The Alington Inheritance

Mrs. Forbes made herself give a civil answer. She was about to turn away, when Miss Crampton said,

“Of course you know this Richard Forbes?”

Mrs. Forbes was too taken aback to be altogether wise. She said, “What Richard Forbes?” and she said it more sharply than she should have done.

Miss Crampton was delighted. Her smile bordered on the genial as she said,

“Why, don’t you know him? How very extraordinary! He is Miss Danesworth’s nephew. She has the house next to my cousin Mrs. Merridew, and Je

Mrs. Forbes said firmly, “Oh, yes. Yes, of course. You confused me. Oh-so Je

Miss Crampton didn’t know when she had felt so pleased and excited.

“My dear Mrs. Forbes, they arrived together! He and Je

Mrs. Forbes was brought to a standstill. Her tongue burned with the things which she must on no account say to Miss Crampton. How she restrained herself, she did not know. She stood quite still and gathered herself together.

“A most inconvenient time to arrive anywhere,” she said. “The young man is a cousin of ours of course, but a very distant one. I’ve never met him myself, but I believe that Je

Miss Crampton was enjoying herself. She said, “Oh, really?” and Mrs. Forbes said, “Yes,” in her most decided voice. And then,

“Well, I’ll be getting home. Good-morning, Miss Crampton.”

Miss Crampton went home and sat down and wrote a letter to her cousin Mrs. Merridew.

“My dear Laura,

Your letter has interested me very much indeed. I met Mrs. Forbes in the village shop this morning, and I don’t think there is the slightest reason to suppose that she knew where Je

Your affectionate cousin

Melita Crampton.”

Mrs. Forbes walked home. At first indignation lent her a certain force. She moved quickly and with a very determined tread. And then, as she got out of the village, her step slackened and she began to walk slowly and yet more slowly. She had felt as if the time taken to walk up to Alington House was too long. She couldn’t wait to get on the phone to Mac, and to tell him what she had just been told.

And then, as her first fury died down and her step slackened, a change came over her mood. The girl in the telephone exchange-she would be listening. Mrs. Forbes didn’t see her missing a call at this juncture. She would know all about Je

It was unlucky for Meg that she chose this moment to intrude.

“Mother-”

Mrs. Forbes turned.

“What are you doing here?”

Joyce would have run away, but Meg stood her ground.

“I only wanted to know-about Na

Mrs. Forbes turned a quite uncomprehending look upon her little daughter. She simply didn’t know what the child was talking about. Her temper had begun to rise.

“What is it-what is it?”

Meg began again. Grown-up people were very stupid. She had put it quite plainly.

“It’s Na

Mrs. Forbes turned on her.

“I thought I told you to go up to the schoolroom! Don’t you know enough not to disobey me?”

Meg knew danger when she saw it. She saw it now. It was not the time to continue the conversation about the kitten. She scuffled away, and Mrs. Forbes turned and went into the writing-room. She wrote:

“Dear Mac,

I have just had a very unpleasant experience. I was down in the village at Mrs. Boddles’, and that Miss Crampton was there. She is a most impertinent woman, and I have never had more to do with her than I could help, but on this occasion there was no avoiding her. She informed not only me but Mrs. Boddles and everyone else in the shop that Je

Your loving Mother.”

When she had finished the letter she went up to the schoolroom, collected Carter and the little girls, and sent them out to the post. Mac would get the letter next morning.

Mac got it. It was lying on his table when he came out of his room whistling. He stopped when he saw the letter, picked it up, and opened it. He read it through twice. Then he lit a match and set fire to it. It burned away to a black ash. He opened the window and crumbled up all that was left of it. Afterwards when he had shut the window again he stood by it for a long time thinking and pla