Hold the Dream

by Barbara Taylor Bradford

  ‘Thank you, Mr Lamont.’ The coroner swivelled in his seat, focused his attention on the police sergeant. ‘Sergeant McNamara, can you shed any light on the disposition and mental state of Lady Dunvale?’

  ‘Well, sir, I’m afraid that I can’t be telling you anything I’ve observed personally,’ McNamara began, rubbing his chin, and shaking his head somewhat mournfully. ‘I haven’t had the occasion to speak to her ladyship in the past few weeks. Mind you, sir, I knew she’d been visiting Clonloughlin House. Oh yes, that she had. I’d seen her little red car going through the village. And there has been talk in the village about her very weird behaviour from time to time in recent weeks, which sort of confirms the things Miss O’Donnell and Lord Dunvale have said about her stability not being what it usually was.’

  ‘Have you formed any opinion about the cause of death?’ the coroner asked.

  ‘Well now, sir, I’ve had several opinions,’ McNamara said, straightening up a trifle importantly. ‘At first I believed her ladyship’s death was an accident. Then later I must admit I thought of suicide. I’ve also wondered if foul play was involved, since her ladyship did die in mysterious circumstances.’ McNamara pulled out a notebook, opened it.

  ‘You will be able to elaborate on your findings, from the witness stand a little later in the proceedings, Sergeant McNamara,’ the coroner said.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ the police sergeant replied, closing the notebook with a slap.

  The coroner sat back, clasped his hands together, and directed his next words to the entire court. He said, ‘It is the duty and burden of this court to establish the manner, cause and circumstances of the death of Minerva Gwendolyn Standish, the Countess of Dunvale. After hearing the evidence, the court must decide if death was from natural or unnatural causes, whether it was an accident, suicide, or a murder committed by persons known or unknown.’

  Anthony was now called to the stand, and was asked to recall, to the best of his ability, the events of the previous Saturday. Speaking quietly, Anthony told the court: ‘Late that afternoon my mother telephoned me from the Dower House. She had seen my wife’s car entering the grounds and driving up to the main house. In view of the distressing scenes between my wife and myself in the preceding weeks I decided to leave Clonloughlin House. I thought that once she realized I was not at home my wife would leave, that we would therefore avoid any further unpleasantness and disturbances. I drove out to the lake in my land rover. I had not been there very long when I saw my wife’s red Austin mini approaching in the distance. I was standing under a tree near the lake and I went back to the land rover, intending to drive away. It would not start, the battery seemed to be dead, so I set out to walk back to Clonloughlin House, taking the long way around the estate to avoid my wife. I spoke to my mother on the telephone once I got home, and she arrived to have dinner with me a little later. Around nine-thirty I walked my mother back to the Dower House, returned home and spent several hours working on the estate account books in the library. I then went to bed. I did not know my wife had remained on the estate at Clonloughlin until I was awakened the following morning by Mr Lamont, who told me he had found my wife’s –’ Anthony’s voice trembled, as he finished, ‘my wife’s body in the lake.’ He stopped again, took a deep breath and his eyes were moist and despairing when he said with overwhelming sadness. ‘I should have waited at the lake – spoken to my wife. She might still be alive if I had.’

  After thanking Anthony, the coroner asked Bridget O’Donnell to take the oath, to give her evidence. He commenced to question her about her activities on the day of the death.

  ‘No, sir, I did not see Lady Dunvale’s car that afternoon, nor did I know his lordship had left the house,’ Bridget said. ‘I was making dinner in the kitchen. Later on I served his lordship and the Dowager Countess, and after dinner I worked between the kitchen and the dining room for half an hour, clearing up.’ She then spoke about her migraine, told how she had walked past the library around eleven o’clock on her way upstairs to get her pills, had noticed the earl at his desk in the library, and had seen him again around midnight when she had retired for the night.

