[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
regarded the king s morals with disapproval. He still adored his
wife after well over thirty years of marriage and tolerated the fact
that his son had chosen not to find an acceptable spouse, choosing
instead to fulfil his desire for men.
Orlando wasn t sure whether any or all of these factors
would show on his host s face, but he was pleasantly surprised
with his first impressions. Intelligence came across in spades,
alongside a combination of solemnity and sensitivity. When he d
been favoured with a thicker thatch of hair and fewer wrinkles,
Richard Stewart must have been regarded by the ladies as the
catch of the season. He too, like his youngest son, suffered with a
cough in the wake of illness, although both rightfully regarded
themselves as lucky to have escaped the pneumonia which had
www.lindenbayromance.com 107
Charlie Cochrane
taken a number of folk who d thought they d successfully
survived the flu.
The Manor amazed Orlando, too. How he could ever have
felt at home as Jonty reassured him he had at a place which
was half unfinished castle and half stately home, he wasn t sure.
The scale of the edifice wasn t as great as St. Bride s and the era
of construction more recent, but it was just as imposing, a great
entrance which must have once held a portcullis leading into a
grassy court. Three sides of this were bounded by Tudor buildings
with Georgian additions, the fourth by a walled garden. If he
hadn t been both besotted with and in awe of his hostess, he d
have bolted straight back to the station.
Mrs. Stewart bustled them all into the warmth of the drawing
room then fussed and fretted over them all to her heart s content,
her husband rolling his eyes when she couldn t see him do so and
sharing wry smiles with his guests. In due course they were
allowed to be left alone, at which point Richard Stewart
immediately began to quiz the lads , as he d taken to referring to
them, on something about which he was itching to have
information. He was a St. Bride s man himself and naturally took
an interest in the Woodville Ward case.
It was also said that Shaa had once stayed at the original
building on the site of the Manor. That building was no longer
standing, having been cleared when the castle was built, but its
traces could be seen on the northern lawns. There was no
documentary evidence of the visit, of course, just some local
history that had been jotted down by a clergyman in the
eighteenth century, the source of which was dubious.
Mr. Stewart was delighted the lads had thought to bring
down all their documents, and his eyes lit up to learn of the
encoded ones. He d always had a soft spot for cryptograms, he
confided, which made Jonty roll his eyes at the thought, no doubt,
108 www.lindenbayromance.com
Lessons in Discovery
of his father and his lover ensconcing themselves together over
dry and dusty parchments.
As it turned out, they were all too tired and full of lunch in
the afternoon to attempt anything more than a brief résumé of how
the case stood, before the local rector and his wife arrived for a
drink or two prior to dinner. This proved an interesting meal, the
clergyman having a fund of funny stories that were matched blow
for blow by his host.
Inevitably the case on which the fellows were working got
mentioned, something which made the rector prick up his ears. He
was a staunch Yorkist, not a red rose being allowed in his garden,
not a book about the Tudors polluting his shelves. He could,
however, just about square his conscience with visiting a home
that had been founded under the benefaction of Henry VIII,
especially when Mrs. Stewart, in whose gift was the living of the
parish, had confessed to a smidgeon of York blood in her noble
veins.
The rector had his own pet theories about the case and was
fascinated to hear those that Orlando and Jonty had come across.
The one about Richard of Gloucester enraged him, that which
picked out Margaret Beaufort interested him enormously and the
faux Shakespeare theorem made him hoot, especially as it was
told by Orlando, with every note of outrage he d felt about being
gulled getting exaggerated in the telling.
But are you any nearer to solving this puzzle? Mr. Stewart
tapped his fork on the table, earning him a sharp look from his
wife. I d love to be able to claim some connection to the people
who unravel once and for all the mystery that s eluded so many.
Especially if it means keeping it out of the hands of he whom I
shan t mention.
I beg your pardon? Mystified, the rector looked from Mr.
Stewart to his son.
www.lindenbayromance.com 109
Charlie Cochrane
My father means a certain fellow of St. Bride s who
treacherously absconded to the college next door and is now
regarded as a cross between Iago and Guy Fawkes. He ll get
access to all the new information if we don t have this wrapped up
by the start of term. It s enough to drive a man insane. Jonty dug
into a potato as if it were Owens himself. However, we re
making some headway, aren t we, Dr. Coppersmith?
