Read Online Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh - Free Book Online

behind her.
    Mr Harkness said: ‘Dulcie gets a bit excitable.’
    Julia said: ‘She’s a high-spirited girl, isn’t she? Carlotta, darling, don’t you think we ought to hit the trail? Come along, boys. We’re off.’
    There was, however, one more surprise to come. Mr Harkness approached Julia with a curious, almost a sheepish smile, and handed up an envelope.
    ‘Just a little thing of my own,’ he said. ‘See you this evening. Have a good day.’
    When they reached the end of the drive Julia said, ‘What can it be?’
    ‘Not the bill,’ Carlotta said. ‘Not when he introduced it like that.’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know. The bill, after all, would be a little thing of his own.’
    Julia had drawn what appeared to be a pamphlet from the envelope. She began to read. ‘Not true!’ she said, and looked up, wideeyed, at her audience. ‘Not true,’ she repeated.
    ‘What isn’t?’ Carlotta asked crossly. ‘Don’t go on like that, Julia.’
    Julia handed the pamphlet to Ricky. ‘You read it,’ she said. ‘Aloud.’
    ‘DO YOU KNOW,’ Ricky read, ‘that you are in danger of HELLFIRE?’
    ‘DO YOU KNOW, that the DAY of JUDGEMENT is AT HAND?
    ‘WOE! WOE! WOE!!! cries the Prophet –’
    ‘Obviously,’ Julia interrupted, ‘Mr Harkness is the author.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Such very horsy language. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” ’
    ‘He seems to run on in the same vein for a long time,’ Ricky said, turning the page. ‘It’s all about the last trump and one’s sins lying bitter in one’s belly. Wait a bit. Listen.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Regular gatherings of the Inner Brethren at Leathers on Sunday evenings at seven-thirty to which you are Cordially Invited. Bro. Cuthbert (“Cuth”) Harkness will lead. Discourse and Discussion. Light Supper. Gents fifty p. Ladies a basket. All welcome.’
    ‘Well,’ said Jasper after a pause, ‘that explains everything. Or does it?’
    ‘I suppose it does,’ said Julia doubtfully. ‘Mr Harkness, whom we must learn to call Cuth, even if it sounds as if one had lost a tooth –’
    ‘How do you mean, Julia?’
    ‘Don’t interrupt. “Cuspid”,’ Julia said hurriedly. ‘Clearly, he’s a religious fanatic and that’s why he’s taken Miss Harkness’s pregnancy so hard.’
    ‘Of course. Evidently they’re extremely strict,’ Jasper agreed.
    ‘I wonder what they do at their parties. Would it be fun –’
    ‘No, Julia,’ said Louis, ‘it would not be fun; ladies a basket, or no.’
    Carlotta said, ‘Do let’s go. We can discuss Mr Harkness later. There’s a perfect green lane round the corner.’
    So all the Pharamonds and Ricky rode up the hill. They showed for some moments on the skyline, elegant against important clouds. Then the lane dipped into a valley and they followed it and disappeared.
III
    They lunched at a little pub in Bon Accord on the extreme northern tip of the island. It was called the Fisherman’s Rest and was indeed full of guernseys, gumboots and the smell of fish. The landlord turned out to be a cousin of Bob Maistre at the Cod-and-Bottle.
    Jasper stood drinks all round and Julia captivated the men by asking about the finer points of deep-sea fishing. From here she led the conversation to Mr Harkness, evoking a good deal of what Louis afterwards referred to as bucolic merriment.
    ‘Cuth Harkness,’ the landlord said, ‘was a sensible enough chap when he first came. A riding instructor or some such in the army, he were. Then he took queer with religion.’
    ‘He were all right till he got cranky-holy,’ someone said. ‘Druv himself silly brooding on hell-fire, I reckon.’
    ‘Is Miss Harkness a member of the group?’ Louis asked, and Ricky saw that mention of Miss Harkness evoked loose-mouthed grins and sidelong looks.
    ‘Dulce?’ somebody blurted out as if the name itself was explicit. ‘Her?’ and there was a general outbreak of smothered laughter.
    ‘Reckon her’s got better things to do,’ the landlord said. This evoked a