  ‘I was up very early on Sunday morning, sir,’ Bridget O’Donnell continued. ‘After drinking a cup of tea in the kitchen I drove to Waterford to attend first mass with my sister. I stayed in Waterford for lunch, and in the middle of the afternoon I returned to Clonloughlin village to see my mother. It was only then that I learned of her ladyship’s death, and naturally I drove back to the estate, where I was interviewed by Sergeant McNamara.’

  The next person to take the witness stand was the estate manager. Michael Lamont also said that he had not seen Lady Dunvale on Saturday afternoon, and explained his movements the following morning. ‘I too was up and about quite early last Sunday. I was driving to my office at Clonloughlin House to retrieve some papers I had left there, which I needed to work on that day. I saw his lordship’s land rover parked near the lake, and I got out to investigate.’ Lamont swallowed. ‘I thought Lord Dunvale was in the vicinity. When I realized he wasn’t, I turned around to go back into my jeep. It was then that I saw her ladyship’s car at the far side of the lake. Before I reached the Austin mini I saw a body floating in the lake.’ Lamont suddenly looked discomfited, and he bit his underlip, appeared upset. Gaining control of himself almost immediately, he went on, ‘I jumped out of the jeep for a closer look. The body, or rather a piece of clothing, had caught on a large log near the edge of the lake. I saw at once that it was Lady Dunvale in the lake. I went immediately to Clonloughlin House to inform the earl.’

  ‘And after you informed Lord Dunvale, you telephoned the police presumably?’

  ‘That is correct, sir, and Sergeant McNamara arrived promptly, and we, that is Lord Dunvale and myself, accompanied the sergeant to the lake.’

  The coroner now called on Sergeant McNamara to report his findings. After confirming the details of Lamont’s story, McNamara launched into a recital of the investigation he had conducted on the Sunday morning after the discovery of the body.

  ‘Mr Lamont and I retrieved the body, his lordship being too distressed by far to help. I then removed the deceased to Doctor Brennan’s surgery in the village, for examination and to establish possible time of death. From there I put through a phone call to forensic in Cork, knowing there would have to be a post-mortem, and to arrange for immediate transportation of the body to the forensic laboratory in Cork. I went back to Clonloughlin House, where I took a statement from his lordship, the Dowager Countess and Mr Lamont. I then searched the area around the lake, also Lady Dunvale’s Austin. There was a silver hip flask, empty, but smelling of whiskey, in the glove compartment. Her handbag was on the seat and its contents did not look as if they had been tampered with. There was a considerable amount of money in the wallet. In the afternoon I thought I’d better return this to the estate. You see, sir, it was like this…I was baffled…and about several things: Doctor Brennan had told me he believed death had occurred around eleven-thirty at night. I couldn’t help wondering what her ladyship had been doing out at the lake alone for five hours or more. There was something else odd. I couldn’t imagine how anybody could accidentally fall into the lake. There is no high ground, in fact the land is rather flat, and to get into Clonloughlin Lake a person would have to walk or wade into it. It was during this second search that I found an empty whiskey bottle thrown into a clump of bushes. Now that got me to thinking, it did indeed, sir. I asked meself if death had really been accidental, as everyone was thinking. The more I pondered the more I came around to thinking it could have been suicide, perhaps even murder.’ Sergeant McNamara nodded to himself. ‘Yes, I must admit I did wonder if her ladyship had been the victim of foul play.’

  ‘Foul play by whom, Sergeant McNamara?’ The coroner stared intently at the police officer, his face more dolorous than ever.

  ‘By persons unknown, sir. A tramp, a stray gypsy, perhaps a stranger in these parts, up to no good, who her ladyship
might have surprised out there in that lonely, deserted spot. But there were no signs of any kind of struggle, or a scuffle. No trampled bushes, no marks in the grass near the lake, marks like a body being dragged would cause for instance. No, no, nothing like that at all, sir. The Mini was carefully parked, and as I said her handbag was lying there on the seat.’ McNamara rubbed the side of his large red nose. ‘Nor am I suggesting that Lord Dunvale had anything to do with his wife’s death. Miss O’Donnell’s statement that he was in the library at the time the deceased drowned removes any suspicion about his lordship. I had to interrogate him a second time on Sunday afternoon, mind you, sir. That was in my line of duty.’ McNamara gave Anthony a careful look, as if to exonerate himself in his eyes. ‘Anyway, it’s those five or six hours. What her ladyship was doing out there during that long period remains the greatest mystery to me, sir.’

