The Eyes Have It
Page 10
If one adds mineral spiritsand air to a fire, the fire will be increased. But if one adds ash,the fire will be put out.
"In a similar manner, if one attacks a living being psychically itwill die--but if one attacks a dead thing in such a manner, thepsychic energy will be absorbed, to the detriment of the person whohas used it.
"In theory, we could charge Laird Duncan with attempted murder, forthere is no doubt that he did attempt to kill your brother, my lady._But your brother was already dead at the time!_
"The resultant dissipation of psychic energy rendered Laird Duncanunconscious for several hours, during which Lady Duncan waited insuspenseful fear.
"Finally, when Laird Duncan regained consciousness, he realized whathad happened. He knew that your brother was already dead when heattempted the spell. He thought, therefore, that Lady Duncan hadkilled the Count.
"On the other hand, Lady Duncan was perfectly well aware that she hadleft Edouard alive and well. So she thought the black magic of herhusband had killed her erstwhile lover."
"Each was trying to protect the other," Father Bright said. "Neitheris completely evil, then. There may be something we can do for LairdDuncan."
"I wouldn't know about that, Father," Lord Darcy said. "The HealingArt is the Church's business, not mine." He realized with someamusement that he was paraphrasing Dr. Pateley. "What Laird Duncan hadnot known," he went on quickly, "was that his wife had taken a gun upto the Count's bedroom. That put a rather different light on hervisit, you see. That's why he flew into such a towering rage atme--not because I was accusing him or his wife of murder, but becauseI had cast doubt on his wife's behavior."
He turned his head to look at the table where the Irish sorcerer wasworking. "Ready, Master Sean?"
"Aye, my lord. All I have to do is set up the screen and light thelantern in the projector."
"Go ahead, then." He looked back at Father Bright and the Countess."Master Sean has a rather interesting lantern slide I want you to lookat."
"The most successful development I've ever made, if I may say so, mylord," the sorcerer said.
"Proceed."
Master Sean opened the shutter on the projector, and a picture spranginto being on the screen.
There were gasps from Father Bright and the Countess.
It was a woman. She was wearing the gown that had hung in the Count'scloset. A button had been torn off, and the gown gaped open. Her righthand was almost completely obscured by a dense cloud of smoke.Obviously she had just fired a pistol directly at the onlooker.
But that was not what had caused the gasps.
The girl was beautiful. Gloriously, ravishingly beautiful. It was nota delicate beauty. There was nothing flower-like or peaceful in it. Itwas a beauty that could have but one effect on a normal human male.She was the most physically desirable woman one could imagine.
_Retro mea, Sathanas_, Father Bright thought wryly. _She's almostobscenely beautiful._
Only the Countess was unaffected by the desirability of the image.She saw only the startling beauty.
"Has neither of you seen that woman before? I thought not," said LordDarcy. "Nor had Laird or Lady Duncan. Nor Sir Pierre.
"Who is she? We don't know. But we can make a few deductions. She musthave come to the Count's room by appointment. This is quite obviouslythe woman Edouard mentioned to Lady Duncan--the woman, the 'she' thatthe Scots noblewoman could not compare with. It is almost certain sheis a commoner; otherwise she would not be wearing a robe from theCount's collection. She must have changed right there in the bedroom.Then she and the Count quarreled--about what, we do not know. TheCount had previously taken Lady Duncan's pistol away from her and hadevidently carelessly let it lay on that table you see behind the girl.She grabbed it and shot him. Then she changed clothes again, hung upthe robe, and ran away. No one saw her come or go. The Count haddesigned the stairway for just that purpose.
"Oh, we'll find her, never fear--now that we know what she looks like.
"At any rate," Lord Darcy concluded, "the mystery is now solved to mycomplete satisfaction, and I shall so report to His Highness."
* * * * *
Richard, Duke of Normandy, poured two liberal portions of excellentbrandy into a pair of crystal goblets. There was a smile ofsatisfaction on his youthful face as he handed one of the goblets toLord Darcy. "Very well done, my lord," he said. "Very well done."
"I am gratified to hear Your Highness say so," said Lord Darcy,accepting the brandy.
"But how were you so certain that it was _not_ someone from outsidethe castle? Anyone could have come in through the main gate. That'salways open."
"True, Your Highness. But the door at the foot of the stairway was_locked_. Count D'Evreux locked it after he threw Lady Duncan out.There is no way of locking or unlocking it from the outside; the doorhad not been forced. No one could have come in that way, nor left thatway, after Lady Duncan was so forcibly ejected. The only other wayinto the Count's suite was by the other door, and that door wasunlocked."
"I see," said Duke Richard. "I wonder why she went up there in thefirst place?"
"Probably because he asked her to. Any other woman would have knownwhat she was getting into if she accepted an invitation to CountD'Evreux's suite."
The Duke's handsome face darkened. "No. One would hardly expect thatsort of thing from one's own brother. She was perfectly justified inshooting him."
"Perfectly, Your Highness. And had she been anyone but the heiress,she would undoubtedly have confessed immediately. Indeed, it was all Icould do to keep her from confessing to me when she thought I wasgoing to charge the Duncans with the killing. But she knew that it wasnecessary to preserve the reputation of her brother and herself. Notas private persons, but as Count and Countess, as officers of theGovernment of His Imperial Majesty the King. For a man to be known asa rake is one thing. Most people don't care about that sort of thingin a public official so long as he does his duty and does itwell--which, as Your Highness knows, the Count did.
"But to be shot to death while attempting to assault his ownsister--that is quite another thing. She was perfectly justified inattempting to cover it up. And she will remain silent unless someoneelse is accused of the crime."
"Which, of course, will not happen," said Duke Richard. He sipped atthe brandy, then said: "She will make a good Countess. She hasjudgment and she can keep cool under duress. After she had shot herown brother, she might have panicked, but she didn't. How many womenwould have thought of simply taking off the damaged gown and puttingon its duplicate from the closet?"
"Very few," Lord Darcy agreed. "That's why I never mentioned that Iknew the Count's wardrobe contained dresses identical to her own. Bythe way, Your Highness, if any good Healer, like Father Bright, hadknown of those duplicate dresses, he would have realized that theCount had a sexual obsession about his sister. He would have knownthat all the other women the Count went after were sistersubstitutes."
"Yes; of course. And none of them measure up." He put his goblet onthe table. "I shall inform the King my brother that I recommended thenew Countess whole-heartedly. No word of this must be put down inwriting, of course. You know and I know and the King must know. No oneelse must know."
"One other knows," said Lord Darcy.
"Who?" The Duke looked startled.
"Father Bright."
Duke Richard looked relieved. "Naturally. He won't tell her that weknow, will he?"
"I think Father Bright's discretion can be relied upon."
* * * * *
In the dimness of the confessional, Alice, Countess D'Evreux knelt andlistened to the voice of Father Bright.
"I shall not give you any penance, my child, for you have committed nosin--that is, in so far as the death of your brother is concerned. Forthe rest of your sins, you must read and memorize the third chapter of'The Soul and The World,' by St. James Huntington."
He started to pronounce the absolution, but the Countess said:
"I don't understand one thing. That picture. That wasn't me. I neversaw such a gorgeously beautiful girl in my life. And I'm so plain. Idon't understand."
"Had you looked more closely, my child, you would have seen that theface did look like yours--only it was idealized. When a subjectivereality is made objective, distortions invariably show up; that is whysuch things cannot be accepted as evidence of objective reality incourt." He paused. "To put it another way, my child: Beauty is in theeye of the beholder."
* * * * *