He smiled at me mournfully. “It had to come. I was not altogether unprepared. I knew she would have to go away sooner or later. After tonight, I feel she will have to have some sort of care.”

The clock in Nanny’s room chimed two.

Nanny Crabtree said: “I think we ought to try and get some sleep. Miss Violetta, you go to that divan, and as for you…” She looked at Gordon as though he were one of her children. “You should try and get some sleep, too. You’re going to have a lot to do tomorrow.”

He gave us both a pathetic smile, but there was a certain gratitude in it.

“I know,” he said, “that you will both do all you can to help.”

He left us then.

Nanny said: “Poor man. I liked him better tonight. He’s very fond of his mother, I will say that for him. A man who’s fond of his mother can’t be all that bad. Now, I think I’ll make us a nice cup of tea and then we’ll see if we can get a bit of sleep. I was right when I said there’d be a lot to do tomorrow…or today, rather.”

I sat there thoughtfully. There was no hurry. I knew neither of us would sleep.

We took one last look at Tristan. The teddy bear had slipped from his grasp, but he was smiling in his sleep.

The next two days were indeed chaotic. Two doctors came to see Matilda.

She had awakened on that first morning in a bemused state. Gordon was with her at the time. He had sat by her bedside all through the rest of the night, to be sure to be there when she awoke.

She only half realized what had happened on the previous night. She wept bitterly and was in a state of complete mental disorder.

The family doctor came first. He said she needed immediate attention. Then he called another doctor, as was, I believed, usual in such cases; and at the end of the second day, she was taken away. They had to sedate her because she had shown a tendency to violence. Gordon was very sad, indeed, and I was touched because he turned to me for comfort.

He confided in me a good deal and told me that he had been very concerned for her for a long time. He had tried to make her understand that he accepted his position and, because he realized that it was unlikely that he would ever inherit the estate, he had come to terms with that fact.

He loved it and indeed he had complete control of it; and it would be years before Tristan could take it over. He would work with the boy, teach him what had to be taught. He had been content with that.

But it had not been good enough for his mother. She had set her heart on his being recognized as a Tregarland and master of the family home.

“Obsession,” he said. “It can ruin a life…as it has hers.”

“You will see her often,” I said.

“Yes. She will be at Bodmin. I shall go at least once a week. It may be that they will be able to help her. They have all sorts of wonderful treatment these days.”

“I do hope so, Gordon.”

“I shall always be grateful to you,” he replied. “If you had not been there she would have killed the child. I feel it would be something she would never have got over.”

I was thinking then of Annette, for I could not believe that she had deliberately chosen to go into the sea that morning.

I wondered whether there was at least one murder on Matilda’s mind, and whether that had helped her to go completely mad.

James Tregarland was very upset by what had happened. He stayed in his room, and after they had taken Matilda away he sent one of the servants to ask if I would come to his room as he would like to talk to me.

I went to him at once and there I found him like a different person. He seemed old and shrunken.

“Oh, Violetta,” he said. “You have come into a strange household. What are you thinking of us, eh? There has been nothing but trouble. It is strange, is it not? For years we went on peacefully—uneventfully—and then everything erupted like a volcano that has been inactive for years and once it starts cannot stop.”

“A great deal has certainly happened,” I said. “I think one thing has grown out of another.”

He nodded. “My poor Matty. I was fond of her, you know. She was always an interesting girl. That calm exterior hiding her explosive passions. I treated her badly. I have discovered I have a conscience. Not a pleasant discovery at my time of life, when it is too late to do anything about it. She wanted me to marry her. Why didn’t I? It would have given her peace of mind. Those parents of hers—it was the way they had brought her up. Poor Matty. Conventionality was their way of life, and hell fire was awaiting those who strayed. It was implanted in her and nothing could change that. I teased her, though I’m ashamed to say I enjoyed that. Well, I made a will…everything for my legitimate heirs, and if they were unable to inherit, it went to my natural son, Gordon Lewyth. That was when it started…once she had got that out of me. I enjoyed watching it, you see. I knew Matty pretty well. So prim she had been at first, and then not so prim. I didn’t think it would last very long when it started…I thought I’d give her something and say goodbye. But it did not work that way. It went on. There was the boy, you see. I liked him and he was damned useful on the estate when he grew up. He was a worker, different from some of the Tregarlands who’d gone before. I’m to blame for a lot of this, Violetta.”

“You had no idea how far she would go.”

“I should have had. And she tried to murder my grandson! Thank God you were sleeping in the room.”

“Yes. I found out that Gordon was your son. I misjudged him. I thought he might attempt to murder Tristan. There was talk about babies who died mysteriously and it had been mentioned in my hearing. Then Nanny Crabtree and I worked out what we would do.”

“I’m grateful to you both. He’s a bright little fellow, our Tristan. To think he might have been snuffed out like a candle. I’m grateful to you.”

“And to Nanny Crabtree.”

“Yes, indeed. She’s an old stalwart, she is. A real dragon, a battleaxe. I like that. I can’t see anyone getting the better of her.”

His chin started to wag and for a few seconds he looked like his old self.

“She loves those she calls her children dearly,” I said. “I am so pleased my mother arranged for her to come and look after Tristan.”

“Oh, yes, we have to be thankful for that. And most of all we are thankful to you, my dear. I like to feel my grandson is in your hands. And what will happen to my poor Matty?”

“Gordon thinks they may be able to help her.”

“Just now she won’t be aware of where she is and what she has done. It will be better for her to remain in ignorance of that.”

“And what she may already have done.”

“You are thinking of Dermot’s first wife…”

“Yes, Annette.”

“That was a strange affair. I was glad when Dermot brought your sister here. And then…”

“Do you have any idea what happened?”

He shook his head. “I wondered. The first wife was drowned when she was carrying an unborn child. The thought came to me later as to whether Matty had a hand in it. Though naturally it didn’t occur to me at the time.”

“Do you think she could have killed Annette?”

“I don’t know.”

“And Dermot?”

“It would have been easy for her to slip his pills to him, perhaps. I wonder…would she have gone as far as that?”

“He stood in Gordon’s way, just as Tristan did. And it would have been so easy with him…as it would have been with Tristan. But…Annette…and my sister…”

“My dear, you have suffered with us all. Your stay here has been marked by tragedy. Too many tragedies.”

“Too many to be natural,” I repeated. “And now that we see there was a motive…”

He nodded slowly. “I want you to know how grateful I am to you. This household needs you particularly now. Will you promise me you will not leave us?”

“I cannot say what the future will bring. For a time I shall be here. Tristan means a lot to me.”