  The coroner pondered, said thoughtfully, ‘Of course, Sergeant McNamara, Lady Dunvale could have left the grounds of Clonloughlin House, driven back to Waterford and returned to Clonloughlin later – on the evening in question, perhaps hoping to speak to the earl at that time.’

  ‘Oh yes, sir, that is true. Very true, indeed it is. But she didn’t. I made inquiries in the village, sure and I did, and not one solitary soul saw her during those mysterious five hours. And she would have had to drive through the village to get to the main road leading to Waterford.’

  Daisy, who had been holding herself very still, hardly dared to breathe. She looked worriedly at John Crawford, who gave her a reassuring smile. But she guessed he was as concerned as she was at this moment. Drat Sergeant McNamara, she thought.

  ‘Thank you, Sergeant McNamara.’ The coroner nodded his dismissal and called the village doctor, Patrick Brennan, to give evidence.

  Doctor Brennan’s testimony was brief. ‘I examined the body of the deceased late on Sunday morning, after receiving a telephone call from Sergeant McNamara, and the arrival of said body at my surgery. I saw at once that rigor mortis was present throughout the entire body. I established death to be in the proximity of eleven-thirty to midnight.’

  ‘Were there any visible marks on the body of the deceased?’ the coroner said.

  ‘Nothing other than a diagonal bruise on the deceased’s left cheek, which could have been caused by the log mentioned by Mr Lamont.’

  The coroner thanked the doctor and summoned the Cork pathologist, Doctor Stephen Kenmarr.

  Daisy moved to the edge of her seat, scrutinizing the pathologist intently. His would be the most crucial testimony, as she and the rest of the family were aware. She felt the tension of the Dunvales and Jim enveloping her as though this were a palpable thing. The court was deathly quiet once again, so quiet, in fact, Daisy could hear her own heart thudding.

  Doctor Stephen Kenmarr was as precise a witness as Bridget O’Donnell had been. He got straight to the point.

  ‘I concur with Doctor Brennan’s theory about the abrasion on the deceased’s left cheek. It could have been caused by an object in the lake, which the deceased struck when entering the water, most probably the aforementioned log. On Lady Dunvale’s left cheek and cheekbone was an area of ecchymosis, that is, a dark bruise, reddish-blue in colour. I determined that it was a fresh ecchymosis, and not an old one, because of its colour. For the benefit of the laymen present, a bruise changes colour in stages, goes from reddish blue or dark purple to brown, then paler brown, lightens to a yellowish green and yellow in its last healing stages. Therefore, because of its dark colour, I knew the abrasion was recent. I found no traumatic wounds to the skull or other injuries to the head area of the body. There were no outward visible marks on any area of the body, no sign of a struggle, nor any evidence to suggest that the deceased had been attacked physically in a violent manner, or killed prior to the body entering the water. After the external examination I performed an autopsy on the deceased.’

  Kenmarr paused, peered at his sheaf of notes. He said, ‘I discovered that the deceased’s bloodstream contained a large amount of alcohol and barbiturates. The lungs held a quantity of water. I therefore concluded that death was by drowning due to the excessive amount of water taken into the lungs. Death occurred at approximately eleven-forty in the evening.’

  ‘Thank you, Doctor Kenmarr,’ the coroner said. He slipped on his glasses and looked down at the papers before him. After a few minutes he settled back in his chair and, turning to his right, he addressed the six jurors.

