The Love Talker, page 25
“You could wait for him while he’s in stir,” Doug suggested.
“Now, Douglas,” Ida said. “There is no question of prison, thank goodness. The police had to be brought in, of course, but they know only that that unfortunate girl had become infatuated with Jefferson, and had quarreled with him. Thanks to Ned’s promptness in removing Laurie from the scene, the rest of the story need never come out. Rachel is incoherent and Jefferson has every reason to remain silent. He will not be charged. He will leave this part of the 340 / Elizabeth Peters
country and never return.” Her lips twisted, as if in a brief spasm of pain, but she went on in a steady voice.
“Tomorrow, Elizabeth will see our lawyer and make the will she ought to have made years ago.”
“I don’t want to make a will,” Lizzie said rebelliously.
“Douglas and Laura will have the money eventually, so what difference—”
“You will do as you’re told,” Doug said. “And I’ll be on hand to make sure you behave yourself from now on. I’m opening an office in Frederick.”
“How nice,” Lizzie said, beaming.
“A wise decision,” Ida remarked.
“Are you crazy?” Laurie demanded.
“Not yet,” Doug said. “But in a few years, if Aunt Lizzie keeps on the way she’s been going….”
Lizzie hoisted herself out of her chair. Her lower lip tried to express hurt indignation, but she was so pleased she couldn’t help smiling.
“Douglas, you are such a tease. I must see about dinner now, or we’ll never eat tonight. In the mean-time, what about a little nibble of something, and a hot cup of tea for our sick girlie?”
She trotted out, still talking to herself.
Laurie looked at her brother, who was studying his bandaged hand with unnecessary concentration. She knew why he had made his
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decision. With Jeff gone, the old people would be alone. Someone had to be there. She realized, with considerable astonishment, that the idea was not without its attractions. Mary Ella needed and deserved attention; it would be exciting to help that thwarted character and mind develop. No reason why she couldn’t write her thesis here, as Aunt Ida had suggested. With Herrrrrman under control and Doug livening the place up….
Doug cleared his throat.
“Now that Lizzie’s gone we can finish this,” he said.
“I can’t talk to her without screaming; her habit of wriggling out from under questions drives me up the wall. How much of this do you suppose she had figured out?”
“You can’t describe Aunt Lizzie’s thought processes,”
Laurie said. “They’re too weird. She’s like a medieval theologian; she can believe two contradictory things at the same time. And she’s so darned innocent she’d never believe anyone meant to harm her. Especially her own son—”
“Her son?” Ida turned to stare at her. “My dear Laura—Douglas—have you been under the impression that Jefferson is Elizabeth’s son?”
“Yes,” Laurie said in surprise. “Certainly I did. That was the whole point of the plot—that Jeff would have inherited instead of us because 342 / Elizabeth Peters
we’re only Aunt Lizzie’s great-niece and nephew, while Jeff—”
“No, no.” Ida shook her head. “I cannot allow you to remain under that misapprehension. It would be unjust. Jefferson is not Elizabeth’s son. He is her nephew.”
Both auditors were struck dumb. Laurie knew, from Doug’s bemused expression, that he was thinking the same thing she was. Uncle Ned?
Her aunt’s face gave her the clue. Ida’s cheeks might be a little redder than usual, but there was no contri-tion, no shame in her face. She sat very straight, her hands in her lap, and met Laurie’s astonished gaze without avoidance.
Thirty years ago, Laurie thought. Thirty years, more or less—she had never known Jeff’s precise age…. Ida would have been in her mid-forties. A susceptible age, she had heard. And that would explain why stern old Great-grandfather Morton had cut his erring daughter out of his will.
“It was just after the war,” Ida said. “He was an officer, stationed nearby. He was married, with a family.
I knew that from the start.”
