The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith — John Shaqi
The Astonishing Adventure of Jane SmithWentworth, Patricia
General
The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith
Wentworth, Patricia
Adventure stories; Cousins -- Fiction; Detective and mystery stories
“It’s all mad,” she said, “but I’ve quite made up my mind. Renata shall
elope, and I will go to Luttrell Marches. It will be better than the
workhouse anyhow. You know, Henry, seriously, I have a lot of
qualifications for being a sleuth. Jimmy taught me simply heaps of
languages, I’ve got eyes like gimlets, and I can do lip-reading.”
“What?”
“Yes, I can. Jimmy had a perfectly deaf housekeeper, and it worried him
to hear us shouting at each other, so I had her taught, and learned
myself for fun.”
Henry crossed to the bookcase and came back with a photograph album in
his hand. Taking a loose card from between the pages, he put it down in
front of Jane, saying:
“There you may as well make your host’s acquaintance.”
Jane looked long at the face which was sufficiently well known to the
public. The massive head, the great brow with eyes set very deep beneath
shaggy tufts of hair, the rather hard mouth—all these were already
familiar to her, and yet she looked long. After a few moments’
hesitation, Henry put a second photograph upon the top of the first, and
this time Jane caught her breath. It was the picture of a woman in
evening dress. The neck and shoulders were like those of a statue,
beautiful and, as it were, rigid. But it was the beauty of the face that
took Jane’s breath away—that and a certain look in the eyes. The word
hungry came into her mind and stayed there. A woman with proud lips and
hungry eyes, and the most beautiful face in the world.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Raymond Carr-Magnus. She is Lady Heritage, and a widow now—Sir
William’s only child. He gave her a boy’s name and a boy’s
education—brought her up to take his place, and found himself with a
lovely woman on his hands. This was done from Amory’s portrait of her in
1915—the year of her marriage. She was at one time engaged to my Cousin
Anthony. If you do go to Luttrell Marches, you will see her, for she
makes her home with Sir William.”
Henry’s voice was perfectly expressionless. The short sentences followed
one another with a little pause after each. Jane looked sideways, and
said very quick and low:
“Were you very fond of her, Henry?”
And when she had said it, her heart beat and her hands gripped one
another.
Henry took the photograph from her lap.
“I said she was engaged to Tony.”
“Yes, Henry, but were you fond of her?”
“Confound you, Jane. Yes, I was.”
“Well, I don’t wonder.”
Jane rose to her feet.
“I must be going,” she said. “I have an assignation with Arnold
Todhunter, who is going to take me up a fire-escape and substitute me
for Renata.”
Henry took out a pocket-book.
“Will you give me Molloy’s address, please?” And when she had given it:
“You know, my good girl, there’s nothing on earth to prevent my having
that flat raided and your cousin’s deposition taken.”
“No, of course not,” said Jane—“only then nobody will go down to
Luttrell Marches and find out what’s going on there.”
She looked straight at Henry as she spoke.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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