Page 110 of The House of Hopes and Dreams
‘If there was anything to give away in the first place, Angel, but it’s all too Enid Blyton for me.’
‘I don’t think it’s Enid Blyton at all! I’m convinced that Lady Anne is trying to tell us that after her husband’s death she hid the Jewel away. Maybe it was for safekeeping, or just that she thought it had brought bad luck – and if she did, it’s probably still here.’
‘Eh, it’s just like that Dan Brown book with the weird clues that Grant lent me,’ Ivan said, enthralled. I’d forgotten he was still there.
‘Isn’t it just?’ Carey agreed. ‘You know, Angel, you’ve got a much more romantic imagination than I’d thought!’
‘I’m not romantic at all!’ I protested indignantly.
‘Well, if you think you really do have a clue to finding the Jewel, helpyourself to the spare keys to the old wing and go right ahead and search. I’m sure you’ll have hours of harmless fun even if—’
He broke off abruptly as a sharp rap sounded on the door and it swung open. He mustn’t have shut it quite to when he came in.
Clem popped his head round. ‘I thought you might be here, Carey. There’s a man come to collect some wood – the sycamore put aside for a sculptor? He’s parked down by the Lodge.’
‘I’ll be right down, thanks, Clem.’
‘You don’t think he overheard what we were saying, do you?’ I whispered, as soon as the door had closed behind him.
‘I expect he’d only just got here. But it’s a pity hedidn’thear the bit about Ella because it would have saved me another awkward interview with him,’ he said, then added, ‘What Ireallycame down to ask was whether Fang could stay with you for a bit.’
‘OK, but if he gets underfoot, I’ll banish him to his basket in the back room.’
This wasn’t much of a banishment, because it was Fang’s favourite position anyway. He could comfortably keep the biscuit tin in direct view and, since Ivan was addicted to digestive biscuits and generous enough to share, make his move as soon as Ivan appeared.
Despite throwing myself into my work during the next few days and producing several more free-hanging pieces of stained glass, which would find a ready market online or in galleries, Treasure Fever had me in its grip.
I drew the two frequently repeated sequences from the window and was sure I was right in thinking one of themwasthe pointed top of a linenfold panel repeated three times, followed by some kind of Tudor rose.
The other sequence was more baffling, being a circle filled with what looked like basket-weave, followed by an apple. It was always preceded by an open eye, but whether that just meant the onlooker should open their own eyes and see the message, or was simply the all-seeing eye of God, I had no idea.
I popped into the old wing on my way back to the house one late afternoon, wandering about in the dim light – the electrician hadn’t got that far yet. It was a bit spooky, especially upstairs, where I felt I was being watched, even though whenever I turned there was nothing and no one there.
I wondered if Ella had sneaked in to see what I was up to, which wasn’t a very comfortable thought. Ghosts would be preferable.
I narrowed the linenfold and rose sequence down to the muniment room and Lady Anne’s bedchamber. The roses were actually carved bosses on a horizontal board above the panelling. But I was totally stumped about the apples and basket-weave.
And even though I’d narrowed the search area down to two rooms, if there was a secret chamber, then discovering the right method of twisting, pulling, turning or pressing whatever it needed in the right order, could take a long time …
Then I suddenly remembered we’d been told that when Ella was a small child, the old family nanny had filled her head with stories of ghosts, secret chambers and lost jewels. Could it be that she was also convinced there was another secret chamber and her obsessive polishing of the panelling had a slightly more rational explanation?
But if so, and she hadn’t discovered it after all these years, what hope had I?
I felt disheartened: maybe Carey was right and I – and possibly Ella – were engaged on a wild-goose chase. But I wasn’t prepared to give upquiteyet.
I thought about it overnight and then went back to the old wing the following afternoon to have another look in the muniment room. I didn’t really think they’d have put the entrance to two secret chambers in there and also, I wanted to compare the rose bosses to my drawing again, because I thought they might be a little different. If so, I’d be able to eliminate that room and concentrate on the bedchamber.
I went in by way of the Great Hall and unlocked the door to the muniment room, which was only opened on that side when the cleaners were in.
The rosesweren’tquite the same, but I thought I’d have a little search anyway, and had just started fingering the top of the third panel of linenfold carving to the right of the fireplace, while simultaneously trying to turn or push the boss above it, when I felt, more than heard, a movement behind me.
Turning quickly, I found Ella in the doorway, watching me intently.
‘What on earth are you doing here at this time, Ella?’ I demanded, my heart thumping. ‘You gave me such a shock, creeping in like that!’
‘I might say the same thing about you, sneaking about and poking around where you’ve got no business to be,’ she said insolently.
‘I was not sneaking about. Why should I, when Carey is happy for me to go anywhere I want to and has given me a complete set of keys?’ I said.
