"That's very nice!" said Cora Lansquenet with real appreciation. "An income! How much?"
"I - er - can't say exactly, at present. Death duties, of course will be heavy and -"
"Can't you give me any idea?"
Mr Entwhistle realised that Cora must be appeased.
"Possibly somewhere in the neighbourhood of three to four thousand a year."
"Goody!" said Cora. "I shall go to Capri."
Helen Abernethie said softly:
"How very kind and generous of Richard. I do appreciate his affection towards me."
"He was very fond of you," said Mr Entwhistle. "Leo was his
favourite brother and your visits to him were always much appreciated
after Leo died."
Helen said regretfully:
"I wish I had realised how ill he was - I came up to see him not
long before he died, but although I knew he had been ill, I did not
think it was serious."
"It was always serious," said Mr Entwhistle. "But he did not want
it talked about and I do not believe that anybody expected the end to
come as soon as it did. The doctor was quite surprised, I know."
"'Suddenly, at his residence,' that's what it said in the paper," said Cora, nodding her head. "I wondered, then."
"It was a shock to all of us," said Maude Abernethie. "It upset poor Timothy dreadfully. So sudden, he kept saying. So sudden."
"Still, it's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it?" said Cora.
Everybody stared at her and she seemed a little flustered.
"I think you're all quite right," she said hurriedly. "Quite right.
I mean - it can't do any good - making it public. Very unpleasant for
everybody. It should be kept strictly in the family."
The faces turned towards her looked even more blank.
Mr Entwhistle leaned forward:
"Really, Cora, I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean."
Cora Lansquenet looked round at the family in wide-eyed surprise. She tilted her head on one side with a bird-like movement.
