The Talleyrand Maxim - J. S. Fletcher (best ebook reader ubuntu txt) š
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Thursday. He was looking forward to his journey and his stay in India
with keen expectation. He would have the society of a particularly
clever and brilliant man; they were to break their journey in Italy and
in Egypt; he would enjoy exceptional facilities for seeing the native
life of India; he would gain valuable experience. It was a chance at
which any young man would have jumped, and Collingwood had been greatly
envied when it was known that Sir John Standridge had offered it to him.
And yet he was conscious that if he could have done precisely what he
desired, he would have stayed longer at Barford, in order to see more of
Nesta Mallathorpe. Already it seemed a long time to the coming spring,
when he would be backāand free to go North again.
But Collingwood was fated to go North once more much sooner than he had
dreamed of. As he sat at breakfast in his rooms on the Monday morning
after his departure from Barford, turning over his newspaper with no
particular aim or interest, his attention was suddenly and sharply
arrested by a headline. Even that headline might not have led him to
read what lay beneath. But in the same instant in which he saw it he
also saw a nameāMallathorpe. In the next he knew that heavy trouble had
fallen on Normandale Grange, the very day after he had left it.
This is what Collingwood read as he sat, coffee-cup in one hand,
newspaper in the otherāstaring at the lines of unleaded type:
TRAGIC FATE OF YOUNG YORKSHIRE SQUIRE
āA fatal accident, of a particularly sad and disturbing nature,
occurred near Barford, Yorkshire, on Saturday. About four
oāclock on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Linford Pratt, managing clerk
to Messrs. Eldrick & Pascoe, Solicitors, of Barford, who was
crossing the grounds of Normandale Grange on his way to a
business appointment, discovered the dead body of Mr. H. J.
Mallathorpe, the owner of the Normandale Estate, lying in a
roadway which at that point is spanned, forty feet above, by a
narrow footbridge. The latter is an ancient construction of
wood, and there is no doubt that it was in extremely bad repair,
and had given way when the unfortunate young gentleman, who was
out shooting in his park, stepped upon it. Mr. Mallathorpe, who
was only twenty-four years of age, succeeded to the Normandale
estates, one of the finest properties in the neighbourhood of
Barford, about two years ago, under somewhat romanticāand also
tragicācircumstances, their previous owner, his uncle, Mr. John
Mallathorpe, a well-known Barford manufacturer, meeting a sudden
death by the falling of his mill chimneyāa catastrophe which
also caused the deaths of several of his employees. Mr. John
Mallathorpe died intestate, and the estate at Normandale passed
to the young gentleman who met such a sad fate on Saturday
afternoon. Mr. H.J. Mallathorpe was unmarried, and it is
understood that Normandale (which includes the village of that
name, the advowson of the living, and about four thousand acres
of land) now becomes the property of his sister, Miss Nesta
Mallathorpe.ā
Collingwood set down his cup, and dropped the newspaper. He was but half
way through his breakfast, but all his appetite had vanished. All that
he was conscious of was that here was trouble and grief for a girl in
whomāit was useless to deny itāhe had already begun to take a warm
interest. And suddenly he started from his chair and snatched up a
railway guide. As he turned over its pages, he thought rapidly. The
preparations for his journey to India were almost finishedāwhat was not
done he could do in a few hours. He had no further appointment with Sir
John Standridge until nine oāclock on Thursday morning, when he was to
meet him at the train for Dover and Paris. MondayāTuesdayāWednesdayāhe
had three daysāample time to hurry down to Normandale, to do what he
could to help there, and to get back in time to make his own last
arrangements. He glanced at his watchāhe had forty minutes in which to
catch an express from Kingās Cross to Barford. Without further delay he
picked up a suit-case which was already packed and set out for the
station.
He was in Barford soon after two oāclockāin Eldrickās office by
half-past two. Eldrick shook his head at sight of him.
āI can guess whatās brought you down, Collingwood,ā he said. āGood of
you, of courseāI donāt think theyāve many friends out there.ā
āI can scarcely call myself thatāyet,ā answered Collingwood. āButāI
thought I might be of some use. Iāll drive out there presently. But
firstāhow was it?ā
Eldrick shook his head.
āDonāt know much more than what the papers say,ā he answered. āThereās
an old footbridge there that spans a road in the parkāroad cut through
a ravine. They say it was absolutely rotten, and the poor chapās weight
was evidently too much for it. And there was a drop of forty feet into a
hard road. Extraordinary thing that nobody on the estate seems to have
known of the dangerous condition of that bridge!ābut they say it was
little usedāsimply a link between one plantation and another.
However;āitās done, now. Our clerkāPratt, you knowāfound the body.
Hadnāt been dead five minutes, Pratt says.ā
āWhat was Pratt doing there?ā asked Collingwood.
āOh, business of his own,ā replied Eldrick. āNot ours. There was an
advertisement in Saturdayās papers which set out that a steward was
wanted for the Normandale estate, and Pratt mentioned it to me in the
morning that he thought of applying for the job if weād give him a good
testimonial. I suppose heād gone out there to see about the
preliminaries. Anyway, he was walking through the park when he found
young Mallathorpeās body. I understand he made himself very useful, too,
and Iāve sent him out there again today, to do anything he canāsmart
chap, Pratt!ā
āPossibly, then, there is nothing I can do,ā remarked Collingwood.
