Page 45 of The Secret Christmas Library
They fell silent.
‘It’s kind of amazing,’ piped up Mirren. ‘You know so much about your family tree. I know hardly anything about my grandparents parents, except they were in farming, or in service, like everybody else. You’ve got portraits of all of yours.’
‘Well, the ones that haven’t been sold. The really crappy ones,’ said Esme.
‘It’s like the royals,’ said Theo suddenly. ‘You know who King Charles’ great-great-great-grandmother was.’
‘Do I?’ said Mirren.
‘Queen Victoria,’ said Theo.
‘Oh, of course.’
‘But you don’t know your own history.’
‘Do you know yours?’ asked Mirren.
‘A bit,’ said Theo. ‘Good minor gentry stock, and an unfortunate entanglement with a Romanian travelling circus.’
Mirren burst out laughing.
‘What?’
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘That sums you up perfectly.’
‘I’m not sure whether to be insulted or slightly titillated.’
‘Numbers,’ said Jamie again, as if he was trying to get them back on track. ‘What’s numbered in the house?’
‘The wine cellar,’ said Esme promptly. ‘It’s got vintages chalked up everywhere.’
‘Oh, lord,’ said Jamie. ‘We’ve probably drunk the last clue.’
‘Wouldn’t they start with one nine, though?’ said Mirren.
‘We used to have one eights,’ said Esme, sadly.
Bonnie was watching over the candles to make sure the wax didn’t spill over. She looked up.
‘The birds are numbered,’ she said, quietly.
Everyone turned to look at her.
‘What do you mean, the birds are numbered?’ said Jamie.
‘The geese. Breeding pairs. And the homing pigeons. And the grouse for the ghillie.’
‘Well, that can’t be it,’ said Esme. ‘These numbers in the clue were written ages ago. Any birds numbered back then wouldn’t be alive now.’
‘Yes, I didn’t mean the identified birds,’ said Bonnie patiently. ‘I mean the coops.’
‘Numbers printed on a bird . . . ’ said Theo thoughtfully.
‘It might not even be all numbers,’ said Jamie. ‘We’ve only got three. It might still be an address.’
‘It started with three,’ said Mirren. ‘It might be the numbers of pi.’
There was a massive groan.
