‘Sincerity is the foundation of honesty. Honesty is uprightness of act,’ continued Miss Cherry.
‘Help me sit up and bring my writing materials,’ said Mina.
Reluctantly, Miss Cherry put the book back in her pocket and made a careful check of Mina’s brow, which was warm and flushed. ‘That is enough conversation for today,’ she said. ‘I am not sure if I should allow you to write a letter.’
‘But there is no time to lose,’ said Mina, urgently. ‘I require a solicitor. I am going to make my will.’
Miss Cherry started in alarm, then relented. ‘Very well, I suppose you had better do so if it sets your mind at rest. Is that what you have been thinking about? I could see that you were preoccupied.’
‘When one lies in bed all day one has the leisure to think of so many things,’ said Mina, innocently.
Miss Cherry set some notepaper, ink and pens on a tray and put them on Mina’s lap. Then she stood back and watched her charge carefully.
As Mina composed her letter to Mr Ronald Phipps, she began to wish that Saltmire and Vardy were funeral directors as that would make her task so much easier. Then a thought struck her, and she picked up Page’s Directory once again. She found a half page advertisement for Saltmire and Vardy Fine Porcelain, listing their main products, a full brochure available on application. She read the list and smiled. How she might arrange it she was not yet sure, but she could now see a chance that her plans might fall into place.
CHAPTER SIX
Mr Ronald Phipps was about the same age as Mina, twenty-six, but in his appearance and demeanour he was deliberately courting thirty-five and seemed excessively anxious to reach forty. He was always perfectly correct in his behaviour, stiff and dignified in deportment and immaculately groomed, the first qualities required in an aspiring young solicitor. Good looks were not an essential, which was as well, since he had a face like an unhappy horse. Somewhere, lurking quietly beneath the formal exterior was a sense of humour which was rarely glimpsed, and when it was, vanished before it could be held accountable.
Mina had first consulted him on the subject of Miss Eustace, a spirit medium who had once been fashionable in Brighton. This lady had used her formidable skills in both conjuring and persuasion to extract large sums of money from her admirers who included Mina’s mother and her friends. Mr Phipps had proved to be an invaluable ally in Mina’s campaign to expose these criminal activities before any of the victims were ruined. As a result of their joint endeavours Miss Eustace and her accomplices were now serving prison sentences for extortion, and Mr Phipps’ career was ascending.
Mr Phipps was a single man. Whether he had any ambitions to change that state of being in the future was unknown. His most constant companion was an elderly aunt, a Mrs Phipps, who required to be conducted to every social gathering in town, where she would consume copious amounts of tea and cake and fall asleep. Mr Phipps took this duty very seriously, so seriously that the rumour in Brighton was that Mrs Phipps’ late husband who had never been seen by anybody was an illusion, and had never existed, and that the young solicitor was actually the lady’s natural son due to an indiscretion of desperate late spinsterhood.
Mr Phipps arrived to see Mina with a leather case of papers, and a worried expression which softened a little when he saw her sitting up in bed. ‘Miss Scarletti, I trust you are improved in health? From your letter I assumed… Well, no matter, you are looking very well.’
‘Thank you, I am better than anyone had a right to expect,’ said Mina. ‘I was extremely ill for a while, but I am told that if I am well looked after, which I am, I will recover. Miss Cherry has been extremely careful of my health.’
Miss Cherry brought a chair forward for Mr Phipps and allowed herself a little smile at the praise.
‘We were to discuss your will, and I believe you have not made one before?’
‘That is correct. I suspect that people of my age rarely make wills, but given the recent circumstances, it seemed prudent. I fear that our interview may take some time. There are many delicate matters concerning my family about which I wish to consult you.’
‘Ah, yes, families,’ said Mr Phipps, nodding sympathetically, but not elaborating on that comment.
Miss Cherry had returned to her chair, but now she understood the import of the exchange, and rose. ‘If you don’t mind, Miss Scarletti, I need to give Rose some instructions about what is required from the chemist.’
‘Please do so,’ said Mina. ‘Would you like some refreshments, Mr Phipps?’
‘No, that will not be necessary. Let us to business.’
Miss Cherry inclined her head and left the room. Mina noticed that the nurse had no difficulty in leaving her alone with Mr Phipps. Young, single and male he might be, but doctors and solicitors were in Miss Cherry’s view a kind of priesthood, professional gentlemen in whom one placed one’s trust and confidence absolutely. Mina felt confident that Miss Cherry would not return until the solicitor had departed.
‘And how is your aunt, Mrs Phipps?’ Mina enquired. ‘My mother is back in Brighton now and is often quite melancholy due to her anxiety over my health. I am sure she would appreciate a visit from a friend. It would lift her spirits.’
‘Oh, my aunt is well, although she is occasionally troubled with arthritis which is only to be expected, I suppose, but it does hinder her travelling about which she is determined to do for as long as possible. She goes to see Miss Hamid at the Baths who she says does her a great deal of good, and as you know, she likes to see her friends as often as she can, especially those who know how to set a tea-table. I will make sure she knows that Mrs Scarletti is returned and would like to see her.’
‘Your devotion is admirable,’ said Mina, ‘especially considering your recent professional advancement which must demand so much of your time.’
‘Thank you, but as her closest relative I know my duty. I have suggested engaging a companion, but she won’t hear of it.’ He puffed out a mournful little sigh as he opened his briefcase and extracted some documents.
Mina had actually given hardly any thought as to whom she might leave her small savings and other possessions. There was the sum she had received from her father’s estate which she had invested wisely, her clothes, which would fit no-one but herself, a few family trinkets, and the value of her published works. Taken all together she was worth very little. Ultimately the discussion was mainly about the options open to her, and when it was complete it was decided that she would consider them, and they would meet again.
‘And now the other matter you mentioned in your letter,’ said Mr Phipps. ‘Might I know your interest in the Holt case?’
Mina chose her words carefully. ‘I have never met any of the persons concerned, and the events of that case occurred several years before our family came to live in Brighton. But there has been a great deal of talk about it recently because of Mrs Holt’s remarriage to a Mr Vardy. It interested me as a mystery, as a puzzle. I feel so very idle lying here all day and I suppose it occupied my mind.’
‘That is understandable,’ said Mr Phipps, cautiously.
Mina waited for him to mention some obstacle to her exercising her curiosity, but he merely looked thoughtful. ‘If I was well it would be another matter, but if I cannot go out and see what information I can discover, then the information must come to me.’