He was taken aback, but I saw the amused look in his eyes.
"Polly!" I said reproachfully.
"No. You let me have my say. I've had enough of this, if you haven't. I'm going to tell these Framlings a thing or two.
Coming here ... upsetting you. He's going to have the truth."
"Nothing would please me more," said Fabian.
"Oh! You won't be so pleased when you hear it, I can tell you, and if them policemen come here trying to trap Drusilla into saying what they want, I'll tell them, too. Drusilla's done a lot for your sister. Whose child do you think it is we've got here? Your sister's, that's whose. Drusilla tried to help her and gets insulted for it. Who was it went away with her to that home? Pretending they were at Princess something or other's place? Who was it brought the baby to me? It was plain to me when they come here that your sister didn't know the difference between a baby and a pound of butter—and cared just about as much. So I am not having you here bullying Drusilla. You go back and bully your sister. She's the cause of the trouble."
He said, "Thank you for telling me." He turned to me. "This is true, I suppose?"
"Of course it's true," cried Polly. "Are you calling me a liar?"
"No, Madam, but I thought a little corroboration might be in order."
"Now we're in this bother and it's all along of your sister. So don't you start accusing Drusilla of nothing, because I won't have that, either."
"You are quite right," he said, "and I am indebted to you. It is an unpleasant situation and I want to do all I can to help."
"H'm," said Polly, slightly mollified. "It's about time, too."
"Yes. Once more you are right. Do you think I might have a little talk with Miss Delany?"
"That's for her to say."
"Yes, certainly," I said.
I was trembling slightly. Polly's revelations had staggered me, but I was glad that he knew, and that I was not the one who had betrayed Lavinia.
Polly said, "Well, I'll take myself off." She looked at me. "Will you be all right?"
"Yes, Polly, thank you."
The door shut on us.
"A redoubtable lady," he said. "So now I have the truth. I think you should tell me more about this. You see, I am deeply involved through my sister. It happened in France, did it?"
"Yes."
"A Frenchman?"
I nodded.
"You knew him?"
"I saw him once or twice."
"I see. And my foolish sister asked for your help."
"Janine Fletcher was a girl at school. She had an aunt."
"So you lied about going to Lindenstein. I knew you hadn't been there, of course."
"Yes. You tried to trap me. And you had some idea of what really happened."
"When I saw the child ..."
"And you thought that I ..."
"It seemed hard to believe."
"Yet you did."
He did not answer. Then he said, "This girl ... Janine ... what do you think happened?"
"I don't know."
"You came along just after. Why?"
"I was trying to talk to her."
"About Lavinia. Was she blackmailing Lavinia?"
I was silent. I did not want to betray her, but of course Polly had already done that.
He was serious now. "My God!" he said. "But she wasn't here. She was at Framling. It must have been ... someone else."
"You mean ..."
"Did that woman have other girls there in the same position?"
"There were some."
"What a mess! It is a pity you were seen there. I am glad I know. I shall keep in touch. I shall be in London. I'll give you the address of my place in town. Get a message to me if anything develops."
He looked really anxious. I imagined he was thinking of the scandal if anything came out about Lavinia's staying at the nursing home and for what reason. That would be headline news. I only rated a mention and a short paragraph. Lavinia's reputation would be in ruins. I could see that her brother was prepared to prevent that at all costs.
I felt a certain relief. I had great confidence in his powers to help. He would be strong and resourceful. Of course, he was only concerned about protecting his sister, but in doing so he would look after me at the same time.
He said he would go now. He took my hands and smiled at me; it was almost like an apology for his behaviour in the past. I was glad that at last he knew the truth and I had not been the one to tell him.
There was no news of the case—just brief references. The police were pursuing their enquiries. There was no more visits from them.
Fabian called at the house. Eff let him in. She was not at all displeased.
"Eff's a rare one for a title," Polly explained. "You'll hear her going on to Second Floor about Sir Fabian calling. She thinks it's good for the house. He looks the part too. I hope he's behaving right."
"Oh yes," I assured her.
"Don't you put up with any old truck from him."
"No, I won't."
He wanted to talk to me about the child, he told me. Those two women had looked after her from birth, had they? I told him they had.
I knew by his attitude that he had a respect for Polly. I think he quite enjoyed her manner of dealing with him, although what she had to impart had been unpalatable. He had seemed faintly amused to contemplate the rector's daughter having stepped out of line; it was not quite so amusing for his own sister.
"It's a little girl, isn't it?"
"Yes. You should meet your niece. Apart from that one encounter on the green you have not seen her."
"I want to meet her. And those two have looked after her, fed her ... clothed her ..."
"They have also loved her," I said.
"Poor child! What would she have done without them ... and you?"
"Lavinia would have had to make some arrangements, but none could have been so good for Fleur as Polly and her sister."
"I want to make sure that they are compensated for what they have done."
"You mean ... money?"
"I did mean that. They cannot be wealthy enough to take care of other people's children. It must be a costly business."
"They are, as they would say, comfortably off. They let rooms and Eff is a good businesswoman. Polly, too. They work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labours. They might be offended if they thought you believed they were in need of money."
"But they have taken the child!"
"They did that for me, because ..."
"Because they made the same mistake as I did. You see, I was not such a villain after all if Polly ... who is so close to you ... Well, perhaps that sort of thing can happen to anyone."
"Perhaps."
"We all have our unguarded moments." He was smiling at me quizzically. Then he said briskly, "I shall find a way of recompensing these good women. Will you talk to them for me? I am afraid I should never be allowed to state my case. They might listen to you."
I said I would speak to them
They were both rather indignant when I told them.
"Who does he think he is?" demanded Polly. "We don't want his money. We've had Fleur since she was a baby. She's ours ... If you took money from a man like that you'd have him dictating ... telling you what you'd got to do. No, we're not having that."
Eff conceded, "It was good of SirFabian to suggest it." She always made the most of the 'Sir' when talking to Second Floor 32 and fell into the habit with us.
"Look, Polly," I said, "you're all right now ... but suppose things didn't go so well. You have to think of Fleur and there will be school and all that."
"I wouldn't want her going to one of them foreign places. A lot of good it did to that Lavinia."
But Eff was more practical. I think Polly's emotions dulled her perception to some extent. She had marked Fabian out as a smooth seducer and she had made up her mind that he had designs on me. She was very wary of him.