We think so. Orlando smiled happily. Usually ill at ease in
company, the welcome afforded him by his hosts, and having a
subject to discuss on which he was confident, had made him
positively garrulous. It s all Dr. Stewart s suggestion, of course.
He inclined his head towards his friend, inviting him to continue
and then wondering whether Jonty would be brave enough to raise
the matter of his dream in mixed company.
I suddenly had an idea Jonty waved his hand airily,
that all the evidence we have as to the identity of the body in the
well is circumstantial. The jewellery, the arm, the rough
coincidence of dates. That s the entirety of it. I ve learned a thing
or two over the last year about looking for real hard evidence and
none of this convinces me.
Orlando nodded. The thing that has always worried me in
this case is the matter of qui bono. No one obviously benefited
from the murder of Shaa, except, as Jonty pointed out and it was
like a bolt of lightning illuminating the sky Shaa himself. If he
could pretend that he was dead, he could escape as easy as kiss
my hand and live the life he d always wanted to. We know
another young man went missing at the time and I think it s likely
it was him in the well, although Jonty thinks the evidence on that
is coincidental too.
So, Richard Stewart intervened, with a note of glee in his
voice, those historians were barking up the wrong tree all the
time? It s not a matter of whodunit but whowasitdunto?
110 www.lindenbayromance.com
Lessons in Discovery
Exactly. And where did Shaa take himself off to
afterwards?
The company at table listened, fascinated. As Orlando and
Jonty explained the theorem afresh it only served to settle in their
minds that they d got things the right way around in this case at
last. Mrs. Stewart let the frivolity go on for a decent length then
declared that as all of her gentlemen were still convalescent, there
was to be no port or cigars, just an expedition for everyone to
their blameless beds.
The next day was bitterly cold, so the three invalids as
Mrs. Stewart called them weren t allowed to venture their noses
out of the door, Orlando and Jonty being made to use the passage
through the cellars to reach the main part of the building from
their bedchambers. The lady herself had domestic and parish
business to attend to so they sought the sanctuary of the library, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
regarded the king s morals with disapproval. He still adored his
wife after well over thirty years of marriage and tolerated the fact
that his son had chosen not to find an acceptable spouse, choosing
instead to fulfil his desire for men.
Orlando wasn t sure whether any or all of these factors
would show on his host s face, but he was pleasantly surprised
with his first impressions. Intelligence came across in spades,
alongside a combination of solemnity and sensitivity. When he d
been favoured with a thicker thatch of hair and fewer wrinkles,
Richard Stewart must have been regarded by the ladies as the
catch of the season. He too, like his youngest son, suffered with a
cough in the wake of illness, although both rightfully regarded
themselves as lucky to have escaped the pneumonia which had
www.lindenbayromance.com 107
Charlie Cochrane
taken a number of folk who d thought they d successfully
survived the flu.
The Manor amazed Orlando, too. How he could ever have
felt at home as Jonty reassured him he had at a place which
was half unfinished castle and half stately home, he wasn t sure.
The scale of the edifice wasn t as great as St. Bride s and the era
of construction more recent, but it was just as imposing, a great
entrance which must have once held a portcullis leading into a
grassy court. Three sides of this were bounded by Tudor buildings
with Georgian additions, the fourth by a walled garden. If he
hadn t been both besotted with and in awe of his hostess, he d
have bolted straight back to the station.
Mrs. Stewart bustled them all into the warmth of the drawing
room then fussed and fretted over them all to her heart s content,
her husband rolling his eyes when she couldn t see him do so and
sharing wry smiles with his guests. In due course they were
allowed to be left alone, at which point Richard Stewart
immediately began to quiz the lads , as he d taken to referring to
them, on something about which he was itching to have
information. He was a St. Bride s man himself and naturally took
an interest in the Woodville Ward case.
It was also said that Shaa had once stayed at the original
building on the site of the Manor. That building was no longer
standing, having been cleared when the castle was built, but its
traces could be seen on the northern lawns. There was no
documentary evidence of the visit, of course, just some local
history that had been jotted down by a clergyman in the
eighteenth century, the source of which was dubious.
