“Nor did I. We'll both just have to go on being sorry we didn't guess something more was wrong.”
“But I was responsible. I can't tell you how I felt when he died.” She shuddered. “And then I was afraid Alec would work out that I'd done it; then I thought Bott was going to be arrested and I'd have to confess to save him.”
With considerable relief, Daisy said, “I'm glad you wouldn't have let Bott carry the can.”
“Oh no. But it was like a nightmare that went on and on and I couldn't wake up, however hard I tried. When Bott was hurt, Cherry said Lord DeLancey attacked him because he killed Basil, so it was my fault again.”
“If Lord DeLancey didn't hit his brother after all, I suppose he might have believed Bott did, but according to Bott, he was just afraid of anyone finding out he'd been in the boat-house.” Daisy felt that there was a circular argument in there somewhere but she couldn't quite pin it down. She concentrated on comforting Tish. “Bott heard the DeLanceys quarrelling, you know.”
“He did? I suppose Lord DeLancey was afraid he might have. But still, it really was my fault, because if Basil hadn't died, Lord DeLancey wouldn't have attacked Bott and
wouldn't have drowned. So I'm a double murderer, triple if Bott dies ⦔
“He's not going to. Alec says he's doing well.”
“ ⦠so how can I possibly marry Rollo?” Tish wailed.
“Darling, you're
not
a murderer. You had no intention of killing Basil DeLancey, what the lawyers call âmalice aforethought,' and anyway it was self-defence. He threatened you. No one could possibly imagine you would have hit him if he had not attacked you first.”
Tish raised a tear-stained face. “Do you think Rollo would believe it?”
“Of course!” Daisy assured her confidently. “You had far better tell him, you know, than let it fester away in your mind and come between you.”
“Perhaps. I suppose so. But what about your Alec?”
Suddenly cautious, Daisy said, “There's no need to tell Alec. He never even considered you as a suspect, nor Dottie, let alone Aunt Cynthia. Since Cedric DeLancey is dead anyway, why stir up trouble?”
“You think there would be trouble? I'd feel much better if I knew he considered it self-defence. Couldn't you put it to him as a hypothetical case?”
“Right-oh,” said Daisy, with the deepest of misgivings.
Â
“So the whole thing will be hushed up?” Daisy asked, as Alec turned onto the Marlow Road.
“Not the DeLanceys' deaths, of course, but the fact that one brother killed the other. Since Bott has agreed to keep quiet about Cedric DeLancey's attack on himâin exchange for not being prosecuted for concealing evidenceâboth can be written off as tragic accidents. The Chief Constables and
the Assistant Commissioner see no need to cause the DeLancey family further grief. I'd like to think it's not because their father is the Earl of Bicester.”
“It seems reasonable, anyway,” Daisy said decidedly. The one thing which had been worrying her about protecting Tish was that the belief that Cedric DeLancey had caused the death of his brother would deeply distress their relatives.
Still, she had promised Tish to try to find out Alec's opinion. “Darling, do you mind if I put a hypothetical case to you?” she asked with caution.
“A hypothetical case? What do you mean?”
“Just suppose a girl went down to the boat-house that night. Suppose Basil DeLancey cornered her and threatened to ⦠assault her. If she picked up an oar and warned him she'd hit him if he didn't stop, and he didn't and she did, would the verdict be self-defence?”
“Daisy, you didn't!” Alec exclaimed, turning to her a face appalled and furious.
“Of course not, idiot! I told you I didn't go down until after DeLancey was safe in bed.”
He gave her another quick glance, full of suspicion. He only took his eyes off the road for a moment, but in that moment they rounded a bend and found themselves radiator to noses with a herd of cows.
Alec slammed on the brakes. Though the Austin Seven was not a model noted for the adequacy of its brakes, they held. The nearest cow mooed with more curiosity than alarm and licked the bonnet. Chivvied by a pair of black and white farm dogs, the herd strolled onward with no further interest in the mechanical intruder in their midst. The stolid cowman bringing up the rear tipped his cap as he passed.
Restarting the engine, which had stalled, Alec said, “Daisy ⦔
“A purely hypothetical case,” she interrupted hurriedly.
“Then yes, it would probably be ruled as self-defence, and I don't want to hear any more about it. What I was going to say is, do you know anyone living within, say, a dozen miles of Lyndhurst?”
“Hampshire?” Daisy enquired, puzzled.
“Yes, the New Forest.”
“No, not that I can think of.”
“I know a nice country inn in Lyndhurst. I'm going to book a couple of rooms there for next weekend, and we'll ⦔
“Next weekend is the engagement party Mr. Arbuckle's throwing for us at Claridge's.”
Alec groaned. “Do we have to go? It sounds ghastly.”
“Yes, love,” Daisy said firmly, “we have to go.”
“The weekend after, then, we're going to spend in the New Forest, miles from anyone you know
and
from county boundaries. And the local police will jolly well have to cope with any bodies you just happen to fall over!”