"Oh, yes."
Susan paused and then said:
"Was Aunt Cora surprised when - he died?"
"Oh yes, it was quite sudden, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was sudden... I meant - she was surprised. He hadn't given her any indication how ill he was."
"Oh - I see what you mean." Miss Gilchrist paused a moment. "No,
no, I think perhaps you are right. She did say that he had got very old -
I think she said senile..."
"But you didn't think he was senile?"
"Well, not to look at. But I didn't talk to him much, naturally I left them alone together."
Susan looked at Miss Gilchrist speculatively. Was Miss Gilchrist
the kind of woman who listened at doors? She was honest, Susan felt
sure, she wouldn't ever pilfer, or cheat over the housekeeping, or open
letters. But inquisitiveness can drape itself in a mantle of rectitude.
Miss Gilchrist might have found it necessary to garden near an open
window, or to dust the hall... That would be within the permitted
lengths. And then, of course, she could not have helped hearing
something...
"You didn't hear any of their conversation?" Susan asked.
Too abrupt. Miss Gilchrist flushed angrily.
"No, indeed, Mrs Banks. It has never been my custom to listen at doors!"
That means she does, thought Susan, otherwise she'd just say "No."
Aloud she said: "I'm so sorry, Miss Gilchrist. I didn't mean it
that way. But sometimes, in these small flimsily built cottages, one
simply can't help hearing nearly everything that goes on, and now that
they are both dead, it's really rather important to the family to know
just what was said at that meeting between them."
The cottage was anything but flimsily built - it dated from a
sturdier era of building, but Miss Gilchrist accepted the bait, and rose
to the suggestion held out.
"Of course what you say is quite true, Mrs Banks - this is a very
small place and I do appreciate that you would want to know what passed
between them, but really I'm afraid I can't help very much. I think they
were talking about Mr Abernethie's health - and certain - well, fancies
he had. He didn't look it, but he must have been a sick man and as is
so often the case, he put his ill-health down to outside agencies. A
common symptom, I believe. My aunt -"
Miss Gilchrist described her aunt.
Susan, like Mr Entwhistle, side-tracked the aunt.
"Yes," she said. "That is just what we thought. My uncle's servants
were all very attached to him and naturally they are upset by his
thinking -" She paused.
"Oh, of course! Servants are very touchy, about anything of that kind. I remember that my aunt -"
Again Susan interrupted.
"It was the servants he suspected, I suppose? Of poisoning him, I mean?"
"I don't know... I - really -"
Susan noted her confusion.
"It wasn't the servants. Was it one particular person?"
"I don't know, Mrs Banks. Really I don't know -"
But her eye avoided Susan's. Susan thought to herself that Miss Gilchrist knew more than she was willing to admit.
It was possible that Miss Gilchrist knew a good deal...
Deciding not to press the point for the moment, Susan said:
"What are your own plans for the future, Miss Gilchrist?"
"Well, really, I was going to speak to you about that, Mrs Banks. I
told Mr Entwhistle I would be willing to stay on until everything here
was cleared up."
"I know. I'm very grateful."
"And I wanted to ask you how long that was likely to be, because, of course, I must start looking about for another post."
Susan considered.
"There's really not very much to be done here. In a couple of days I can get things sorted and notifiy the auctioneer."
"You have decided to sell up everything, then?"
"Yes. I don't suppose there will be any difficulty in letting the cottage?"
"Oh, no - people will queue up for it, I'm sure. There are so few cottages to rent. One nearly always has to buy."
"So it's all very simple, you see." Susan hesitated a moment before
saying, "I wanted to tell you - that I hope you'll accept three months'
salary."
"That's very generous of you, I'm sure, Mrs Banks. I do appreciate
it. And you would be prepared to - I mean I could ask you - if necessary
- to - to recommend me? To say that I had been with a relation of yours
and that I had - proved satisfactory?"
"Oh, of course."
