The Keeper of Secrets by Judith Cutler Page A

dislodge a rusty nail, and commend such joints to Davies’ immediate attention. The jury will bring in their verdict of natural causes and the coroner will recommend that all bridges in the area should be inspected – a recommendation that everyone will promptly ignore. He will then condole with her ladyship and the new Lord Elham. You mark my words.’
    ‘But what if—? How can you predict what a jury will do?’
    ‘It will be a jury of her household, Tobias,’ he explained, exasperated. ‘You cannot imagine her being questioned by thelikes of Bulmer or Miller, can you? Well, then. For God’s sake, sit down and have another sip of brandy to compose you.’
    For the sake of our friendship, I obeyed.
    ‘In any case, there are aspects of the accident that are deserving of explanation, do you not think? The nearest we have to a witness to the events is the young lad who assisted her ladyship and ran for further aid. Despite Lady Elham’s clear description, despite the considerable reward she has offered, he has never presented himself. I do not like to be thwarted, Tobias. I want to know that he does indeed exist – though I suppose he must have done once, for aid was indeed fetched.’
    ‘You mean—? Will you admit your doubts to Sir Willard?’
    ‘I can scarce tell him that I suspect her ladyship of lying and needing the lad to give credence to her tale.’
    ‘Indeed not!’
    ‘And then there are her ladyship’s fingernails.’
    Choking on my brandy, I asked, ‘Did I hear you aright? Her ladyship’s fingernails? What do they have to do with anything?’
    He smiled expansively. ‘At last I have your full attention. Tell me, Tobias, what happens when you grip something tightly to pull it along. Something covered in fabric and very heavy.’
    ‘Her ladyship complained of pain in her back.’
    ‘She did. And she would – in such circumstances – scarce complain that she had broken her fingernails. But I assure you that that is likely to happen – particularly if you have such long elegant nails as she, troubled by nothing more than a little delicate stitchery. Young Lizzie tells me she was not required to trim the nails in question on the day of the death.’
    ‘You have spoken to Lizzie about this?’ I asked too quickly. To cover my confusion and account for redness about my face, I placed another log on the fire.
    ‘Only to ask about her ladyship’s general health. I hope she did not notice the singularity of my question about fingernails. There were no nail parings in the waste bin, either.’
    ‘Surely her ladyship wore gloves!’ I leant back, pleased to have scored a point in such an important contest. My cousin’s reputation was paramount.
    ‘It would be easy enough to dispose of a pair of ruined gloves… No, Tobias, I will be silent. Now, let us not give this another thought.’
     
    When the inquest finally took place, Hansard’s predictions were proved right. Held in the civilised surroundings of his late lordship’s library, it was the merest formality, hardly worth the effort of convening it. Even I could see that Sir Willard Comfrey was less interested in discovering the truth than in preserving the comfortable status quo. No one would have dared challenge anything, not even Hansard at his most bellicose, with her ladyship in deepest mourning standing as pale as Marie Antoinette must have looked on the tumbril. The members of the household selected as jury had no difficulty at all in agreeing that poor Lord Elham had a seizure, collapsed on to the bridge and thence into the water, and that her ladyship’s efforts to save her noble husband were much to be commended. They offered their profound condolences and their deepest respects to the new Lord Elham, who had scowled his way through the proceedings. SirWillard had no difficulty in recording the most natural of deaths and in recommending that all bridges be inspected for weak joints.
    The ladies retired to comfort her ladyship,