Her lips closed. So far as she was concerned, that was the whole story. There would be no explanations and no excuses, no regret, no expression of suffering or loss. That was not the Morton style. Nor was it necessary for her to go into such details. Laurie could imagine what it
The Love Talker / 343
must have been like for her. A sudden overmastering passion, at an age when she had probably thought herself safe from such weakness—and the unexpected, catastrophic result. She would not have told her lover, not Ida. But she had to confide in her family because she had no means of her own. There was no alternative in those days but to bear the child; and no alternative, for a Morton, but to give it up for adoption. What else could she have done, even if she had wanted to defy the traditions that had molded her—penniless, middle-aged, unemployable?
Laurie struggled furiously and managed to get one hand out from under the blankets. She laid it on her aunt’s folded hands and squeezed hard.
“Oh, my dear,” she said.
“You need not feel sorry for me,” Ida said. “There were compensations…. The basic point of your argument is not altered by this, you understand. If Elizabeth had predeceased me, the estate would have been divided between your Uncle Ned and myself, since Elizabeth has always refused to make a will. My portion, and probably Ned’s as well, would have passed to Jefferson in due time. Or,” she added, “before my due time, if that perverse young woman had decided not to wait.”
“You’re a wonder, Aunt Ida,” Doug said. “Have I mentioned lately that I love you pas 344 / Elizabeth Peters
sionately?” He leaned over to give her a resounding kiss on the cheek. “Now I’m going down to help Aunt Lizzie. Laurie, could I talk you into a little—er—sherry?”
“I’d love it,” Laurie said.
“How tactful he is,” Ida said, after Doug had gone.
“He wishes to spare me embarrassment.”
“You’re not embarrassed, though, are you?”
“No,” Ida said. “It was all so long ago. And frankly, now that it is out in the open, I am actually relieved.
You understand, I would not care to have the entire neighborhood know; but I could endure even that with equanimity so long as you and Douglas do not think less of me.”
“You know how we feel.”
“Yes. And I thank you. I ought to have trusted you both, but in all sincerity, Laura, it never for a moment occurred to me that there could be the remotest connection between my youthful folly and the present situation.”
“No reason why it should have occurred to you,”
Laurie assured her. “It is a wild, far-out plot, Aunt. I’m only sorry he turned out not to be…”
“A dutiful son?” Her aunt’s lips curved in an ironic smile. “My dear girl, let’s not pretend to be sentimental.
I’m really too old to become a mother. And—you must know this—you and Douglas are very dear to me. No other relationship could alter that.”
The Love Talker / 345
“Doug is nice, isn’t he? You know, Aunt Ida, when I realized that Jeff was the guilty party, I was actually relieved. I had been so afraid it might be Doug. I didn’t realize how fond I was of him until I suspected him.
I’ve been thinking—maybe I’ll do my dissertation here.
Doug and I could get an apartment in Frederick, and—”
“An apartment!” If she had suggested entering a bordello her aunt’s horror could hardly have been greater. “Out of the question, Laura. You can stay at Idlewood, with us.”
“Auntie, I love you all, but I’m not sure I can live with you. I’d get fat on Aunt Lizzie’s cooking and you’d worry if I stayed up late studying and Uncle Ned would roust me out at dawn to go bird-watching, and—”
“And I would interfere with your social life.” Her aunt smiled ruefully. “I understand, Laura. I have not completely forgotten what it is like to be young. Very well. I can see why you might prefer to be independent, but for you and Douglas to live together would be…You cannot do it!”
“I don’t see why not. It’s silly for us to have two places, when we could share expenses.”
“Oh, dear.” Ida sighed. “I suppose I must tell you.
Anna should have done so years ago, but she was always lax about her duty, and I never felt I had the right to interfere. However, I have 346 / Elizabeth Peters
no choice now. My dear Laura, you cannot live with Douglas because it would be improper. He is not your brother.”
“What?” Of all the shocks she had had that day, this hit Laurie the hardest. She fought free of the covers and sat upright. “What did you say?”
“He was adopted,” Ida explained. “Your mother is not a maternal woman, but she was slow to realize that. Her desire for a baby was similar to the yearning of a little girl for a doll. When she believed herself incapable of producing offspring in the conventional manner, she rushed out, in her impetuous way, and procured an infant as one might purchase a toy. I can’t even be sure that she and her current husband went through the proper channels and formally adopted the lad, though they always regarded him as their own.
