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ot long after my tea with Oliver Acton, I was invited to the home of another parishoner, Lady Hilliard. I arrived at the Hilliard mansion at three and was escorted to the drawing room by a smartly dressed maid servant. Lady Hilliard was seated on a sofa. She smiled at me and said "So good of you to call, Reverend Hallifax."
Lady Hilliard was a handsome middle-aged woman and she had the demeanor of a grande dame. Mr. Acton's letter had mentioned Lady Hilliard and so I was quite interested in learning more about her role in the Corning affair. Eventually I broached the subject of Mrs. Corning.
"The poor dear" she responded. "Such a tragedy. But then she was rather eccentric, and so I wasn't entirely surprised." She smiled sweetly and sipped her tea daintily."Furthermore, she was not a member of our church and was quite stubborn on the subject when I tried to witness to her. As you have no doubt heard, I am the Vice Chairwoman of the Ladies Missionary Society."
"Yes indeed." I replied. "The society has done excellent work over the years.
"Thank you, Reverend. Alas, we do find some who are intransigent, as was Elizabeth Corning. I fear that even now her soul howls in eternal torment." Another sweet smile, another dainty sip.
Will I have the honor of meeting Lord Hilliard?" "Not today, I'm afraid. He is in the middle of one of his paintings."
Lord Hilliard was an amateur painter and made a speciality of landscapes. He seemed to do nothing else, and I have never yet seen he and Lady Hilliard in each other's company. But that is not so unusual nowadays, I am afraid. Couples often seem quite independent of one another.
As our tea went on, I gradually had a strange sense that something was amiss about my hostess, but I could not discern what it was until the very end of my visit: Lady Hilliard never blinked. It gave her blue eyes an eerie and reptilian aspect. For a moment I thought that perhaps some of Mrs. Cornings' outrageous statements about Lady Hilliard - as conveyed to me in Oliver Acton's letter - might not be so unjustified after all. But no - Lady Hilliard was the Vice President of Ladies Missionary Society - who could impeach such a character as that?
(To be continued...)
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