Agatha Christie AGATHA CHRISTIE writing as
MARY WESTMACOTT
The Rose and the Yew Tree
Dedication
The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew tree are of equal duration
T.S. ELIOT
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Prelude
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Prelude
I was in Paris when Parfitt, my man, came to me and said that a lady had called to see me. She said, he added, that it was very important.
I had formed by then the habit of never seeing people without an appointment. People who call to see you about urgent business are nearly invariably people who wish for financial assistance. The people who are in real need of financial assistance, on the other hand, hardly ever come and ask for it.
I asked Parfitt what my visitor’s name was, and he proffered a card. The card said: Catherine Yougoubian – a name I had never heard of and which, frankly, I did not much fancy. I revised my idea that she needed financial assistance and deduced instead that she had something to sell – probably one of those spurious antiques which command a better price when they are brought by hand and forced on the unwilling buyer with the aid of voluble patter.
I said I was sorry that I could not see Madame Yougoubian, but she could write and state her business.
Parfitt inclined his head and withdrew. He is very reliable – an invalid such as I am needs a reliable attendant – and I had not the slightest doubt that the matter was now disposed of. Much to my astonishment, however, Parfitt reappeared. The lady, he said, was very insistent. It was a matter of life and death and concerned an old friend of mine.
Whereupon my curiosity was suddenly aroused. Not by the message – that was a fairly obvious gambit; life and death and the old friend are the usual counters in the game. No, what stimulated my curiosity was the behaviour of Parfitt. It was not like Parfitt to come back with a message of that kind.