Murder at Mansfield Park

and made my nose bleed. I did what I could to staunch it, but the front of my dress was covered with blood. I was mortified to be seen so in public, so I
concealed the stain with my shawl, that no-one should perceive it. As a result I alone know how and when the blood came to be there.’
    ‘You did not ask your maid to launder the gown?’
    She shook her head. ‘Not at first. I had not spirits to bear even her expressive looks. Insolence would have been intolerable, but pity infinitely worse. And when Fanny’s body was
found, it was too late. I became more and more terrified. It was as if some frightful trap had been laid for me. I thought that if—’
    ‘—if I searched your room I would discover this dress, and draw the obvious—indeed the natural—conclusion. I confess I did wonder why you were so adamant in your refusal
to permit such a search.’
    ‘How could I have proved that the blood was my own? Such a thing is impossible.’
    ‘Quite so,’ said Maddox, who reflected to himself in passing that, unlike any other injury, a nose-bleed offered the invaluable advantage of leaving no visible scar or sign
thereafter, which made Maria Bertram either transparently guiltless, or quite exceptionally devious. He had his own ideas on that subject, but he had not finished with her yet. ‘I can quite
understand why you should have been concerned, Miss Bertram. And, if I may say so, your explanation seems most convincing.’
    Her head lifted, and she looked at him in the face for the first time. ‘O, how you do relieve me!’ she burst out. ‘I have not slept properly for days—not
since—’
    Maddox held up his hand. ‘There is just one more thing, Miss Bertram. One last question, if I may. If you are indeed as innocent as you claim, why did you induce your maid to
lie?’
    Her eyes widened in terror, and he saw her lips form into a no , though the sound was inarticulate.
    ‘There is nothing to be gained by denying it, Miss Bertram—I have spoken to the young woman myself. Do not blame her, I entreat. Your Kitty is one of the most loyal creatures I have
ever encountered in her station in life, although I own the ten shillings you gave her would have been a most efficacious reinforcement of her natural tendencies. It was an admirable amount to fix
upon, if I may say so—not too large, not too small. Bribery is always such a tricky thing to carry off, especially for a novice: pay too much, and you put yourself in the power of a servant,
offer too little, and a greater price—or a greater threat—may be your undoing. And, I am afraid, it proved to be so in this case. Kitty Jeffries was proof against my pecuniary
inducements, but even she could not withstand George Fraser. He has never failed me yet.’
    He paused; he was not proud of what he had done, but the wench had suffered no real harm, and he had got the truth from her. Maria Bertram was, by now, sobbing as bitterly as her maid had done
not twelve hours before.
    ‘I see that you are unwilling—or unable—to speak. I, then, will speak for both of us. I have a little theory of my own, Miss Bertram, and with your permission, I will indulge
myself by expatiating on it for a moment. I believe that you did, indeed, leave your room that morning, and your maid saw you go. I believe you were still angry with your cousin, and this anger had
festered for many months, nay, possibly even years. Matters drew to a crisis over Mr Rushworth, and contrary to what one might have expected, your cousin’s disappearance, and the news of Mr
Rushworth’s engagement, did nothing to assuage your fury and resentment. Rationally or not, you blamed his defection on Miss Price, and in your eyes, this was only the last of a long series
of incidents in which you had been demeaned and humiliated, thanks to her. I believe you were in this same bitter and revengeful state of mind that morning, when, to your enormous astonishment, you
saw Miss Price walking towards you near the channel being dug for the new cascade. What you said to one another, I cannot at present divine, but whatever it was, it ended with you striking your
cousin a blow across the face. The rest, I admit, is conjecture on my part, but I surmise that whether from pain or shock, Miss Price fell to her knees before you, under the force of this blow,
leaving you ashamed, appalled, and perhaps a little exhilarated, at the enormity of what you had done. Doing your best to contain these tumultuous