Murder While I Smile Read Online Free

immediate plans to dispose of it.”
    “It is odd she is selling so many pictures now, when she has been in England for over two decades.”
    “Nothing odd about it,” Yarrow said, quick to leap to her defense. “She wants to buy a house in town. I spotted a small mansion on Grosvenor Square that is up for sale and suggested to her myself that she ought to put a bid on it. It is difficult for a lady in her position, with no one to advise her. That little box she is in at the moment is only rented, you must know. Pictures are all very nice, but they make poor walls and roofs.”
    “True,” Coffen said, nodding. “And you think the Poosan a good investment, milord?”
    “I do, certainly. With art, however, it is best to buy what you like, then you have the pleasure of looking at it, if it goes out of fashion. I am buying up some paintings by a fellow from Suffolk myself. A strange duck. Constable is completely out of fashion. You may pick him up for an old song, but the things will be worth something one day, or I don’t know a thing about art.”
    No one was ready to dispute Yarrow’s knowledge of art.
    “I think what set Lady deCoventry off,” Prance confided, “is the picture’s being in that dark corner.”
    “You saw it by lamplight,” Yarrow said. “I am sure Lady Chamaude will have no objection to your taking it out into the sunlight tomorrow if you want to see it by daylight. Any fool can see it is an original.” He turned a fawning eye on Corinne. “And Lady deCoventry, it hardly needs saying, is no fool.”
    Yarrow’s carriage was reached first. “Ah! I forgot to bring the book you so kindly gave me, Prance. I shall just run back in and pick it up.”
    “It happens I have another in my carriage —”
    “But mine is autographed,” Yarrow said, and returned to the house.
    “It ain’t, you know,” Coffen said. “You didn’t sign his, Prance. Should we wait till Yarrow comes out, and you can sign his copy?”
    Prance scowled. “Don’t be obtuse. He just wants an excuse to go back. He left it behind on purpose to be rid of us.”
    “You don’t mean that old crock is carrying on with her!”
    “Of course he is,” Corinne said. “He takes a very proprietorial interest in la comtesse. I worry a little about that close alliance.”
    “I daresay she’d prefer a younger man,” Coffen said hopefully.
    “I am not talking about your romantic hopes.” She turned to Prance. “Is it possible he’s claiming the painting is authentic to fill her pockets? That is a new way of supporting a mistress.”
    Prance considered the matter a moment. “I shouldn’t think so, if Yarrow is buying them for Prinney.”
    “Prinney is not buying the Poussin. Why not, I wonder, as Yarrow recommends it so highly?”
    “We don’t know she is his mistress,” Prance said.
    “It’s common knowledge. Everyone says so.”
    “I am not everyman. I think for myself.” They entered Corinne’s carriage. “Let us drive around the block and see if he comes out.”
    They did this. As they rounded the corner back to Lady Chamaude’s house at the close of their circuit, they passed Yarrow’s crested carriage, going the other way.
    “You was wrong,” Coffen said. “There’s hope for me yet.”
    Prance’s sharp eyes were looking farther along the street, where a hired carriage had already drawn up at the house. A younger gentleman descended and ran up the stairs.
    “Do we know that set of shoulders?” he asked.
    Coffen peered into the distance. “Not by name, but I’ve seen him about here and there. One of those French émigrés, like Chamaude herself. A handsome rascal. No point sticking around. She don’t love me, but I’ll take the Poosan all the same. I’ve taken a fancy to it. Socrates—there was a fine fellow, but he could do with a good tailor.”
    The carriage continued rattling past the house. “All set for Pilchard’s rout?” Prance asked. “The whole world will be there.”
    “I shan’t