Whatever did she mean by that. I wondered?
‘The secret between you and Sir Percival was not guilty love,’ I insisted. ‘It was something else that brought you and him to those stolen meetings outside the vestry of the church.’
As I said the words ‘vestry of the church’ , I saw a wave of terror pass across her face.
‘Go!’ she said. ‘And never come back unless’ – and she gave a slow, cruet smile – ‘unless you bring news of his death.’
It was now late,and I made my way to the nearest hotel. There was much to think about. Why should mention of the church vestry cause terror? Why the disgust at Sir Percival’s family, especially his parents’ marriage? Perhaps the local marriage register was kept in the vestry of Welmingham church . . .
The next day I went to the church. I had been aware of being followed the previous evening. And now I caught sight of the same two men I had seen outside Mr Kyrle’s office in London. It seemed that Sir Percival had expected me to visit Mrs Catherick, and was now expeeting me to visit Welmingham church – proof. Surely, that my investigation was going in the right direction.
I found the church clerk, who fetched his keys and took me to the vestry. It could only be entered from the outside of the church, and the clerk had great difficulty opening the lock, which was very old. Once inside, I asked to see the marriage register.
It was kept in a safe enough place to keep the register?’said,
‘Safe enough,’ the clerk said,’ A copy iskeot by a lawyer in the next village – Mr Wansborough’s office in Knowlesbury.’
I worked backwards in the registar from Sir Percival’s year of birth and there, under September of the previous year, squashed into a small space at the bottom of the page, was the record of
The marriage of Sir Felix Glyde and Cecilia Elster of Knowlesbury. Just the usual information. Nothing apparently peculiar about Sir Percival’s mother. The secret seemed further away than ever.
But on to Knowlesbury, and Mr Wansborough’s office – a five-mile walk, but possible to get there and back by the end of the day. It was worth checking the copy of the register, and perhaps the lawyer would know something that might be useful.