The Shadow at Greystone Chase (An Angela Marchmont Mystery Book 10) by Clara Benson Page B

sad.
    ‘I believe you liked her very much,’ said Angela gently.
    ‘Yes, I did,’ he said. ‘Delightful woman. Don’t mind saying I should have liked to marry her, as a matter of fact. Should have been honoured, but somehow I never dared speak up, and then she married de Lisle and it was all too late after that. He took her to France shortly after their marriage, and then I was posted to Africa, although I made sure she knew that she could always rely on my friendship. They came back here during the war when their house was destroyed, and I’d returned by then too, so I began to visit again. Between you and me I could see she was unhappy in marriage, but it wasn’t my place to say anything, so I didn’t.’
    ‘Why was she unhappy?’ said Angela.
    ‘Why, that husband of hers, of course. Something of a tyrant. Never liked him myself. He was descended from the French kings—or that’s what he said. He set great store by it, and treated his house as his own kingdom, of which he was absolute ruler. Everyone crept around the house for fear of him and what he might do if he was crossed. A fearsome temper, he had.’
    ‘Dear me,’ said Angela.
    ‘Yes,’ said Colonel Dempster. ‘I don’t say a man oughtn’t to be in charge in his own house, but there’s such a thing as taking it too far. The family had to be careful not to seem to want anything too much, because if he suspected it at all he’d make damned sure they didn’t get it, just so they didn’t all start getting too above themselves.’
    ‘Goodness!’ said Angela. ‘That sounds rather mean-spirited.’
    ‘Yes. It was just like him. I remember when Evelyn’s mother was in her final illness and Evelyn wanted to go and see her, he wouldn’t allow it. Said he couldn’t spare her. Of course, in those days a woman didn’t go against her husband’s wishes, and so she was forced to stay at home and never got to say goodbye to her mother.’
    ‘How very sad,’ said Angela.
    ‘Wholly unnecessary,’ said the colonel with a snort.
    ‘If she was unhappy in marriage, then I suppose she had to look elsewhere for happiness,’ said Angela tentatively. ‘What a shame she was let down by her sons, too—or at least, her younger one. What about the elder one, Godfrey? We met him yesterday and he seemed rather a serious sort.’
    ‘He is,’ said the colonel. ‘I can’t say I know Godfrey very well. Not an easy chap to read. One of these brooding, secretive, jealous types, you know. One can never tell what he’s thinking. Expect he had a hard time of it from his father. As the eldest he was always destined to take over the estates and the business when Roger died, of course, and Roger was a hard taskmaster. Godfrey quickly learnt to keep his thoughts to himself if he wanted to stay in his father’s good books. Yes,’ he went on ruminatively. ‘I’ve often thought there’s a lot happening beneath the surface with Godfrey.’
    ‘Did he and his mother get along well?’ said Angela.
    ‘As far as I know,’ said the colonel. ‘But her real favourite was Edgar, who broke her heart in the end.’
    ‘If he was her favourite, then his arrest for murder must have come as an awful shock to her. Did she believe he did it?’
    ‘No, she didn’t,’ said Colonel Dempster. ‘Nobody did, to start with. Wasn’t the type, you see.’
    ‘No?’ said Angela.
    ‘That’s not to say he was an angel—he certainly wasn’t that. Something of a rapscallion as a boy, I gather. His mother almost tore her hair out over some of his antics, but he was one of those types who could always charm his way out of trouble. There were one or two minor scrapes at Cambridge, but nothing too serious—certainly nothing to indicate how he’d turn out. Marriage ought to have settled him, but it didn’t, it seems. I’ve often wondered whether perhaps the war had something to do with it. I’ve seen it often enough myself. The number of times I’ve heard about a chap who went