Murder at Mansfield Park

Mary began to edge slowly round the edge of the table towards the window. She had already perceived that her sole hope lay in someone hearing their voices, and coming to investigate. If not her brother, then the White House servants; she must do all in her power to keep Mrs Norris talking — even to reason with her, if she could; though one glance at the woman’s haggard, ill face was enough to make Mary fear whether she were not already far beyond the reach of either reason or persuasion.

"I know a good deal of such things, Mrs Norris," she said, in a placatory tone. "I, too, have struggled to maintain the proper appearances on a straitened income. I, too, have been forced to measures I deplored, merely to make ends meet. We are not so very unlike, you and I."

"Do not presume to compare your

situation with mine," she cried, pointing a trembling finger at Mary. "You are nothing, a non-entity —

scarcely better than a servant, and with the manners and wardrobe to suit — an impudent upstart without birth, connections, or fortune."

"Oh, but there you are wrong," said Mary. "Even if I allow that I may lack some of those things — though I resent your insolence just as much as you resent my supposed impudence — I am not, now, without fortune. Indeed, thanks to his marriage my brother will henceforth be one of the richest men in England, as well as the legal inheritor of Lessingby Hall."

She had hoped to plead a rational case — to present the prospect of a marriage between herself and Edmund as the only way to recover the family’s lost prosperity, and therefore grounds enough for Mrs Norris to spare Mary’s own life, and help her save her son. But she had miscalculated. She could not have known that the mere mention of Lessingby would smite such a raw nerve. It was the summation of everything that Mrs Norris had hoped for, and to which she had deemed herself entitled; to her mind, it remained the pattern of perfection for all that was gracious, elegant, and desirable, that she had been denied for so long; had it taken place, her son’s marriage would have brought this dream of felicity within her reach at last, and made her, de facto, the mistress of the Hall. It had been the darling wish of her heart for many, many years, and she had not relinquished it without much pain, and even greater bitterness; it had been torn from her like the child she had never borne, and here, before her very eyes, was the woman to whom so much of the blame could be attributed.

She threw down the basket upon the table, and seized one of the silver knives within it.

"No!" cried Mary, backing away. "You are not thinking clearly — someone will be here at any moment — they will discover you — you cannot hope to escape — "

"Your brother, perhaps? Or that piece of vermin Stornaway? When I last saw them they were chatting away quite comfortably in the alcove. Which does not surprise me; it is clear your brother is quite at home with men of that

class."

"Then your own servants — they will be returning from the Park."

"I have already had the foresight to allow them a half-holiday, out of respect to the dear departed. I did not want my step-son disturbed — not before matters were brought to their inevitable conclusion. You see, you underestimate me, Miss Crawford, as you always have.You and that reptile Maddox alike. He thinks only a man could be capable of what I have done, just as you think I am so weak-minded as not to have anticipated this very possibility, and planned accordingly. I knew you might eventually piece together who was really responsible for Fanny’s death, and I have been prepared to act for some days past."

She stopped, and smiled, a smile that froze Mary’s very soul. "In fact, I am indebted to you, Miss Crawford. You have made it easier for me than I could have ever hoped. I will only have to say that I found you dead when I opened the door. My step-son is already accused of a crime no less violent, and it will not be difficult to induce people to believe him capable of another act of equal savagery. Indeed, it will merely make it easier to explain his regrettable decision to take his own life."