The Dark Room Read Online Free Page A

about it. Was the wedding your idea or Leo’s?’
    ‘The wedding was my father’s idea, but if you’re asking me whose idea it was to get married, then that was Leo’s. He sprang it on me out of the blue a couple
of months ago, and I said yes because at the time I thought it was what I wanted.’
    ‘But you changed your mind.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Did you tell anyone?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ She felt his scepticism as strongly as if he’d reached out and touched her with it. Oh God, what a bloody awful situation this was .
‘But I’m sure Leo must have known,’ she said quickly. ‘Does he say I was unhappy about him leaving?’
    Dr Protheroe shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’
    She looked at the telephone on her bedside table. ‘I know Meg’s home number. We could phone him and ask him.’ But did she want to do that? Would Leo ever admit
that it was she who didn’t want to marry him?
    ‘At the moment he’s not available. The police have tried. He’s out of the country for a few weeks.’
    Not available . She already knew that. How? She licked her lips nervously. ‘What about Meg?’
    ‘She’s with him. I’m told they’ve gone to France.’ He watched her hands writhe in her lap and wondered what complicated emotions had driven the other
two to betray her. ‘You were telling me why you changed your mind,’ he prompted her. ‘What happened? Was it a sudden decision or something that developed gradually?’
    She struggled to remember. ‘I came to realize that the only reason he wanted to marry me was because I’m Adam Kingsley’s daughter and Adam’s not poor.’ But was that true? Wasn’t it Russell who had wanted to marry her for her money? She fell silent and thought about what she’d said. ‘“He that diggeth a pit shall fall
into it,”’ she murmured.
    ‘Why do you say that?’
    ‘Because you’re going to ask me if Meg Harris’s family is wealthy.’
    He didn’t say anything.
    ‘They’re not. Her father earns a pittance as a rural vicar.’ She ground her cigarette into the ashtray and fixed a smile to her lips. ‘So presumably Leo has
discovered true love at last.’
    ‘Are you angry with Meg? Your stepmother tells me you’ve known her a long time.’
    ‘We were at Oxford together.’ She looked up. ‘And no, I’m not, as a matter of fact, but that’s only because I’m finding it all rather difficult to
believe at the moment. I only have Betty’s word for it.’
    ‘Don’t you believe her?’
    ‘Not often, but that’s not an indication of an Electra complex. She’s the only mother I’ve ever known and I’m very fond of her.’
    He raised an amused eyebrow. ‘What did you read at Oxford? Classics?’
    She nodded. ‘And a complete waste of time they were, too, for someone who was only ever interested in photography. I can do crosswords and decipher the roots of words, but
apart from that my education was wasted.’
    ‘What is that?’ He gave his beard a thoughtful scratch. ‘A defence mechanism against anyone who thinks you’re over-privileged?’
    ‘Just habit,’ she said dismissively. ‘My father finds my qualifications rather more impressive than anyone else does.’
    ‘I see.’
    She doubted that very much. Adam’s pride in his only daughter bordered on the obsessional, which was why there was so little love lost between any of the inhabitants of
Hellingdon Hall. How much did this doctor know? she wondered. Had he met Adam? Did he understand the tyranny under which they lived?
    ‘Look,’ she said abruptly, ‘why don’t I make this easy for you? I mean, I know this routine off by heart. How old were you when your mother died? Two. How old
were you when Adam remarried? Seven. Did your stepmother resent you? I’ve no idea, I was too young to notice. Did you resent her? I’ve no idea, I was too young to know what resentment
was. Have you any brothers or sisters? Two half-brothers, Miles and Fergus. Do you resent them? No. Do they resent