He is the son of a theatrical friend of Anna’s, who perished miserably of an excess of alcohol and other indulgences. Shortly after she obtained the baby she became enceinte. I am told that often happens. So you see, Laura, you and Douglas are not related to one another at all. So far as we are concerned it makes no difference. He is our dear nephew and always will be.
But you can hardly…. I am so sorry to be the one to tell you this. I fear it comes as a shock.”
Laurie collapsed against the pillows. She won The Love Talker / 347
dered if Doug knew the truth. Somehow she rather thought he did. Even at the airport in Baltimore—that greeting had been a little warmer than brotherly affection would explain. As she thought back over the past days, casual, seemingly insignificant looks and comments came back to her with a new meaning.
Yes, Doug knew, and she could hardly blame him for not telling her. “Speaking of elves in the woods, you and I are not brother and sister.” Not an easy topic to introduce, no—especially if it had become complicated by other, unexpected emotional develop-ments….
She smiled. Her aunt, watching her anxiously, gave a little sigh of relief.
“I am so glad you are not too distressed. Yet I am afraid you must be disappointed.”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that,” Laurie murmured.
“No, I can’t honestly say that I’m disappointed. I don’t have too many old-fashioned prejudices, but I do draw the line at incest.”
“Laura,” her aunt said, “please don’t be vulgar.”
About the Author
Elizabeth Peters was born and brought up in Illinois, and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago’s famed Oriental Institute. Ms. Peters was named Grandmaster at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. She lives in an historic farmhouse in western Maryland, with six cats and two dogs. Her web address is www.mpmbooks.com.
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ELIZABETH PETERS
“Peters really knows how to spin romance and adventure into a mystery.”
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“If bestsellerdom were based on merit and displayed ability, Elizabeth Peters would be one of the most popular and famous adventure authors in America.
She picks her stories well, tells them nicely, populates them with original characters, adds convincing details both great and small, and has a humorous touch that keeps things as interesting as they are lively.”
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“Elizabeth Peters is wickedly clever…[Her] women are smart, strong, bold, cunning, and highly educated, just like herself.”
San Diego Reader
“Elizabeth Peters should be protected as an endangered species. She is real Devonshire cream in a world of prepackaged Cool Whip.”
Alexandra B. Ripley, author of Scarlett “No one is better at juggling torches while dancing on a high wire than Elizabeth Peters.”
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Books by Elizabeth Peters
HE SHALL THUNDER IN THE SKY
THE FALCON AT THE PORTAL
THE APE WHO GUARDS THE BALANCE
SEEING A LARGE CAT
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS POOL
NIGHT TRAIN TO MEMPHIS
THE SNAKE, THE CROCODILE AND THE DOG
THE LAST CAMEL DIED AT NOON
NAKED ONCE MORE
THE DEEDS OF THE DISTURBER
TROJAN GOLD * LION IN THE VALLEY
THE MUMMY CASE * DIE FOR LOVE
SILHOUETTE IN SCARLET
THE COPENHAGEN CONNECTION
THE CURSE OF THE PHARAOHS
THE LOVE TALKER * SUMMER OF THE DRAGON
STREET OF THE FIVE MOONS
DEVIL MAY CARE * LEGEND IN GREEN VELVET
CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK
THE MURDERS OF RICHARD III
BORROWER OF THE NIGHT * THE SEVENTH SINNER
THE NIGHT OF FOUR HUNDRED RABBITS
THE DEAD SEA CIPHER * THE CAMELOT CAPER
THE JACKAL’S HEAD
And in Hardcover
LORD OF THE SILENT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE LOVE TALKER. Copyright (c) 1980 by Elizabeth Peters. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of PerfectBoundTM.
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Document Outline
Cover Image
Title Page
Contents Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author
Praise
Books by Elizabeth Peters
Copyright Notice
About the Perfectbound
Table of Contents
ONE
COVER
Chapter 1
Chapter 9
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author
Praise
Books by Elizabeth Peters
Copyright Notice
About the Perfectbound
Elizabeth Peters, The Love Talker
