"That was hazardous, to an extent. But five out of every six women in this county have brown eyes."
"Well, you may think it easy; to me it is marvellous."
"It is positively startling," said Margaret seriously; and if the barrister indulged in a fresh series of deductions he remained silent on the topic.
He tried to lead the conversation to Naples, but was foiled by Mrs.
Capella"s positive disinclination to discuss Italy on any pretext, and Miss Layton"s natural desire not to embarra.s.s her friend.
Indeed, so little headway did he make, so fully was Margaret"s mind taken up with the new departure he had suggested, that when the carriage stopped at the rectory to drop Helen--who wished to tell her father about the dinner and to change her costume--he was strongly tempted to wriggle out of the engagement.
Inclination pulled him to his quiet sitting-room in the County Hotel; impulse bade him remain and make the most of the meagre opportunities offered by the drift of conversation.
"I hope," said Helen, at parting, "that I may persuade you to come here and dine with my father some evening when Mrs. Capella and I are in town.
If you take any interest in old coins he will entertain you for hours."
"Then I depend on you to bring an invitation to the Hall this evening. I expect to be in Stowmarket next week."
"Are you leaving to-morrow?" inquired Mrs. Capella.
"I think so."
"Would you care to walk to the house with me now?"
"I will be delighted."
So the carriage was sent off, and the two followed on foot. Brett thought that impulse had led him aright.
Once past the lodge gates, Margaret looked at him suddenly, with a quick, searching glance. Hume was not in error when he spoke of her "Continental tricks of manner."
"You wonder," she said, "why I do not trust you fully? You know that I am keeping something back from you? You imagine that you can guess a good deal of what I am endeavouring to hide?"
"To all those questions, I may generally answer "Yes.""
"Of course. You observe the small things of life. The larger events are built from them. Well, I can be candid with you. My husband believes that I not only deceived him in regard to my marriage, but he is, or was, very jealous of me."
She paused, apparently unable to frame her words satisfactorily.
"Having said so much," put in the barrister gently, "you might be more specific."
His cool, even voice rea.s.sured her.
"I hardly know how best to express myself," she cried. "Question me. I will reply so far as I am able."
"Thank you. You have told me that you first met Mr. Capella on New Year"s Eve two years ago, at Covent Garden?"
"That is so."
"Had you ever heard of him before?"
"Never. He was brought to my party by an Italian friend."
"Did the acquaintance ripen rapidly?"
"Yes. We found that our tastes were identical in many respects. I did not know of my brother"s death until the 2nd of January. No one in Beechcroft had my address, and my solicitor"s office was closed on the holiday. Mr.
Capella called on me, by request, the day after the ball, and already I became aware of his admiration. Italians are quick to fall in love."
"And afterwards?"
"When poor Alan"s murder appeared in the press, Giovanni was among the first to write me a sympathetic letter. Later on we met several times in London. I did not come to reside in the Hall until all legal formalities were settled. A year pa.s.sed. I went to Naples. He came from his estate in Calabria, and we renewed our friendship. You do not know, perhaps, that he is a count in his own country, but we decided not to use the t.i.tle here."
"Then Mr. Capella is not a poor man?"
"By no means. He is far from rich as we understand the word. He is worth, I believe, 1,500 a-year. Why do you ask? Had you the impression that he married me for my money?"
"There might well be other reasons," thought Brett, glancing at the beautiful and stately woman by his side. But it was no moment for idle compliments.
"Such things have been done," he said drily.
"Then disabuse your mind of the idea. He is a very proud man. His estates are involved, and in our first few days of happiness we did indeed discuss the means of freeing them, whilst our marriage contract stipulates that in the event of either of us predeceasing the other, and there being no children, the survivor inherits. But all at once a cloud came between us, and Giovanni has curtly declined any a.s.sistance by me in discharging his family debt."
Brett could not help remembering Capella"s pa.s.sionate declaration to Helen, but Margaret"s words read a new meaning into it. Possibly the Italian was only making a forlorn hope attack on a country maiden"s natural desire to shine amidst her friends. Well, time would tell.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Capella"s outburst of confidence was valuable.
"A cloud!" he said. "What sort of a cloud?"
"Giovanni suddenly discovered that his father and mine were deadly enemies. It was a cruel whim of Fate that brought us together. Poor fellow! He was very fond of his father, and it seems that a legacy of revenge was bequeathed to him against an Englishman named Beechcroft. I remembered, too late, that he once asked me how our house came to be so named, and I explained its English meaning to him. I joked about it, and said the place should rightly be called Yewcroft. During our honeymoon at Naples he learnt that my father, for some reason, had travelled over a large part of Italy in an a.s.sumed name--"
"How did he learn this?" broke in Brett.
"I cannot tell you. The affair happened like a flash of lightning. We had been to Capri one afternoon, and I was tired. I went to my room to rest for a couple of hours, fell asleep, and awoke to find Giovanni staring at me in the most terrifying manner. There was a fierce scene. We are both hot-tempered, and when he accused me of a ridiculous endeavour to hoodwink him in some indefinable way I became very indignant. We patched up a sort of truce, but I may honestly say that we have not had a moment"s happiness since."
"But you spoke of jealousy also?"
"That is really too absurd. My cousin Robert--"
"What, the gentleman from the Argentine?"
"Yes; I suppose David told you about him?"
"He did," said the barrister grimly.
"Robert is poor, you may know. He is also very good-looking."
"A family trait," Brett could not avoid saying.
"It has not been an advantage to us," she replied mournfully.
They were standing now opposite the library, almost on the spot where her brother fell. They turned and strolled back towards the lodge.