Mauleverer Murders

C. Fox-Davies A.

Description

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Oh, he only wrote a letter without the formality of an introduction, in which he took a little too much for granted.

Informations

• Publié par: Forgotten Books
• Date de parution: 27 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780243711246
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

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men were sitting in the Park talk ing politics as had done elsewhere ever since they had l nched together at White s They had dis cussed every other possible complica tion which could be foreseen on the horizon of Eng lish diplomacy for the elder o f the two had been an Ambassador He was one o f the men who had seen and done things and for that reason i f for no others the one thing upon which he hated to talk was his work H d have preferred to saye wou nothing But the younger was garrulous upon the point with the persistency o f the type which con iders it a refimanners to connement of fine the con versation to matters within reach of the listener s occupation With a fellow tradesman every man loves his as a topic of conversation but with one in a calling that is the one subj ect the work an abhors The elder man relapsed into silence Presently a scarlet outrider was seen the tra c a clear passage was made and

THE MAULEVE R E R MU R E R the two men stood uncovered as the ueen drove by The tra c was hardly set in motion again when the attention of the two was once again arrested Near enough to profit by the clear avenue in which the ueen had passed through the thronging and yet far enough behind to give sus of attempting to suggest a unity of party either real or assumed followed a coach perfectly appointed down to its smallest details The four piebald horses which came dancing along on thei r toes would in any case have been striking enough without the added attraction that they were admittedly thefiwhich hadnest tea been seen in London for some seasons past The coa h had several passengers in addition to the menservants in their white and scarlet liveries but alone on the box seat sat a handsome woman chieflbrilliantof her on account y noticeable flaming hai r and the excellence of her costum She han her horses amongst the crowd of vehicles with marvellous dexterit y and consummate skill under far from easy circumstances The younger man raised his hat and was acknowledged Who s that Alan When one s out of Eng land so much one loses touch of the new beauties Well i f you want to ow she s a mystery Who she is or what she is nobody has really found out yet I can tell you no more than you can already guess She is a wealthy beauti ful woman

THE MAULEVE R E R MU RDE RS associating with and reputed to be one of the swe l set amongst the demi mondain es But at the same time she is a little lady of very decided opinions and one it pays nobody to take liberties with Young Lord Salford but then he always was an presumed a bit too much a month or two ago but she paid him out What did he do Oh he only wrote a letter without the formality an introduction in which he took a ittle much for granted How did she pay him out Just threatened sue him for breach of prom said she knew she hadn t a chance of a verdi t but thought his letter was such an interesting piece o f evidence it would be a thousand pities to deprive the press of a legitimate opportunity of publishing said she knew they liked big names What happened She gave him the alternative of a public apology in the advertisement columns o f the He sent her an apology marked Private and a cheque for and he had both of em back by retu rn of post with an intimation that usually it only took her forty eight hours to make up her mind The letter was distinctively characteristi o f the lady I suppose he apologized Yes he enclosed her a letter addressed to the with the signed apology and the

THE M AULEVE R E R MU R D E RS cost o f the advertisement and asked i f the wording the apolo y be to please post it She tore em both up and heard no mor it which also was characteristic But whisperings reached one or of us and young Tommy Salford has been thorns ever since lest his prospective old father law is something in the Dean B ishop line should get to hear of it She seems a curious young person What name Vivienne Vane Didn t you notic the interlaced V s on the coach She s rather proud that monogram had such a l ot trouble about it Tried all the stationers in L ndon and said that all them had afied idea that V s made a W Then she wrote told him what she wanted and said i f he could t it she d give it up but that i f he w ouould he l d have a cheque or he could come to tea or paint portrait whichever he liked He sent her the monogram and might he come to tea but his wi fe got to know and said he would do no such thing al l the village is taking a hand in the story and trying tofia tea x up for himpa y so that he shall meet the fai r Vivi enne Since then eve ybody has been getting to know just a little more about his wi fe than they kne w before Vivienne says that i f the lady doesn t untie the apron string pr tt y q uic k ly she will and pose

MAULEVE RE R MU RDE RS him as a model the altogether but I doubt i f it really came the point She came in here yesterday d iving a pai r of donkeys tandem in a coster cart w didbehind She ith a man in livery bring them along I believe she could drive a team runaw y zebras The only other woman is a patch on at the Jehu game is the Duches of Merioneth They are not unlike each other in appearance and M iss Vivienne knows that and rather trades on it We ve tried hard to em both in to the same driving competition down at Rane agh next Saturday They are both entered but I expect the Duchess willfight shy i f she hears Vivi enne has been put down for the ame event It all depends whether she spots f air Vivie is enteredVane who M iss ne as the Lu kily there plenty more of the name about and the secretary didn t smell a so perhaps Grace won t either Shall I introduce you A w himsical smile spread over the Ambassador s f he burst into a short laughace then I m going Russia next it s been settled da y and I think it don t of awould be much recommendation i f I up at Petersburg withtu rned the odour o f M iss Vane s ski rts traceable You see we have to know things and I have an idea I ve heard M iss Vane s name before I dare say you ll know later on Those things always leak But I think I Ranelaghshall turn up at S aturda y

I I

OT anything on night Ash l ey A suit clothes shirt pants

Oh don t be more an ass than usual know what I mean I m a bit a hole I said I woul take Vivienne Vane the Gaie y supper at the Savoy and like f ool I f and I haveorgot all about it promised meet the Danvers crowd in thei r box at the Opera and supper with them at the Carl I can t both and it s serious business with me over the Danvers girl She s a lady with a

Wel l thethen hand f Vivienne over ai r me know her but I imagine she is unlike the usual y oung person sup unattendeis agreeable with a mere man at the Savoy That s j ust where make a mis ake Tem est I don t suppose she will obj ect meal with instea with me she is distinctly the ype which is lways hankering a f ter some new thing but she is ve y far from bein like the