Смерть на Ниле / Death on the Nile - стр. 30

be his duty to stick to her – though I’m not really sure of that. If one person is unhappy the other suffers too. But an engagement is not really binding. If a mistake has been made, then surely it is better to face the fact before it is too late. I admit that it was very hard on Jackie, and I’m very sorry about it – but there it is. It was inevitable.’

‘I wonder.’

She stared at him.

‘What do you mean?’

‘It is very sensible, very logical – all that you say! But it does not explain one thing.’

‘What is that?’

‘Your own attitude, Madame. See you, this pursuit of you, you might take it in two ways. It might cause you annoyance – yes, or it might stir your pity – that your friend should have been so deeply hurt as to throw all regard for the conventions aside. But that is not the way you react. No, to you this persecution is intolerable – and why? It can be for one reason only – that you feel a sense of guilt.’

Linnet sprang to her feet.

‘How dare you? Really, Monsieur Poirot, this is going too far.’

‘But I do dare, Madame! I am going to speak to you quite frankly. I suggest to you that, although you may have endeavoured to gloss over the fact to yourself, you did deliberately set about taking your husband from your friend. I suggest that you felt emphasisly attracted to him at once. But I suggest that there was a moment when you hesitated, when you realized that there was a choice – that you could refrain or go on. I suggest that the initiative rested with you – not with Monsieur Doyle. You are beautiful, Madame, you are rich, you are clever, intelligent – and you have charm. You could have exercised that charm or you could have restrained it. You had everything, Madame, that life can offer. Your friend’s life was bound up in one person. You knew that – but though you hesitated, you did not hold your hand. You stretched it out and, like King David, you took the poor man’s one ewe lamb.’

There was a silence. Linnet controlled herself with an effort and said in a cold voice:

‘All this is quite beside the point!’

‘No, it is not beside the point. I am explaining to you just why the unexpected appearances of Mademoiselle de Bellefort have upset you so much. It is because though she may be unwomanly and undignified in what she is doing, you have the inner conviction that she has right on her side.’

‘That’s not true.’

Poirot shrugged his shoulders.

‘You refuse to be honest with yourself.’

‘Not at all.’

Poirot said gently:

‘I should say, Madame, that you have had a happy life, that you have been generous and kindly in your attitude towards others.’