was Mr. Fulk?’
‘ ’Er father,’ said Turpin, jerking his eyes at the ceiling in a way which made his meaning clear in defiance of all logic. ‘And one or two others, I shouldn’t wonder!’
‘So you knew him?’
‘I came as footman about four years before the bust.’ Seeing the incomprehension on my face, he explained: ‘Bust with ’is father, of course. Mr. Fulk was away a lot of the time, seeing to the business abroad. But didn’t we know when ’e came back! Not ten minutes ’e’d be in the ’ouse before you’d ’ear ’im and the old man damning and blasting each other all round the place. “Confounded young puppy!” ’ trumpeted Turpin in a voice which went well with port, ‘ “— — old — !” ’ he replied to himself in a voice like a young bull. ‘Nothing churchey about Mr. Fulk’s language.’
‘What did they quarrel about?’ I asked, fascinated.
‘Business.’
‘Wasn’t Mr. Fulk very good at it?’
‘The way I ’eard ’e was a top-notcher with the machines and the men—all round, in fact, till it come to putting on the bite. Then maybe ’e’d let someone get away with tuppence-’alfpenny. Well that wouldn’t do for old Mr. Ellison. People said ’e chewed ’is tanners till ’e’d flattened ’em into bobs.’ Turpin paused, took a refreshing draught of port and refilled both our glasses. ‘Mind you,’ he went on, ‘I don’t reckon that was at the bottom of it. The real trouble was the same as ’aving two cocks in one pen. Each ’as to show the other. . . . Still, I never believed it would come to anything serious. I thought they could go on shouting the odds at each other like you get in some families and underneath the blood’s as thick as glue. But then one day, bango, Mr. Fulk’s shaken off the dust and that’s the last time ’e came near England, let alone this ’ouse.’
‘Do you know what happened?’
‘Ask me, Mr. bloody Cedric ’ad ’is ’and in it,’ said Turpin. ‘Christ, ’e didn’t ’alf ’ate ’is brother! See, where the trouble was, Mr. Fulk could never leave alone; when ’e saw a bastard ’e ’ad to kick ’im. And anyone who can look at Mr. Cedric without putting a name to ’im wants ’is eyes examined!’
I noted the present tense with surprise. I had not fully realized that Mrs. Ellison had another son who was alive.
‘As live as any other snake,’ said Turpin in answer to my question. ‘It wasn’t no ghost that came round this afternoon and told me at me own door that I’d better smarten up. The dirty sod! And the way ’e goes on at ’is mother. Wheedle, wheedle, wheedle—bully, bully, bully. I never take in the tea to them but I expect to see the poor old girl stretched on the ’earth-rug while Mr. Cedric tries to make ’er sign something with ’er last twitch!’
A peculiar suspicion for which it would have been difficult to give any logical grounds had begun to form in my mind.
‘Do you think his niece is scared of him?’
Turpin did not seem in the least surprised.
‘I shouldn’t wonder. And I dare say if the truth was known, she got cause.’
‘Why?’
‘Money,’ said Turpin succinctly.
Something seemed to be slightly off-centre in his reasoning. ‘I suppose this Cedric does something?’
‘Manages the firm now.’
‘Well, then, he must be pretty rich . . .’
‘Look,’ said Turpin, laying his hand paternally on my arm, ‘it’s like as if a man’s tit-struck. ’E ’as a girl, but ’e can ’ardly wait to finish the job for fear ’e might be missing the chance to ’ave another. Well, it’s the same with money, if you got it bad. Give the old man or Mr. Cedric an ’undred million and they’d ask you in the same breath for the stamp they lent you yesterday.’
The volatility of Turpin’s talk stopped me from following up the interesting sidetracks which it disclosed. Undistracted, I should certainly have asked him how money came to be a source of rivalry between
‘ ’Er father,’ said Turpin, jerking his eyes at the ceiling in a way which made his meaning clear in defiance of all logic. ‘And one or two others, I shouldn’t wonder!’
‘So you knew him?’
‘I came as footman about four years before the bust.’ Seeing the incomprehension on my face, he explained: ‘Bust with ’is father, of course. Mr. Fulk was away a lot of the time, seeing to the business abroad. But didn’t we know when ’e came back! Not ten minutes ’e’d be in the ’ouse before you’d ’ear ’im and the old man damning and blasting each other all round the place. “Confounded young puppy!” ’ trumpeted Turpin in a voice which went well with port, ‘ “— — old — !” ’ he replied to himself in a voice like a young bull. ‘Nothing churchey about Mr. Fulk’s language.’
‘What did they quarrel about?’ I asked, fascinated.
‘Business.’
‘Wasn’t Mr. Fulk very good at it?’
‘The way I ’eard ’e was a top-notcher with the machines and the men—all round, in fact, till it come to putting on the bite. Then maybe ’e’d let someone get away with tuppence-’alfpenny. Well that wouldn’t do for old Mr. Ellison. People said ’e chewed ’is tanners till ’e’d flattened ’em into bobs.’ Turpin paused, took a refreshing draught of port and refilled both our glasses. ‘Mind you,’ he went on, ‘I don’t reckon that was at the bottom of it. The real trouble was the same as ’aving two cocks in one pen. Each ’as to show the other. . . . Still, I never believed it would come to anything serious. I thought they could go on shouting the odds at each other like you get in some families and underneath the blood’s as thick as glue. But then one day, bango, Mr. Fulk’s shaken off the dust and that’s the last time ’e came near England, let alone this ’ouse.’
‘Do you know what happened?’
‘Ask me, Mr. bloody Cedric ’ad ’is ’and in it,’ said Turpin. ‘Christ, ’e didn’t ’alf ’ate ’is brother! See, where the trouble was, Mr. Fulk could never leave alone; when ’e saw a bastard ’e ’ad to kick ’im. And anyone who can look at Mr. Cedric without putting a name to ’im wants ’is eyes examined!’
I noted the present tense with surprise. I had not fully realized that Mrs. Ellison had another son who was alive.
‘As live as any other snake,’ said Turpin in answer to my question. ‘It wasn’t no ghost that came round this afternoon and told me at me own door that I’d better smarten up. The dirty sod! And the way ’e goes on at ’is mother. Wheedle, wheedle, wheedle—bully, bully, bully. I never take in the tea to them but I expect to see the poor old girl stretched on the ’earth-rug while Mr. Cedric tries to make ’er sign something with ’er last twitch!’
A peculiar suspicion for which it would have been difficult to give any logical grounds had begun to form in my mind.
‘Do you think his niece is scared of him?’
Turpin did not seem in the least surprised.
‘I shouldn’t wonder. And I dare say if the truth was known, she got cause.’
‘Why?’
‘Money,’ said Turpin succinctly.
Something seemed to be slightly off-centre in his reasoning. ‘I suppose this Cedric does something?’
‘Manages the firm now.’
‘Well, then, he must be pretty rich . . .’
‘Look,’ said Turpin, laying his hand paternally on my arm, ‘it’s like as if a man’s tit-struck. ’E ’as a girl, but ’e can ’ardly wait to finish the job for fear ’e might be missing the chance to ’ave another. Well, it’s the same with money, if you got it bad. Give the old man or Mr. Cedric an ’undred million and they’d ask you in the same breath for the stamp they lent you yesterday.’
The volatility of Turpin’s talk stopped me from following up the interesting sidetracks which it disclosed. Undistracted, I should certainly have asked him how money came to be a source of rivalry between
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