn’t as gentle with Nell as he might have been, and consequently her attitude persuaded him that she was lying.’
‘But she stuck to her story?’
‘Oh, yes! That, more than anything, convinced me that she must be telling the truth.’
I refrained from pointing out that if Eleanor Babcary abhorred untruths, as her uncle had just maintained, he would have needed no convincing: he would have known for a fact that his niece was not lying. Moreover, I believe that the person has not been born who is totally incapable of telling a falsehood. Surely, if for no other reason, we all instinctively make the effort to protect those whom we love.
The door opened and Mistress Bonifant’s voice sounded calmly through the gloom, unperturbed by the fact that she knew we must have been talking about her.
‘It’s nearly four o’clock, Father. Will Master Chapman be staying to supper?’
‘I — er — I have no idea, my dear.’ He turned to me. ‘Master Chapman, would you care to share our evening meal with us? You would be very welcome.’
‘I was unaware that the day was so far advanced,’ I said, getting to my feet. ‘Thank you for your offer, Mistress Bonifant, but I must go back to the Voyager and take supper with my wife. This visit to London was to have been a holiday for both of us, and I cannot neglect her any further this evening. Tomorrow being Sunday, I shan’t disturb your Sabbath peace, but, with your permission, Master Babcary, I’ll return on Monday and question the other members of your household.’