Page 25 of Death of a Courtesan
‘Then, one day, she told her mother that our brother had…well, I can hardly bear to repeat what she said. It was completely untrue, of course. She was just trying to draw attention to herself, as usual.’ Miss Huxton sniffed. ‘As if Derek would take an unhealthy interest in his own niece. I blame all those books she read for putting ideas into her head. Anyway, Peter was away on business at the time, and for once Fanny sought my opinion, asking me what she should do about Mary’s allegations. Fanny always was over-protective, unable to think for herself, and was ready to take Mary’s word for what had happened. I told her in no uncertain terms to chastise the girl for being untruthful.’
‘How did you know she was being untruthful?’ Riley asked. ‘These things happen, I regret to say. If the girl was young and beautiful, temptation might have got the better of your brother. Besides, she would have no direct experience of men’s desires, so how could she have made the allegations up?’
‘Mary was very aware of…’ Miss Huxton straightened her bony shoulders and sniffed derisively. ‘Of the ways of the world. I prefer not to think about how she acquired such knowledge or who it was that did to her what she accused our brother of doing. All I can tell you is that it wasn’t Derek.’
‘How can you be sure?’ Riley asked.
My brother is a lay preacher and does not tell lies.’ She fixed Riley with a smug look. ‘There, what do you say to that?’
‘If Mary was so well supervised, where did she acquire such intimate knowledge?’
Miss Huxton affected a bored expression, as though unaccustomed to having her word challenged and wanting done with the conversation. ‘Books, I would imagine.’
‘Her reading material was not approved beforehand?’
‘Yes, but she was not spied upon, Inspector Rochester. There was an element of trust.’
‘I assume there are no books with graphic descriptions of sexual congress in this house,’ Riley said, pushing his point home.
‘Certainly not.’ Miss Huxton folded her hands primly in her lap. ‘But I cannot speak for the households of her friends.’
‘I fail to understand why you were so quick to dismiss her allegations. Did you even ask your brother about them?’
‘Of course I did, embarrassing though it was. Naturally, he was shocked and denied them absolutely.’
‘And you believed him.’
‘Derek has never lied to me.’ Miss Huxton looked angry at being subjected to such a prolonged interrogation. ‘As I already said, young girls nowadays are very aware of matters they shouldn’t know anything about. I don’t know what the world is coming to.’
‘What did you brother actually say about the allegations when you put them to him?’ Riley asked, addressing the question to Huxton.
‘What has any of this to do with the girl’s death?’ Miss Huxton demanded to know. ‘It’s all ancient history.’
‘Not so ancient. Five years is not very long and it was the catalyst that caused Mary to leave home, so it must be significant. It certainly changed her outlook on life. Given how comfortable she had once been and how sheltered her upbringing actually was, I do know that it can’t have been easy for her to leave everything that was familiar to her. Girls do sometimes make up stories, I agree with you about that, Miss Huxton, but they seldom leave home if they are not believed. I can’t tell you what bearing, if any, her decision to do so has on her murder until I am in possession of all the facts. That is why I came here myself rather than having the local police break the news to you.’
‘I was away for a month in France on a buying expedition when the trouble started,’ Huxton said. ‘We import French wines into England. The storm broke whilst I was away and I knew nothing about it.’ He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. ‘When I got back it was pandemonium. Mary refused to apologise for lying and so my wife accepted my sister’s advice and confined her to her room until she did so.’
‘But she did not,’ Salter said, scowling. ‘Has it occurred to you that she might have been speaking the truth?’
‘Subsequently, yes. Had I been here at the time things would have been handled very differently.’
Miss Huxton sniffed. ‘If you had been here the accusation would not have been made.’
‘Perhaps because your brother wouldn’t have dared to take liberties when you were here, Mr Huxton?’ Riley suggested mildly.
‘He did not take any liberties!’ Miss Huxton puffed out her puny chest. ‘How many more times must I tell you? It was that wretched girl making up wicked lies because she hadn’t got her way in something or other. I forget what.’
Riley didn’t believe it for a minute. If Mary had been trying to get her uncle in trouble, Miss Huxton would not have forgotten the reason why. There was an element of truth in Mary’s allegations, Riley was absolutely convinced of it, and he suspected that Miss Huxton knew it too—which was why she was choosing to defend her brother’s conduct so forcefully. Ruth Huxton resented Mary and her mother for being everything that she was not—beautiful, spirited, admired and educated—probably everything she herself secretly wished to be. It was a classic example of spiteful intransigence.
‘Where is your brother now?’ Riley asked. ‘I would like to talk to him.’
‘He lives here with us and always has,’ Miss Huxton said, folding her hands neatly in her lap. ‘Since Peter withdrew from the day to the day running of the business, that responsibility has fallen to Derek. There is no need for you to trouble him. We are a Christian family with no unnatural desires, and he cannot tell you anything about that unfortunate time that you have not already heard from me.’
‘Be that as it may, we shall speak to him and your nephews.’
Miss Huxton sniffed. ‘If you must.’
‘We must,’ Salter assured her.
