As we drove through the village, I remembered that I wanted some stamps, so accordingly we pulled up at the post office.
As I came out again, I cannoned into a little man who was just entering. I drew aside and apologized, when suddenly, with a loud exclamation, he clasped me in his arms and kissed me warmly.
‘Mon ami Hastings!’ he cried. ‘It is indeed mon ami Hastings!’
‘Poirot!’ I exclaimed.
I turned to the pony-trap.
‘This is a very pleasant meeting for me, Miss Cynthia. This is my old friend, Monsieur Poirot, whom I have not seen for years.’
‘Oh, we know Monsieur Poirot,’ said Cynthia gaily. ‘But I had no idea he was a friend of yours.’
‘Yes, indeed,’ said Poirot seriously. ‘I know Mademoiselle Cynthia. It is by the charity of that good Mrs Inglethorp that I am here.’ Then, as I looked at him inquiringly: ‘Yes, my friend, she had kindly extended hospitality to seven of my country-people who, alas, are refugees from their native land. We Belgians will always remember her with gratitude.’
Poirot was an extraordinary-looking little man. He was hardly more than five feet four inches, but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible; I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound. Yet this quaint dandified little man who, I was sorry to see, now limped badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police. As a detective, his flair had been extraordinary, and he had achieved triumphs by unravelling some of the most baffling cases of the day.
He pointed out to me the little house inhabited by him and his fellow Belgians, and I promised to go and see him at an early date. Then he raised his hat with a flourish to Cynthia, and we drove away.
‘He’s a dear little man,’ said Cynthia. ‘I’d no idea you knew him.’
‘You’ve been entertaining a celebrity unawares,’ I replied.
And, for the rest of the way home, I recited to them the various exploits and triumphs of Hercule Poirot.
We arrived back in a very cheerful mood. As we entered the hall, Mrs Inglethorp came out of her boudoir. She looked flushed and upset.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ she said.
‘Is there anything the matter, Aunt Emily?’ asked Cynthia.
‘Certainly not,’ said Mrs Inglethorp sharply. ‘What should there be?’ Then catching sight of Dorcas, the parlourmaid, going into the dining room, she called to her to bring some stamps into the boudoir.
‘Yes, m’m.’ The old servant hesitated, then added diffidently: ‘Don’t you think, m’m, you’d better get to bed? You’re looking very tired.’
‘Perhaps you’re right, Dorcas—yes—no—not now. I’ve some letters I must finish by post-time. Have you lighted the fire in my room as I told you?’
‘Yes, m’m.’
‘Then I’ll go to bed directly after supper.’
She went into her boudoir again, and Cynthia stared after her.
‘Goodness gracious! I wonder what’s up?’ she said to Lawrence.
He did not seem to have heard her, for without a word he turned on his heel and went out of the house.
I suggested a quick game of tennis before supper and, Cynthia agreeing, I ran upstairs to fetch my racquet.
Mrs Cavendish was coming down the stairs. It may have been my fancy, but she, too, was looking odd and disturbed.
‘Had a good walk with Dr Bauerstein?’ I asked, trying to appear as indifferent as I could.
‘I didn’t go,’ she replied abruptly. ‘Where is Mrs Inglethorp?’
‘In the boudoir.’
Her hand clenched itself on the banisters, then she seemed to nerve herself for some encounter, and went rapidly past me down the stairs across the hall to the boudoir, the door of which she shut behind her.
As I ran out to the tennis court a few moments later, I had to pass the open boudoir window, and was unable to help overhearing the following scrap of dialogue. Mary Cavendish was saying in the voice of a woman desperately controlling herself: ‘Then you won’t show it to me?’
To which Mrs Inglethorp replied:
‘My dear Mary, it has nothing to do with that matter.’
‘Then show it to me.’
‘I tell you it is not what you imagine. It does not concern you in the least.’
To which Mary Cavendish replied, with a rising bitterness: ‘Of course, I might have known you would shield him.’
Cynthia was waiting for me, and greeted me eagerly with:
‘I say! There’s been the most awful row! I’ve got it all out of Dorcas.’
‘What kind of row?’
‘Between Aunt Emily and him. I do hope she’s found him out at last!’
‘Was Dorcas there, then?’
‘Of course not. She “happened to be near the door”. It was a real old bust-up. I do wish I knew what it was all about.’
I thought of Mrs Raikes’s gipsy face, and Evelyn Howard’s warnings, but wisely decided to hold my peace, whilst Cynthia exhausted every possible hypothesis, and cheerfully hoped, ‘Aunt Emily will send him away, and will never speak to him again.’
I was anxious to get hold of John, but he was nowhere to be seen. Evidently something very momentous had occurred that afternoon. I tried to forget the few words I had overheard; but, do what I would, I could not dismiss them altogether from my mind. What was Mary Cavendish’s concern in the matter?
Mr Inglethorp was in the drawing room when I came down to supper. His face was impassive as ever, and the strange unreality of the man struck me afresh.
Mrs Inglethorp came down at last. She still looked agitated, and during the meal there was a somewhat constrained silence. Inglethorp was unusually quiet. As a rule, he surrounded his wife with little attentions, placing a cushion at her back, and altogether playing the part of the devoted husband. Immediately after supper, Mrs Inglethorp retired to her boudoir again.
‘Send my coffee in here, Mary,’ she called. ‘I’ve just five minutes to catch the post.’
Cynthia and I went and sat by the open window in the drawing room. Mary Cavendish brought our coffee to us. She seemed excited.
‘Do you young people want lights, or do you enjoy the twilight?’ she asked. ‘Will you take Mrs Inglethorp her coffee, Cynthia? I will pour it out.’
‘Do not trouble, Mary,’ said Inglethorp. ‘I will take it to Emily.’ He poured it out, and went out of the room carrying it carefully.
Lawrence followed him, and Mrs Cavendish sat down by us.
We three sat for some time in silence. It was a glorious night, hot and still. Mrs Cavendish fanned herself gently with a palm leaf.
‘It’s almost too hot,’ she murmured. ‘We shall have a thunderstorm.’
Alas, that these harmonious moments