She Fell Among Thieves by Dornford Yates Page A

care,’ said I. ‘You and I know how much I value my life. But, you know, this woman’s wearing. She’s as good as a raree-show: but she ought to be under glass.’
    ‘That’s perfectly true,’ said Mansel. ‘What I’ve gone through since you came, I cannot describe. To be weighed by Vanity Fair is to be found wanting – and accordingly weighed again.’
    ‘And your duties,’ said I. ‘What are you here to detect?’
    Mansel sighed.
    ‘Vanity Fair sometimes behaves as a child. I am here to watch de Rachel and pick up what gossip I can in the servants’ hall. There’s very little gossip – the servants are too much afraid of losing their jobs. She pays them four times as much as they’d get elsewhere; but if one of them puts a foot wrong, he’s fired that night. I except friend Jean – as lazy a rogue as you’d meet in a summer’s day. But Vanity Fair has his measure: she’s using him. As for the sweet-smelling Gaston, anyone can see what he is – a French Count ten times removed from the cousin whose title he bears. I suppose he’s a right to bear it. I’m told that, except for him, the family’s faded out.’
    ‘Well, there,’ said I, ‘there’s a chance that Titus Cheviot can help,’ and, with that, I told him about the Pompadour .
    ‘Good,’ said Mansel. ‘Drop a line to Titus and tell him to write to Anise. That was five or six years ago. De Rachel left France then and he’s not got a bean: and he sticks what he does for the money Virginia will bring.’
    ‘By God, he earns it,’ said I.
    ‘Serve him right,’ said Mansel. ‘But why does Virginia want him? Answer me that. She’s not too bad, Virginia. But she doesn’t seem to be acting under duress.’
    ‘I’m sure she dislikes him,’ said I. ‘Why, my face is straighter than hers while her mother is twisting his tail.’
    ‘I’d love to hear it,’ said Mansel. ‘Never mind. What else did you pick up in that wonderful dining-room?’
    I told him how Vanity Fair had whipped Father Below.
    ‘That,’ said Mansel, ‘is what I wanted to hear. She requires Below for the marriage. For some reason best known to herself, the date’s not fixed. But he’s got to be here on tap, ready to tie the knot at a nod from her. A locum tenens might boggle at rushing the business through. But Below will do as he’s told – as you saw tonight. That letter he got was written at my request.’ He threw back his head and covered his eyes with his hands. ‘You know I’m more confused than when I began. I’ve confirmed an idea or two, but they’re in my lady’s favour. For one thing, I’m pretty sure that this marriage is going to go through.’
    ‘And Julie?’ said I.
    ‘Ah,’ said Mansel. ‘And Julie. That’s a bad show. And there’s another riddle. What on earth can Julie have done?’
    ‘She was killed, of course.’
    ‘I think that Julie was smothered, and then thrown out. There were certain signs in her face. I imagine your wallah did it – the wallah you saw in the fields. I don’t think he’s gone: I think he’s up in the tower. And he, no doubt, is the fellow who’s coming to see you tonight.’ I glanced at the looking-glass. ‘You needn’t worry. As long as he sees your light burning, he won’t come down.’
    ‘But what’s the idea?’ said I. ‘To put me out of action?’
    ‘To frighten you off,’ said Mansel. ‘Not out of Jezreel, for she likes your company. But off the holy ground of her private affairs.
    ‘Supposing you wake in the night, to find your throat in the grip of a monster you cannot see. You’re being choked to death, and you can’t as much as cry out. You put up a fight, of course, but what can you do? At last you lose consciousness, and when you come to, you’re alone… The next morning you tell your tale. Vanity Fair expresses the utmost concern, declares she can’t understand it. “It looks, Mr Chandos, as though you’d offended some god – spied on his private rites, or