Against Dale the matter was not so clear, a charge of manslaughter being considered. At last, however, it was decided he could not be proved guilty of this, his only punishable offence being blackmail. But as Austin and Cosgrove resolutely refused to prosecute, the charge was not proceeded with, and Dale also was set free. The cousins even agreed to pay him the £320 a year he had been promised, though they would not purchase for him the annuity.
All the cases thus collapsing, the Yard authorities did not consider it necessary to make known the illegality of Sir William’s marriage, and the secret was therefore preserved.
A few weeks, later two announcements were to be seen in the fashionable papers. First came:
‘Ponson—Drew. Dec. 29, 1920, at St George’s, Hanover Square, by the Rev. Sydney Smallwood, cousin of the bride, Austin Herbert, son of the late Sir William Ponson of Luce Manor, Halford, to Lois Evelyn, eldest daughter of Arthur Drew, of Elm Cottage, Halford.’
Below it was another announcement:
‘Ponson—Belcher. Dec. 29, 1920 at St George’s, Hanover Square, by the Rev. Sydney Smallwood, Cosgrove Seaton, son of the late John Ponson of Oaklands, Gateshead, to Elizabeth Clare (Betty), youngest daughter of the late Rev. Stanford Belcher, of St Aiden’s Rectory, Nottingham.’
The End
Transcriber’s Notes
This transcription follows the text of the edition published by HarperCollins in 2016, which is based on the original 1921 edition published by W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. The following alterations have been made to correct what are believed to be unambiguous errors in the text:
- Seven missing quotation marks have been restored.
- Three sentences terminated with a comma have been changed to end with a period.
- Six further invalid commas have been deleted.
- The word “Franklyins” has been corrected to “Franklyns” (Ch. III).
- The words “un substantiated” have been corrected to “unsubstantiated” (Ch. V).
- The phrase “fled him forward” has been corrected to “led him forward” (Ch. VI).
- The word “aerodome” has been corrected to “aerodrome” (Ch. XII).
- The word “Anstin” has been corrected to “Austin” (Ch. XV).