Mr. Stewart was delighted the lads had thought to bring
down all their documents, and his eyes lit up to learn of the
encoded ones. He d always had a soft spot for cryptograms, he
confided, which made Jonty roll his eyes at the thought, no doubt,
108 www.lindenbayromance.com
Lessons in Discovery
of his father and his lover ensconcing themselves together over
dry and dusty parchments.
As it turned out, they were all too tired and full of lunch in
the afternoon to attempt anything more than a brief résumé of how
the case stood, before the local rector and his wife arrived for a
drink or two prior to dinner. This proved an interesting meal, the
clergyman having a fund of funny stories that were matched blow
for blow by his host.
Inevitably the case on which the fellows were working got
mentioned, something which made the rector prick up his ears. He
was a staunch Yorkist, not a red rose being allowed in his garden,
not a book about the Tudors polluting his shelves. He could,
however, just about square his conscience with visiting a home
that had been founded under the benefaction of Henry VIII,
especially when Mrs. Stewart, in whose gift was the living of the
parish, had confessed to a smidgeon of York blood in her noble
veins.
The rector had his own pet theories about the case and was
fascinated to hear those that Orlando and Jonty had come across.
The one about Richard of Gloucester enraged him, that which
picked out Margaret Beaufort interested him enormously and the
faux Shakespeare theorem made him hoot, especially as it was
told by Orlando, with every note of outrage he d felt about being
gulled getting exaggerated in the telling.
But are you any nearer to solving this puzzle? Mr. Stewart
tapped his fork on the table, earning him a sharp look from his
wife. I d love to be able to claim some connection to the people
who unravel once and for all the mystery that s eluded so many.
Especially if it means keeping it out of the hands of he whom I
shan t mention.
I beg your pardon? Mystified, the rector looked from Mr.
Stewart to his son.
www.lindenbayromance.com 109
Charlie Cochrane
My father means a certain fellow of St. Bride s who
treacherously absconded to the college next door and is now
regarded as a cross between Iago and Guy Fawkes. He ll get
access to all the new information if we don t have this wrapped up
by the start of term. It s enough to drive a man insane. Jonty dug
into a potato as if it were Owens himself. However, we re
making some headway, aren t we, Dr. Coppersmith?
We think so. Orlando smiled happily. Usually ill at ease in
company, the welcome afforded him by his hosts, and having a
subject to discuss on which he was confident, had made him
positively garrulous. It s all Dr. Stewart s suggestion, of course.
He inclined his head towards his friend, inviting him to continue
and then wondering whether Jonty would be brave enough to raise
the matter of his dream in mixed company.
I suddenly had an idea Jonty waved his hand airily,
that all the evidence we have as to the identity of the body in the
well is circumstantial. The jewellery, the arm, the rough
coincidence of dates. That s the entirety of it. I ve learned a thing
or two over the last year about looking for real hard evidence and
none of this convinces me.
Orlando nodded. The thing that has always worried me in
this case is the matter of qui bono. No one obviously benefited
from the murder of Shaa, except, as Jonty pointed out and it was
like a bolt of lightning illuminating the sky Shaa himself. If he
could pretend that he was dead, he could escape as easy as kiss
my hand and live the life he d always wanted to. We know
another young man went missing at the time and I think it s likely
it was him in the well, although Jonty thinks the evidence on that
is coincidental too.
So, Richard Stewart intervened, with a note of glee in his
voice, those historians were barking up the wrong tree all the
time? It s not a matter of whodunit but whowasitdunto?
110 www.lindenbayromance.com
Lessons in Discovery
Exactly. And where did Shaa take himself off to
afterwards?
The company at table listened, fascinated. As Orlando and
Jonty explained the theorem afresh it only served to settle in their
minds that they d got things the right way around in this case at
last. Mrs. Stewart let the frivolity go on for a decent length then
declared that as all of her gentlemen were still convalescent, there
was to be no port or cigars, just an expedition for everyone to
their blameless beds.
The next day was bitterly cold, so the three invalids as
Mrs. Stewart called them weren t allowed to venture their noses
out of the door, Orlando and Jonty being made to use the passage
through the cellars to reach the main part of the building from
their bedchambers. The lady herself had domestic and parish
business to attend to so they sought the sanctuary of the library, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]