Murder at Mansfield Park

the real state of things between Miss Fanny and her
relations.’
    O’Hara gave him a narrow look. ‘I suppose there’s no harm in telling what everyone here knows—’
    ‘No, indeed, Hannah, and especially when it is what everyone knows , but no-one will say . No-one in the family, that is.’
    O’Hara gave him a penetrating glance. ‘They didn’t know the half of it. Not Sir Thomas and her ladyship, anyways. It always looked peaceful and good humoured enough on the
surface, but underneath it was a different story, make no mistake about it. At least as far as the young ladies was concerned. Miss Fanny had a cunning way of her own of causing quarrels without
seeming to, if you take my meaning. And as soon as Miss Maria set her cap at Mr Rushworth, well, you can just imagine what Miss Fanny thought ’a that—I think it truly was the first time
in the whole course of her life that she’d ever wanted some thing and not got it at the first time of asking. The bickerings that man caused! Miss Maria did what she could to stand her
ground, but she never had cat’s chance—Miss Fanny would bawl at her like a trollop when they were out of hearing of the rest of the family, however dainty and demure she made sure to
look in the drawing-room.’
    O’Hara sat back in her chair, and eyed Maddox in a conspiratorial manner. ‘If you ask me, some thing happened on that jaunt to Compton. I can’t tell you as to what, but every
thing changed after that and it weren’t just the news about Sir Thomas. You see if I’m not wrong.’
    Maddox did not rise to the bait. ‘And what about Mr Norris—how did he feel about all this?’ he continued.
    O’Hara did not appear to be particularly interested in Mr Norris. ‘Oh, you never could tell, with him. He’s a deep one—keeps his feelings to hisself. But one of the
footmen saw what happened when he got back from Cumberland the first time and caught Miss Fanny and Mr Rushworth at that play rehearsal. She was in his arms, so Williams said. Almost kissing , he said. Not at all what a man like Mr Norris would have expected, I can tell you. Williams said his face was black as thunder, and he insisted the whole thing was stopped, right
there and then. It was the talk of the servants’ hall for days after.’
    Maddox could well believe it; O’Hara, meanwhile, was still speaking.
    ‘All the same, if you ask me, he was as tired of her, as she was of him. It wasn’t just about Mr Rushworth, either. They both preferred someone else.’
    Maddox sat forward in his chair; he had already discovered, or guessed, much of what O’Hara had told him, but this he had not heard before.
    ‘Oh, he did his best to hide it,’ she said, ‘being so strict and all, but you only had to look at him when she was in the room. He was in love with her. It was written all over
his face.’
    ‘It is most important there is no misunderstanding about this point, Hannah,’ said Maddox choosing his words with care. ‘To whom are you referring?’
    ‘Why, Miss Crawford, of course. Who else could it be?’
    Even though the hour was late, Maddox sent Stornaway to fetch Maria Bertram’s maid, and sat over the fire while he awaited her arrival, perusing the notes Fraser had taken. He also read
once again the observations he himself had recorded after his conversation with Mary, in the light of O’Hara’s last and most suggestive revelation.
    It was all very interesting, very interesting indeed.

 
    CHAPTER XIV
    Mary, needless to say, knew nothing of this; and she set out for the Park the following morning with a heart much lighter than it would have been, had she been privy to all
that was going through Maddox’s mind at that same moment. The house seemed quiet enough, and if the servants were more circumspect than usual, Mary scarcely noticed in her eagerness to
enquire after Julia, and her relief at hearing that if she was no better, she was likewise no worse. The girl had been given another sleeping draught, and Mary sat with her for some time, deriving
considerable comfort from seeing her in such a quiet, steady and seemingly comfortable repose. From the window she could still see the view that had been so much cherished by her young friend. Mary
could not but find it most affecting that, even if it had come about in a way she could never have foreseen, Julia had, indeed, succeeded in her desperate attempt to save her beloved trees: they
had been judged sufficiently close to the