  ‘From testimony we have heard in this court today we must all be fully and most sadly cognizant of the fact that the deceased was a troubled woman who was under severe mental strain, whose normal stable disposition had been affected by acute depression, owing to the failure of hermarriage, and her inability to bear children.’ He leaned forward. ‘I put great store in the testimony of Miss Bridget O’Donnell, a clear, coherent and unemotional witness, who was perhaps far more able to see the deceased in an objective light than her husband. Miss O’Donnell was most convincing, and I trust her judgement when she says that the deceased was, only days before her death, in a frame of mind that could induce her to do harm to herself. We have heard the testimony of Doctor Kenmarr, the pathologist. He has told us there were no signs of a struggle, nor any visible marks on the body, other than the abrasion, which he has explained was recent, caused by the log. We have heard his toxicology report, his findings of alcohol and barbiturates in the bloodstream. The excessive amount of water in the lungs proved conclusively to Doctor Kenmarr that death was by drowning.’

  The coroner’s direct gaze rested for a split second on each juror. He resumed, ‘Sergeant McNamara has drawn our attention to the curious elapse of time between the deceased’s arrival at the lake and her death some five hours later. Sergeant McNamara referred to them as mysterious hours – but are they really? Let us now try to reconstruct those crucial hours when the deceased was alone at the lake – and we must presume she did remain there, since no one saw her leave the grounds of Clonloughlin House or pass through the village. Let us also consider the deceased herself – a troubled, depressed woman who was in a state of irrationality, that irrationality obviously inflamed by alcohol. She may well have been drinking before her arrival, but undoubtedly she consumed a large quantity of alcohol after she arrived. It was found in her bloodstream, and Sergeant McNamara testified that he not only discovered an empty flask smelling of whiskey, but an empty whiskey bottle thrown into the bushes. We have the deceased sitting at the lake, drinking, possibly hoping, indeed perhaps expecting, her husband to return to the lake within a short span of time. Let us not forget that his land rover was parked on the other side of the water, and was quite visible to her. Is it not then within the realm of possibility that she did indeed remain there? That she hoped to discuss her problems with him, to find some surcease from her pain? Let me propose the following to you…hours pass…it Grows dark…as she continues to linger, could not the alcohol have blurred her sense of time? Or even rendered her unconscious. Then again, could it not have induced in her the conviction that her husband would indeed come back to retrieve the land rover? But finally, in the end, realizing her hopes were groundless, could she not have come to a most terrible and tragic decision? The decision to put an end to her life? We have been told she was unusually despondent, filled with a feeling of hopelessness about her future, and by two witnesses. It is quite conceivable to me that the deceased swallowed barbiturates at this most dreadful moment in time, either in a misguided attempt to ease her mental anguish – or perhaps to numb her senses before walking into that lake. Yes, I believe that the events on that evening could have progressed in exactly this way and as I have so outlined to you. There is no other feasible explanation. Medical testimony has ruled out the possibility of foul play – murder. Sergeant McNamara has pointed out that it would be difficult for a person to accidentally fall into the lake at Clonloughlin even if a person was in a drunken stupor, befuddled and disoriented by alcohol, because of the nature of the topography of
the area. There is no high ground surrounding that particular body of water.’ There was a split second’s pause, before the coroner finished, ‘And so, after giving due consideration to all of the evidence presented today, I must draw the conclusion that this is a clear case of suicide.’ The coroner scanned the jurors for one final time. ‘Are there any questions?’

  The jurors turned to each other, spoke together in low tones for a few seconds, and finally a clean-cut young man addressed the coroner with the apparent approval of the others. ‘We are all in agreement, sir. We believe as you do and that it happened the way you say.’

  Straightening himself up to his full height in the chair, the coroner now addressed the entire court.

  ‘As coroner presiding in this Coroner’s Court of the County of Cork I must now pronounce a verdict that Minerva Gwendolyn Standish, the Countess of Dunvale, did die by her own hand whilst the balance of her mind was disturbed, and whilst she was under the influence of alcohol and barbiturates.’

  There was a moment of complete silence and then a buzz began, rippling through the court. Daisy patted Edwina’s hand, leaned forward and glanced at John Crawford, who smiled very faintly and nodded. Daisy’s eyes rested momentarily on Anthony, who sat as unmoving as a statue on the seat. He looked stricken, disbelieving. Daisy filled with sadness and pity for him. He had so wanted Min’s death to be proven an accident.