“It was a little room,” he said, “no bigger than a closet, and lined with wooden shelves. Douglas’s private set of books was the first thing to catch my eye, and I scanned them quickly, by the light of the torch, to see if the Slut was telling the truth. I was tired by then, but not too tired to see that those books would cause an uproar.”
I understood at once. “You couldn’t afford another uproar at that point,” I said. “You’d just lost Williston, Anthea, and your father—you and Lucy were struggling to stay afloat. Another scandal would’ve put you out of business.”
Gerald didn’t seem to hear. “I don’t know how long I stood there, trying to think what to do,” he said, “but I suddenly noticed that there were other objects in the chamber—an old book bristling with papers, and a wooden crate.” Gerald rubbed his arms. “I can’t tell you what it felt like when I opened the crate and saw ...” He swallowed hard, and the rest of us swallowed with him.
“I stayed up all night, reading Sir Williston’s diary and putting the pieces together. In the morning, I came to a decision. I’d pay Sally for her silence and conceal everything else I’d discovered.” Gerald’s head dropped to his chest. “I had no choice.”
“You have always had a choice, my boy,” Willis, Sr., said, unmoved.
Gerald looked utterly wretched, sitting all by himself on the couch. My throat grew suddenly small and aching, and without pausing to think, I went to him; when he reached out blindly for my hand, I gave it to him.
“William’s right,” I said. “You did have a choice. And you chose to protect Lucy.”
Gerald nodded miserably. “She loves the firm as much as she loves Julia Louise. To reveal Arthur’s errors would ruin one, and to reveal what I’d found in that box would destroy the other. I couldn’t do that. Not to Lucy.”
“Of course you couldn‘t,” I murmured.
Gerald turned his head to look at me. His gaze was so tender and so filled with self-reproach that tears blurred my vision. “I’m not a hero, Lori. I didn’t act for Lucy’s sake alone. My pride was injured. I’d been rejected, as had my father, and I wanted nothing more to do with the Willis family.” He withdrew his hand from mine and stared somberly at the cheerless glow of the electric fire. “So I came here. I brought with me everything I’d found in the vaults, in case Sally ever took it into her spiteful head to tell Lucy about the hidden chamber. I paid Sally for her silence, and I told myself what a noble creature I was, to make such sacrifices for a family that had spurned me. And all the while I despised them, for their past sins and their present ignorance.” He turned back to me. “A hero would not have felt as I have.”
“Perhaps not.” Willis, Sr., got briskly to his feet and walked over to stand before Gerald, one hand behind his back, the other clasping his lapel. “There is a quality known as character, however, of which you have more than your share, young man. Regardless of your feelings, you acted nobly.” Willis, Sr., raised an admonishing finger. “Not sensibly, mind you, but nobly.”
Gerald hung his head. “I’ve been God’s own fool, Cousin William, and I know it.”
“William,” said Nell, “how did you guess what Gerald had done? No one in the family could have told you.”
Willis, Sr., smiled. “Gerald’s own sound character gave him away. Everyone I interviewed went on at length about what a fine young man he was. When Arthur informed me of Gerald’s assignations at the Flamborough, therefore, it struck me as exceedingly odd, and I called Scotland Yard to make inquiries.”
I laughed involuntarily. “You called in the Yard just to check up on Gerald?”
“I felt it would save time,” said Willis, Sr. “Chief Inspector Mappin, as it turned out, had harbored suspicions concerning Dr. Flannery’s activities for years, but no one had ever come forward to lodge a formal complaint against her. Armed with this new information, I returned to Haslemere with the chief inspector in order to ... persuade Gerald to tell us the truth.”
Gerald and Bill exchanged the rictus grins of men who knew what it meant to be subjected to Willis, Sr.’s powers of persuasion.
“It was the chief inspector’s idea to invite Dr. Flannery,” said Willis, Sr. “In my opinion, an excellent suggestion. She is a vile creature, and the sooner she is removed from the general populace, the better.”
Bill leaned back in his chair, beaming at Willis, Sr. “Never let it be said that my father doesn’t know how to stage a grand finale. Bravo, Father. Well done.”
Gerald ran his hand distractedly through his chestnut hair. “I don’t think we’ve reached the finale,” he said. “I still have to break a great deal of bad news to Lucy, and to my father as well.”
“I know how you can soften the blow to your father,” I said. “You can stop selling off his collection.”
Gerald stared at me, nonplussed. “But I’m not selling it off. I can’t. It’s not ours.”