The Three Taps by Knox Ronald

Author:Knox, Ronald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: amazon

Chapter Fourteen

Bredon is Taken for a Walk

IN front of the ‘Load of Mischief’ stands an alehouse bench – that is the description which leaps to the mind. Ideally, it should be occupied by an old gaffer in a white smock, drinking cider and smoking a churchwarden pipe. A really progressive hotel would hire a gaffer by the day to do it. A less appropriate advertisement, yet creditable enough to the establishment in the bright air of the June morning, Angela was occupying this seat as her husband came back from his shopping; she was knitting in a nice, old-fashioned way, but spoilt the effect of it rather by whistling as she did so.

‘Well, did you get a bargain?’ she asked.

‘So I am assured. I have got a very good line; I could go a long way and not find another handkerchief just like this one. Or indeed six other handkerchiefs just like these six. They are distinctive, that is the great point. Even you, Angela, will have difficulty in getting them lost at the wash.’

‘And how was Mr Simmonds?’ asked Angela, dropping her voice.

Bredon looked round cautiously. But Angela had chosen her place well; she knew that publicity is the surest safeguard of privacy. In the open square in front of the inn, nobody would suppose that you were exchanging anything but trivialities. Bredon communicated his mystification and his alarm, depicting the strange behaviour of the haberdasher in terms that left no room for doubt.

‘Yes,’ said Angela when he had finished, ‘you were quite right not to press him with any more questions. It would only have put the wind up him. You do seem to be rather heavy-handed, somehow, over these personal jobs. Now, I’ve been having it out with Raight-ho since breakfast, and I got quite a lot out of her. Miles, that girl’s a jewel. If she wasn’t going to be married, I’d get her to come to Burrington, in spite of your well-known susceptibility. But it’s no use; the poor girl is determined to sign away her liberty!’

‘To Mr Simmonds?’

‘So I gather, from what Mr Leyland told me last night. But, of course, I was far too discreet to ask for any names.’

‘How did you manage to worm yourself into her confidence? I’d as soon tackle a stone wall.’

‘One must unbend. It’s easier for us women. By a sudden inspiration, I reflected that it must be an awful nuisance washing up all those plates after breakfast, especially in a pub where they seldom have more than two guests at a time. So I offered to help. That was just about the time you went out shopping. I’m quite good at washing up plates, you know, thanks to having married beneath me. She said, “Raight-ho”, and we adjourned to the scullery, where I did wonders. In the scullery I saw a copy of Home Hints, which was very important.’

‘I don’t quite see why.’

‘Don’t you remember that cantankerous old bachelor friend of yours who came to us once

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