Stone's Fall

I gaped, at her story and the pride with which she told it. It was so astounding it was ridiculous. It was all very well to lay claim to a hard and poor childhood, with nothing but a book of genealogy to burn for winter warmth, but I still did not easily credit it.

'Your husband allowed you to do this?'

'No. He expressly forbade it.'

'So . . .'

'Nobody gives me orders, Mr Braddock,' she said, sounding not a little like Jenny the Red. 'Certainly not John. When I proposed the idea, it was only a light-hearted suggestion. His opposition made me determined to see if it could be done. We were quite often apart; an absence of a couple of months was quite simple. I was established in my new identity well before he even discovered that I had gone against his wishes and, as I had been successful and was determined to continue whatever he said, there wasn't a great deal he could do except accept my help.'

'But why did you want to?'

She shrugged. 'Because.'

'Because what?'

'I wanted to. Perhaps I was a little bored. I will get little sympathy from you if I say that the life I lead has its dull side.'

'None at all.'

'But it does, nonetheless. Most of the people I know are content to while away their lives playing bridge and going to house parties. I have little taste for such things, which is why I have to go to Paris or Italy for stimulation. John generally understood and let me come and go as I pleased. He let me do this for him, however reluctantly, because he trusted me and knew he could not stop me. I was never really able to do much to help him, beyond the things you do as a wife.'

I shook my head, to try and knock all the contradictory thoughts out of it so we could get on. So, Elizabeth, Lady Ravenscliff, née Countess Elizabeth Hadik-Barkoczy von Futak uns Szala, transformed herself into Jenny the Red, revolutionary anarchist of Frankfurt. Repeat that sentence and see how easily you believe it. Then you will grasp my difficulties.

'Let us say, just for a moment, that I find all this credible,' I said, 'which I don't. What did you discover?'

'I discovered, in brief,' she said, evidently amused, 'that Jan the Builder was part of this group which called itself the International Brotherhood of Socialists, who are, in fact, little more than criminals. Fanatical, of course; they are deeply embittered about the fate of their country, which doesn't exist at the moment. But they use their anger to justify whatever they want to do, and that includes murder, robbery and extortion. They are violent, suspicious and, for the most part not very intelligent. Only Jan is clever, but he is also the most violent of them all. He mixes his ardour with cunning and ruthlessness. He is quite a magnetic character. Women fall all over him.'

'Including Jenny?'

'That is not any of your business,' she said quietly. 'You will have to believe whatever you think is most likely.'

I blushed to the top of my ears with embarrassment. The woman had successfully thrown me into turmoil yet again. She could do it so easily, and there was nothing I could do to defend myself. I even think I must have derived some pleasure from being so tormented; certainly I put myself into that position often enough.

'What else?' I asked.

'I discovered that the money had been coming through regularly, that it was for a reason, and as long as it kept on arriving, they were content not to launch any expropriations. That is to say, they did not bother themselves with robbing jewellers' shops, or murdering people. They do, however, have a formidable stock of weapons. I have been to target practice with them on Romney Marshes.'

'Pheasant?' I said hopefully.

'No. People. Not real ones, though.'

'Don't sound so disappointed. Is this blackmail? Payments to stop them launching some operation against one of your husband's companies?'

'I have not yet found out. Only Jan knows and he will not say. I have tried to persuade him, but I risk his suspicion if I press too hard. That is why I still go, despite John's death. I believe I am getting close to discovering what all this is about, and having come so far, I will not give up now.'

I tried, but failed, to erase from my mind all thoughts of how she might try to persuade him. And I confess here – I am deeply ashamed – that I found those thoughts irresistible, exciting, rather than disgusting as they should be. Nor did I find I could reject them as absurd as easily as I should.

'That was my contribution, and John was burrowing into the finances to figure out who was sending the money. He had not told anyone else. That was his worry.'

'What do you mean?'

'He thought he had created a monster. That his companies had come to life, and were acting on their own. That they no longer responded to his orders, but followed their own instincts. That was why he told no one. He did not know who he could tell.'

'I think he may have discovered what it was all about,' I replied. 'He was due to have a meeting with Xanthos about it. But he died instead.'