Two
B efore catching¹ her train back to St. Mary Mead² (Wednesday special cheap day return) Miss Marple, in a precise andbusinesslike fashion, collected certain data.
“Carrie Louise and I have corresponded after a fashion, but it has largely been a matter of Christmas cards orcalendars. It’s just the facts I should like, Ruth dear—and also some idea as to whom exactly I shall encounter in thehousehold at Stonygates.”
“Well, you know about Carrie Louise’s marriage to Gulbrandsen. There were no children and Carrie Louise tookthat very much to heart. Gulbrandsen was a widower³, and had three grown-up sons. Eventually they adopted a child.
Pippa, they called her—a lovely little creature. She was just two years old when they got her.”
“Where did she come from? What was her background?”
“Really, now, Jane, I can’t remember—if I ever heard, that is. An adoption⁴ society, maybe? Or some unwantedchild that Gulbrandsen had heard about. Why? Do you think it’s important?”
“Well, one always likes to know the background, so to speak. But please go on.”
“The next thing that happened was that Carrie Louise found that she was going to have a baby after all. Iunderstand from doctors that that quite often happens.”
Miss Marple nodded.
“I believe so.”
“Anyway, it did happen, and in a funny kind of way, Carrie Louise was almost disconcerted, if you can understandwhat I mean. Earlier, of course, she’d have been wild with joy. As it was, she’d given such a devoted⁵ love to Pippathat she felt quite apologetic to Pippa for putting her nose out of joint⁶, so to speak. And then Mildred, when shearrived, was really a very unattractive child. Took after the Gulbrandsens—who were solid and worthy—but definitelyhomely. Carrie Louise was always so anxious to make no difference between the adopted child and her own child thatI think she rather tended to overindulge Pippa and pass over Mildred. Sometimes I think that Mildred resented it.

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