At Bertram's Hotel - Christie Agatha - Страница 16

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The offices of Egerton, Forbes and Wilborough were in Bloomsbury, in one of those imposing and dignified squares which have as yet not felt the wind of change. Their brass plate was suitably worn down to illegibility. The firm had been going for over a hundred years and a good proportion of the landed gentry of England were their clients. There was no Forbes in the firm any more and no Wilboroughs. Instead there were Atkinsons, father and son, and a Welsh Lloyd and a Scottish MacAllister. There was, however, still an Egerton, descendant of the original Egerton. This particular Egerton was a man of fifty-two and he was adviser to several families which had in their day been advised by his grandfather, his uncle, and his father.

At this moment he was sitting behind a large mahogany desk in his handsome room on the first floor, speaking kindly but firmly to a dejected-looking client. Richard Egerton was a handsome man, tall, dark with a touch of grey at the temples and very shrewd grey eyes. His advice was always good advice, but he seldom minced his words.

"Quite frankly you haven't got a leg to stand upon, Freddie," he was saying. "Not with those letters you've written."

"You don't think-" Freddie murmured dejectedly. "No, I don't," said Egerton. "The only hope is to settle out of court. It might even be held that you've rendered yourself liable to criminal prosecution."

"Oh look here, Richard, that's carrying things a bit far."

There was a small discreet buzz on Egerton's desk. He picked up the telephone receiver with a frown.

"I thought I said I wasn't to be disturbed."

There was a murmur at the other end. Egerton said, "Oh. Yes-yes, I see. Ask her to wait, will you."

He replaced the receiver and turned once more to his unhappy-looking client.

"Look here, Freddie," he said, "I know the law and you don't. You're in a nasty jam. I'll do my best to get you out of it, but it's going to cost you a bit. I doubt if they'd settle for less than twelve thousand."

"Twelve thousand!" The unfortunate Freddie was aghast. "Oh, I say! I haven't got it, Richard."

"Well, you'll have to raise it then. There are always ways and means. If she'll settle for twelve thousand, you'll be lucky, and if you fight the case, it'll cost you a lot more."

"You lawyers!" said Freddie. "Sharks, all of you!" He rose to his feet. "Well," he said, "do your bloody best for me, Richard old boy."

He took his departure, shaking his head sadly. Richard Egerton put Freddie and his affairs out of his mind, and thought about his next client. He said softly to himself, "The Honourable Elvira Blake. I wonder what she's like…" He lifted his receiver. "Lord Frederick's gone. Send up Miss Blake, will you."

As he waited he made little calculations on his desk pad. How many years since-? She must be fifteen- seventeen-perhaps even more than that. Time went so fast. Coniston's daughter, he thought, and Bess's daughter. I wonder which of them she takes after?

The door opened, the clerk announced Miss Elvira Blake and the girl walked into the room. Egerton rose from his chair and came towards her. In appearance, he thought, she did not resemble either of her parents. Tall, slim, very fair, Bess's colouring but none of Bess's vitality, with an old-fashioned air about her; though that was difficult to be sure of, since the fashion in dress happened at the moment to be ruffles and baby bodices.

"Well, well," he said, as he shook hands with her. "This is a surprise. Last time I saw you, you were eleven years old. Come and sit here." He pulled forward a chair and she sat down.

"I suppose," said Elvira, a little uncertainly, "that I ought to have written first. Written and made an appointment. Something like that, but I really made up my mind very suddenly and it seemed an opportunity, since I was in London."

"And what are you doing in London?"

"Having my teeth seen to."

"Beastly things, teeth," said Egerton. "Give us trouble from the cradle to the grave. But I am grateful for the teeth, if it gives me an opportunity of seeing you. Let me see now; you've been in Italy, haven't you, finishing your education there at one of these places all girls go to nowadays?"

"Yes," said Elvira, "the Contessa Martinelli. But I've left there now for good. I'm living with the Melfords in Kent until I make up my mind if there's anything I'd like to do."

"Well, I hope you'll find something satisfactory. You're not thinking of a university or anything like that?"

"No," said Elvira, "I don't think I'd be clever enough for that." She paused before saying, "I suppose you'd have to agree to anything if I did want to do it?"

Egerton's keen eyes focused sharply.

"I am one of your guardians, and a trustee under your father's will, yes," he said. "Therefore, you have a perfect right to approach me at any time."

Elvira said "Thank you," politely.

"Is there anything worrying you?" Egerton asked.

"No. Not really. But you see, I don't know anything. Nobody's ever told me things. One doesn't always like to ask."

He looked at her attentively.

"You mean things about yourself?"

"Yes," said Elvira. "It's kind of you to understand. Uncle Derek-" She hesitated.

"Derek Luscombe, you mean?"

"Yes. I've always called him uncle."

"I see."

"He's very kind," said Elvira, "but he's not the sort of person who ever tells you anything. He just arranges things, and looks a little worried in case they mightn't be what I'd like. Of course he listens to a lot of people-women, I mean-who tell him things. Like Contessa Martinelli. He arranges for me to go to schools or to finishing places."

"And they haven't been where you wanted to go?"

"No, I didn't mean that. They've been quite all right. I mean they've been more or less where everyone else goes."

"I see."

"But I don't know anything about myself. I mean what money I've got, and how much, and what I could do with it if I wanted."

"In fact," said Egerton, with his attractive smile, "you want to talk business. Is that it? Well, I think you're quite right. Let's see. How old are you? Sixteen-seventeen?"

"I'm nearly twenty."

"Oh dear. I'd no idea."

"You see," explained Elvira, "I feel all the time that I'm being shielded and sheltered. It's nice in a way, but it can get very irritating."

"It's an attitude that's gone out of date," agreed Egerton, "but I can quite see that it would appeal to Derek Luscombe."

"He's a dear," said Elvira, "but very difficult, somehow, to talk to seriously."

"Yes, I can see that that might be so. Well, how much do you know about yourself, Elvira? About your family circumstances?"

"I know that my father died when I was five and that my mother had run away from him with someone when I was about two, I don't remember her at all. I barely remember my father. He was very old and had his leg up on a chair. He used to swear. I was rather scared of him. After he died I lived first with an aunt or a cousin or something of my father's, until she died, and then I lived with Uncle Derek and his sister. But then she died and I went to Italy. Uncle Derek has arranged for me, now, to live with the Melfords who are his cousins and very kind and nice and have two daughters about my age."

"You're happy there?"

"I don't know yet. I've barely got there. They're all very dull. I really wanted to know how much money I've got."

"So it's financial information you really want?"

"Yes," said Elvira. "I've got some money, I know. Is it a lot?"

Egerton was serious now. "Yes," he said. "You've got a lot of money. Your father was a very rich man. You were his only child. When he died, the title and the estate went to a cousin. He didn't like the cousin, so he left all his personal property, which was considerable, to his daughter-to you, Elvira. You're a very rich woman, or will be, when you are twentyone."

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