Coroner (Scratching his head) Where was Mrs Darcy at this time? Surely Young Paul could have spoken to her, why do you think he didn’t?
Mrs Darcy (Shouting hysterically from the stand) He did talk to me and I loved him. He was my son of course he could talk to me anytime.
[There is a great deal of noise coming from the stands]
Coroner Silence! Please Continue Mr Bassett.
Bassett Well you see. (Cautiously) Mrs Darcy works in order to get money to maintain the family’s lifestyle. She has expensive tastes and Mr Darcy’s income is not enough to maintain their lifestyle. I know this because my wage packet would always be felt by the greenhouse a few days late, due to Mrs Darcy’s expensive tastes, well at least that’s what I was led to believe.
(Bassett has realised that he has divulged too much information and tries a displacement activity: of holding his hand on his heart.)
I do apologise, it’s the old ticker. Never been the same since the war you see, always gives me a put of trouble every now and again.
Coroner Well, Mr Bassett I am just trying to establish the relationship between you and the Darcy’s. Also I need to find out the relationship between Paul and Mrs Darcy before Paul became ill.
[Mrs Darcy is a beautiful woman and always dresses immaculately.]
Mrs Darcy We had a wonderful relationship. He was my son and I loved him with all my heart. (Oscar comforts Mrs Darcy)
Coroner I seem to have caused you a great deal of distress Mrs Darcy, I do apologise. But I am merely trying to find the facts. Now Mr Bassett, you say that Mr Darcy was not around much and Mrs Darcy was working to maintain the family’s lifestyle. Are you trying to imply that Paul was being neglected in some way?
Mrs Darcy (shouting) Neglected, are you mad. Of course I did not neglect my Paul. (Crying) He was a happy little boy, he was my little boy! It was that imprudent fool (pointing at Bassett) that led him astray.
[Mr Darcy enters and sits down in the stands, a far distance from Mrs Darcy and Mr Cresswell. He never makes eye contact with Mrs Darcy during the entire inquest. Mr Darcy is handsome and well dressed.]
Coroner (Sternly) Mrs Darcy, will you please clam down. We are purely trying to discover the lead up to Paul’s death and possible reasons into his death. There is no finger of blame being pointed, please remain clam, if you wish to continue listening to the inquest.
Bassett Oh, no. I’m not implying that at all.
(avoiding eye contact with Mr and Mrs Darcy.)
But now you come to mention it, Mrs Darcy seemed to have a kind of coldness about her, with the children but she hid it well, when she had company. She always gave the impression that she could do better then Mr Darcy, that he was a failure. I know this because I could sense the tension when they were together.
Coroner Really, why do say that?
Bassett Well, I was outside most of the time. But I would always hear them arguing and it was usually about money. Master Paul would be playing on his rocking horse, I could see all this through the window, you see.
Coroner Would Paul play on his rocking horse a lot? Surely he was a bit grown up for a rocking horse.
Bassett (Taking a sip of water) Well, I don’t know much because like I said I was working outside and it wasn’t my place to say anything. After all, I am only the gardener. But I would always hear Mrs Wilmot asking Paul to stop playing on it. Paul wouldn’t answer though; he never did when he was in full tilt.
[Mrs Wilmot begins to cry, hysterically from the stands. She dries her eyes with one of Paul’s handkerchiefs.]
Coroner This seems like quite obsessive behaviour for a boy of Paul’s age. I don’t know how many ten-year-old boys, who play on rocking horses. So when did Paul first take an interest in horse racing?
Bassett Well it’s like this sir, Master Paul would talk to me about horse racing in the garden. As you know us “outside” workers don’t enter the household, so Master Paul would talk to me outside in the greenhouse. Then one day I lent Master Paul five shillings to put on whichever horse he wished, so he placed it on Blush of Dawn.
Coroner (Sharply) Did it win?
Bassett No, unfortunately it did not. But later Mr Cresswell gave Master Paul a ten-shilling note and won. So Master Paul thought his Uncle was lucky and began to regularly ask me to place money on different races. He would win almost every time. He told me that he was lucky, which was true because he began to collect large amounts of money on horses that were thought to be lucky if they even finished races. He would sometimes say to me that he was “sure” which horse was going to win, which race and when. His eyes used to look like fire, which was a sign that he was “sure.” At first it was as if he had it from heaven, as if the lord himself had given him the power, but now I think it was the devil. Even so, we eventually agreed to become partners.
Coroner (Placing his hand on his chin and rising his eyebrows.) This is very mature behaviour for a boy of Paul’s age. What did Paul do with the money he won from the races?
Bassett (Taking yet another sip of water) Well, I would keep the money safe for Master Paul and I would leave the twenty pounds reserve with Joe Glee, in the Turf Commission deposit. But Master Paul started a fund for his Mother as a present God bless him. He did it because the family were having trouble maintaining their lifestyle, as I said before. It was important that Mrs Darcy had enough money for all her clothes. There was an almost supernatural pressure for money, in the house. Even though he never told me, I knew Master Paul felt it to.
Oscar Cresswell (Shouting) I must protest, what has the family money problems got to do with Paul’s death?
Coroner Silence! (Aggressively) I must remind you that Mr Bassett did divulge this information with no prompting from me.
Magistrate Nevertheless please keep your questions direct and to the point.
Coroner Very well, Mr Bassett. Can you remember how many bets you placed for Paul and how much money he made in total? Before you answer that question I would just like to remind you that encouraging a minor to place bets and indeed placing a bet for a minor is in fact illegal and prosecutable in a court of law.
Bassett I understand sir, but didn’t seem harmful at the time. Answering your question, I have been doing it for about a year now. (playing with his moustache) The first time I lent Master Paul five shillings to put on Blush of Dawn was a year ago. Master Paul lost this particular bet. However, Mr Cresswell gave him a ten-shilling note to place on Singhalese and he won, so master Paul thought his Uncle was lucky.
(Stops to take yet another sip of water.)
Mr Cresswell then took Master Paul to the Lincoln races, where he won money on Daffodil. Then there was Lively Spark and finally Malabar at the Derby. Mr Cresswell asked me to place £1000 on Malabar for Master Paul at his request. Which made Master Paul £8000 all in all.
Coroner Finally Mrs Bassett and please remember that you are under oath, what do you think was the cause of Paul’s death?
Bassett Well at first I thought it was from heaven. God had decided that it was Paul’s time, good rest his soul. But now I think it was evil the devil in disguise. Mrs Wilmot and I were discussing it and she reckons it’s that “edipis” (Bassett’s is obviously referring to the Oedipus complex) you know like that Fraud fella says. That’s why he changed to the other side and ‘sold his soul to the devil’, if you like. Mr Darcy was never there and so Master Paul wanted to fill his shoes, if you get what I mean. I dunno, it doesn’t all seem to add up.
Coroner That’s certainly one way to explain it. (With a half sarcastic tone in his voice but also heavy considering Bassett’s evidence.) Well, Thank you for your time Mr Bassett, no further questions.