The Fashion In Shrouds by Margery Allingham Read Free Book Online

combination of alarm and excitement.
    â€˜No,’ said Ramillies again. ‘Don’t say a thing.’
    â€˜Do you mean that?’ She turned to him almost with eagerness and he did not look at her.
    â€˜No, dear, I don’t think I would.’ Ferdie Paul spoke casually. ‘We’ll put out some sort of statement later if it’s necessary. It’s not a particularly good story, so they won’t get excited. Tell them Miss Wells is not here. She left half an hour ago.’
    The page went off obediently and he watched the child until it disappeared, his figure drooping and his prominent eyes thoughtful. Georgia looked at Dell, who moved over to her.
    â€˜That must be a very great relief to you,’ he said
    She stared at him. ‘You understand, don’t you?’ she said with sudden earnestness. ‘You really do?’
    Mr Campion turned away rather sadly and became aware of Val. She was looking at the other woman and he caught her unawares. Once again she surprised him. Jealousy is one emotion but hatred is quite another and much more rare in a civilized community. Once it is seen it is not easily forgotten.

Chapter Four
    THE GENTLE ART of putting things over had always interested Mr Campion, but as he sat down beside Alan Dell to watch the house of Papendeik at work he was aware of a sudden sense of irritation. There was so much going on under his nose that needed explanation. The strangers were vividpersonalities but not types he recognized and at the moment he did not understand their reactions at all.
    Meanwhile an impressive if informal performance was beginning. Val and Tante Marthe were staging an act and he was entertained to note that they worked together with the precision of a first-class vaudeville turn.
    Tante Marthe had seated herself on the largest of the settees between the two most central windows and had made room for Ferdie Paul beside her, while Georgia had been provided by Rex with a wide-seated gilt chair thrust out into the room a little.
    She sat in it regally, her dark head thrown back and her lovely broad face tilted expectantly. Even so she contrived to look a little tragic, making it clear that she was a woman with a background of deep emotional experience.
    Val stood behind her, slender and exquisite and very much the brilliant young artist about to display something that might well prove to be the masterpiece of the century.
    The rest of the conversation piece was furnished by the staff. Every available saleswoman had assembled together at one end of the room, as though for prayers in an old-fashioned household. There was a flutter of expectancy among them, a gathering together to admire a creation for which they all took a small degree of personal responsibility. Their very presence indicated a big moment.
    Dell caught Campion’s eye and leant forward.
    â€˜Wonderfully interesting,’ he whispered with professional appreciation.
    There was a moment of silence and Rex slid forward to give an entirely unnecessary flick to the folds of a curtain. Lady Papendeik glanced round her and raised a small dark paw. The staff sighed and the dress appeared.
    At this point Mr Campion felt somewhat out of his depth. He looked at the dress and saw that it was long and white, with a satisfactory arrangement of drapery at the front, and that it had an extraordinary-looking girl in it. She caught his attention because she was beautiful without being in any way real or desirable. She had a strong superficial likeness to Georgia, inasmuch as she was not small and was dark with broad cheek-bones, but there all similarity ended. WhereGeorgia was coarse the newcomer was exquisite, where Georgia was vital the other girl was dead.
    Campion glanced at Tante Marthe and was delighted to see her sitting back, her hands in her lap, her eyes half closed and an outrageous expression of fainting ecstasy on her face. Ferdie Paul looked thoughtful but by no means unimpressed and