"Not even a small subscription, half a crown perhaps?" Miss Marple exhibited her little book.
"Oh er... well, yes.
I dare say I could manage that." The girl looked relieved and turned to hunt in her handbag.
Miss Marple's sharp eyes were looking round the room.
She said, "I see you've no hearth rug in front of the fire."
Dinah Lee turned round and stared at her. She could not but be aware of the very keen scrutiny the old lady was giving her, but it aroused in her no other emotion than slight annoyance.
Miss Marple recognized that. She said,
"It's rather dangerous, you know.
Sparks fly out and mark the carpet."
Funny old tabby, thought Dinah, but she said quite amiably, if somewhat vaguely,
"There used to be one.
I don't know where it's got to."
"I suppose," said Miss Marple, "it was the fluffy woolly kind?"
"Sheep," said Dinah. "That's what it looked like." She was amused now. An eccentric old bean, this. She held out a half crown. "Here you are," she said.
"Oh, thank you, my dear." Miss Marple took it and opened the little book.
"Er... what name shall I write down?"
Dinah's eyes grew suddenly hard and contemptuous. Nosy old cat, she thought. That's all she came for, prying around for scandal.
She said clearly and with malicious pleasure,
"Miss Dinah Lee."
Miss Marple looked at her steadily. She said, "This is Mr Basil Blake's cottage, isn't it?"
"Yes, and I'm Miss Dinah Lee!" Her voice rang out challengingly, her head went back, her blue eyes flashed.
Very steadily Miss Marple looked at her.
She said, "Will you allow me to give you some advice, even though you may consider it impertinent?"
"I shall consider it impertinent.
You had better say nothing."
"Nevertheless," said Miss Marple, "I am going to speak. I want to advise you, very strongly, not to continue using your maiden name in the village."
Dinah stared at her.
She said, "What, what do you mean?"
Miss Marple said earnestly,
"In a very short time you may need all the sympathy and good will you can find.
It will be important to your husband, too, that he shall be thought well of.
There is a prejudice in old-fashioned country districts against people living together who are not married. It has amused you both, I dare say, to pretend that that is what you are doing. It kept people away, so that you weren't bothered with what I expect you would call 'old frumps.' Nevertheless, old frumps have their uses."
Dinah demanded, "How did you know we are married?"
Miss Marple smiled a deprecating smile. "Oh, my dear," she said.
Dinah persisted, "No, but how did you know?
You didn't, you didn't go to Somerset House?"
A momentary flicker showed in Miss Marple's eyes.
"Somerset House?
Oh, no.
But it was quite easy to guess. Everything, you know, gets round in a village.
The... er... the kind of quarrels you have typical of early days of marriage.
Quite -quite unlike an illicit relationship.
It has been said, you know, and I think quite truly, that you can only really get under anybody's skin if you are married to them.
When there is no - no legal bond, people are much more careful; they have to keep assuring themselves how happy and halcyon everything is. They have, you see, to justify themselves. They dare not quarrel! Married people, I have noticed, quite enjoy their battles and the... er... appropriate reconciliations."
She paused, twinkling benignly. "Well, I -" Dinah stopped and laughed.
She sat down and lit a cigarette. "You're absolutely marvellous!" she said.
Then she went on, "But why do you want us to own up and admit to respectability?"
Miss Marple's face was grave now. She said, "Because any minute now your husband may be arrested for murder."
Chapter 38
For an interval Dinah stared at Miss Marple.