that’s what.” said Giles, stamping on his conscience. “And I shall not return home until those middle-class morons have taken their leave. When I return, I shall suggest that dear Susie should set up residence elsewhere, preferably as far away as possible, where she can sit out her widowhood and eventually marry some young fool who likes colorless little girls.”
Then he wondered why he felt so depressed.
Upstairs, Susie pretended to fall asleep so that she could escape from the attentions of her parents. She was glad her mother was bullying the servants—both deserved the other. Over her seemingly sleeping body, the Burkes sat at either side of the bed and congratulated each other on how clever they had been. To hear them, one would think they had planned the earl’s death and subsequent will.
“Our dear little girl—a widowed countess,” sighed Mrs. Burke.
“Every cloud has a silver lining,” agreed Dr. Burke. “You know, my dear, I feel it is our duty to stay with Susie as long as possible, until she gets over her shock.”
“Oh, yes, indeed,” said his wife complacently. “Just think! Susie is so rich. She will be able to travel, give balls and parties, be presented to His Majesty. Thus does God reward His followers.”
Rich?
thought Susie, turning this news over in her brain.
Money!
“We shall go
everywhere
with her, of course,” said Dr. Burke. “After all, it’s thanks to us that she has had this good fortune.”
Good fortune!
thought Susie dismally.
To have been frightened out of my wits. To have been sick with fear. To know that I cannot face society with such parents. Don’t they
know
what these people are like? Giles, who kisses and mocks and torments and insults. Felicity, who bullies. I cannot trust my parents. If there is an ugly, senile, old lord somewhere, they will have me married as soon as ever I’m out of my widow’s weeds
.
The ordeal she had just gone through might have given a more wordly girl brain fever. But to Susie’s still-immature mind, they were all actors in some strange gothic play from which she might awake if she could escape them all. The tragedy of the earl’s death and the subsequent investigation by the police had left her brain and feelings singularly untouched.
She was young and strong and healthy, and tomorrow was another day. She had forgotten her strange passion when Giles had kissed her. It had been wiped from her memory by his subsequent insult. She would be glad if she never saw him again.
“Tomorrow’s another day,” said Dr. Burke, rising to his feet and unconsciously echoing his daughter’s thoughts. “Yes, I think we shall be at Blackhall Castle for quite a long time, my dear. Yes, yes, quite a
long
time.”
But the doctor and his wife had reckoned without Felicity. She had arrived back late after visiting a neighbor who lived a mere thousand or so acres away. She was informed by Thomson of the arrival of Susie’s parents, and learned that they were not low blackmailers but a respectable doctor and his overly religious wife.
She moved into battle first thing in the morning, and the poor Burkes fell before her first attack. For although Dr. and Mrs. Burke were snobs, Lady Felicity was an archsnob and had honed the art of snubbing and cutting in the best drawing rooms in London, where competition was fierce. After all, being at the top of the social tree does not stop one from being a frightful snob. There is, after all, no fun in being at the top if you cannot make sure that no one else gets there, especially a pushing couple of Camberwell suburbanites.
The Burkes pleaded that their daughter needed them. Lady Felicity pointed out that Susie’s manners were deplorably common, and that it was for her own good that she be severed from her parents’ low-class influence.
Mrs. Burke hinted at hellfire. Felicity retorted with a word that Mrs. Burke had up till then only seen written on walls and had often wondered about, but now she
Then he wondered why he felt so depressed.
Upstairs, Susie pretended to fall asleep so that she could escape from the attentions of her parents. She was glad her mother was bullying the servants—both deserved the other. Over her seemingly sleeping body, the Burkes sat at either side of the bed and congratulated each other on how clever they had been. To hear them, one would think they had planned the earl’s death and subsequent will.
“Our dear little girl—a widowed countess,” sighed Mrs. Burke.
“Every cloud has a silver lining,” agreed Dr. Burke. “You know, my dear, I feel it is our duty to stay with Susie as long as possible, until she gets over her shock.”
“Oh, yes, indeed,” said his wife complacently. “Just think! Susie is so rich. She will be able to travel, give balls and parties, be presented to His Majesty. Thus does God reward His followers.”
Rich?
thought Susie, turning this news over in her brain.
Money!
“We shall go
everywhere
with her, of course,” said Dr. Burke. “After all, it’s thanks to us that she has had this good fortune.”
Good fortune!
thought Susie dismally.
To have been frightened out of my wits. To have been sick with fear. To know that I cannot face society with such parents. Don’t they
know
what these people are like? Giles, who kisses and mocks and torments and insults. Felicity, who bullies. I cannot trust my parents. If there is an ugly, senile, old lord somewhere, they will have me married as soon as ever I’m out of my widow’s weeds
.
The ordeal she had just gone through might have given a more wordly girl brain fever. But to Susie’s still-immature mind, they were all actors in some strange gothic play from which she might awake if she could escape them all. The tragedy of the earl’s death and the subsequent investigation by the police had left her brain and feelings singularly untouched.
She was young and strong and healthy, and tomorrow was another day. She had forgotten her strange passion when Giles had kissed her. It had been wiped from her memory by his subsequent insult. She would be glad if she never saw him again.
“Tomorrow’s another day,” said Dr. Burke, rising to his feet and unconsciously echoing his daughter’s thoughts. “Yes, I think we shall be at Blackhall Castle for quite a long time, my dear. Yes, yes, quite a
long
time.”
But the doctor and his wife had reckoned without Felicity. She had arrived back late after visiting a neighbor who lived a mere thousand or so acres away. She was informed by Thomson of the arrival of Susie’s parents, and learned that they were not low blackmailers but a respectable doctor and his overly religious wife.
She moved into battle first thing in the morning, and the poor Burkes fell before her first attack. For although Dr. and Mrs. Burke were snobs, Lady Felicity was an archsnob and had honed the art of snubbing and cutting in the best drawing rooms in London, where competition was fierce. After all, being at the top of the social tree does not stop one from being a frightful snob. There is, after all, no fun in being at the top if you cannot make sure that no one else gets there, especially a pushing couple of Camberwell suburbanites.
The Burkes pleaded that their daughter needed them. Lady Felicity pointed out that Susie’s manners were deplorably common, and that it was for her own good that she be severed from her parents’ low-class influence.
Mrs. Burke hinted at hellfire. Felicity retorted with a word that Mrs. Burke had up till then only seen written on walls and had often wondered about, but now she
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