āI should say youāll do a lot by merely going there,ā answered Eldrick.
āAs I said just now, theyāve few friends, and no relations, and I hear
that Mrs. Mallathorpe is absolutely knocked over. Go, by all meansāa
bit of sympathy goes a long way on these occasions. I say!āwhat a
regular transformation an affair of this sort produces. Do you know,
that young fellow, just like his uncle, had not made any will! Fact!āI
had it from Robson, their solicitor, this very morning. The whole of the
estate comes to the sister, of courseāshe and the mother will share the
personal property. By that ladās death, Nesta Mallathorpe becomes one of
the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire!ā
Collingwood made no reply to this communication. But as he drove off to
Normandale Grange, it was fresh in his mind. And it was not very
pleasant to him. One of the wealthiest young women in Yorkshire!āand he
was already realizing that he would like to make Nesta Mallathorpe his
wife: it was because he felt what he did for her that he had rushed down
to do anything he could that would be of help. Supposingāonly
supposingāthat peopleāanybodyāsaid that he was fortune-hunting!
Somewhat unduly sensitive, proud, almost to a fault, he felt his cheek
redden at the thought, and for a moment he wished that old John
Mallathorpeās wealth had never passed to his niece. But then he sneered
at himself for his presumption.
āAss!ā he said. āSheās never even thought of meāin that way, most
likely! Anyway, Iām a stupid fool for thinking of these things at
present.ā
But he knew, within a few minutes of entering the big, desolate-looking
house, that Nesta had been thinking of him. She came to him in the room
where they had first met, and quietly gave him her hand.
āI was not surprised when they told me you were here,ā she said. āI was
thinking about youāor, rather, expecting to hear from you.ā
āI came at once,ā answered Collingwood, who had kept her hand in his.
āIāwell, I couldnāt stop away. I thought, perhaps, I could do
somethingābe of some use.ā
āItās a great deal of use to have justācome,ā she said. āThank you!
ButāI suppose youāll have to go?ā
āNot for two days, anyway,ā he replied. āWhat can I do?ā
āI donāt know that you can actually do anything,ā she answered.
āEverything is being done. Mr. Eldrick sent his clerk, Mr. Prattāwho
found Harperāheās been most kind and useful. Heāand our own
solicitorāare making all arrangements. Thereās got to be an inquest.
NoāI donāt know that you can do actual things. Butāwhile youāre
hereāyou can look in when you like. My mother is very illāshe has
scarcely spoken since Saturday.ā
āIāll tell you what I will do,ā said Collingwood determinedly. āI
noticed in coming through the village just now that thereās quite a
decent inn there. Iāll go down and arrange to stay there until Wednesday
eveningāthen I shall be close byāif you should need me.ā
He saw by her look of quick appreciation and relief that this suggestion
pleased her. She pressed his hand and withdrew her own. āThank you
again!ā she said. āDo you knowāI canāt quite explaināI should be glad
if you were close at hand? Everybody has been very kindābut I do feel
that there is nobody I can talk to. If you arrange this, will you come
in again this evening?ā
āI shall arrange it,ā answered Collingwood. āIāll see to it now. Tell
your people I am to be brought in whenever I call. AndāIāll be close by
whenever you want me.ā
It seemed little to say, little to do, but he left her feeling that he
was being of some use. And as he went off to make his arrangements at
the inn he encountered Pratt, who was talking to the butler in the outer
hall.
The clerk looked at Collingwood with an unconcern and a composure which
he was able to assume because he had already heard of his presence in
the house. Inwardly, he was malignantly angry that the young barrister
was there, but his voice was suave, and polite enough when he spoke.
āGood afternoon, Mr. Collingwood,ā he said quietly. āVery sad occasion
on which we meet again, sir. Come to offer your sympathy, Mr.
Collingwood, of courseāvery kind of you.ā
āI came,ā answered Collingwood, who was not inclined to bandy phrases
with Pratt, āto see if I could be of any practical use.ā
āJust so, sir,ā said Pratt. āMr. Eldrick sent me here for the same
purpose. Thereās really not much to doābeyond the necessary
arrangements, which are already pretty forward. Going back to town,
sir?ā he went on, following Collingwood out to his motorcar, which
stood waiting in the drive.
āNo!ā replied Collingwood. āIām going to send this man to Barford to
fetch my bag to the inn down there in the village, where Iām going to
stay for a few days. Did you hear that?ā he continued, turning to the
driver. āGo back to Barfordāget my bag from the Station Hotel
thereābring it to the Normandale ArmsāIāll meet you there on your
return.ā
The car went off, and Collingwood, with a nod to Pratt, was about to
turn down a side path towards the village. But Pratt stopped him.
āWould you care to see the place where the accident happened, Mr.
Collingwood?ā he said. āItās close byāwonāt take five minutes.ā
Collingwood hesitated a moment; then he turned back. It might be well,
he reflected, if he made himself acquainted with all the circumstances
of this case, simple as they seemed.
āThank you,ā he said. āIf itās so near.ā
āThis
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