Page 79 of Lord of Fortune
Chapter 14
Relief surged through Amelia. She sent a brief, grateful look toward Kersey. He gave her an infinitesimal nod.
“A key?” Penn turned to the table and set the two pieces of the heart down on the wood.
Rhys went to the hearth and picked up the flint to light a lantern, which he set down near the stone. “A key to what?”
Everyone huddled around the table. Rhys next to Penn and Amelia on Penn’s other side. Margery sidled up beside her husband, and Kersey stood near Amelia’s elbow.
Penn leaned over and picked up a piece, holding it to the light as he turned it over in his fingers. He narrowed his eyes and used his other hands to pick at the paint that had chipped from where the stone had split. “I can’t tell, but there may be something etched here.”
Using his thumbnail, he pushed a bit of paint away. It flaked off and floated to the table. He continued until he’d exposed a small area. Holding the rock to the lantern, he sucked in a breath. “It looks like a coded message.”
Rhys pitched forward and studied the piece. “Indeed it does. There has to be a cipher.”
“I think I know where it is,” Kersey said, and all eyes turned to him. “The White Book of Hergest.”
Rhys turned toward him, his gaze intense and almost…hungry. “How do you know that?”
“I saw it a few times at Foliot’s. I suspected it may be a palimpsest.”
“You know how to recognize that?” Rhys’s question was tinged with admiration.
Kersey squared his shoulders. “I paid attention when I spent time with you in my youth. I didn’t share my suspicions with Foliot or anyone else, and I don’t think they realize what it is.”
Amelia had no idea what they were talking about. “What is a palimpsest?”
Penn turned to her. “The easiest way to explain it is to show you. Father?”
Rhys left the table and went to one of his bookshelves. He selected a volume bound in dark brown leather and brought it to the table. He opened it in front of Amelia, but it was Penn who spoke.
His long fingers traced over the text. “You can see what’s written here, but if you look beyond the words, you’ll see that something else was on this paper before. The paper was reused. In most cases, it’s simply a matter of needing parchment and using what’s available. However, sometimes the palimpsest hides secret information. Do you see the traces of what was there before?” He scooted the lantern closer to the book.
She bent down and blinked, clearing her sight to peer past the writing. “Yes!” She looked over at Kersey. “You detected this in the White Book?”
“I did.”
Amelia studied the book again before straightening. “Remarkable.”
“I don’t suppose you recall what the palimpsest said?” Penn asked Kersey.
Kersey shook his head. “I wasn’t able to study it. As I said, I only suspected it was there, but it was behind the story of Ranulf and Hilaria, so that seems to fit.”
Excitement curled through Amelia, and when she looked at Penn, she saw the same anticipation reflected in his eyes. “We need that book,” Penn said determinedly.
Something tickled the back of Amelia’s mind. “When my grandfather was ill, he mentioned something that I attributed to the ramblings of a dying man. He spoke of a hidden text. When I asked him if I should find a book for him, he said no it was hiddentext. I didn’t understand what he meant.”
“You think he knew about the palimpsest?” Rhys asked.
“We know he saw the White Book at Wynnstay. So I think it’s possible. He said that a hidden text was the key to everything.” She couldn’t believe she hadn’t remembered that until now. But now was precisely when it was important, and that was all that mattered.
“We need that book,” Penn repeated.
Amelia’s gaze fixed on the two pieces of the broken heart. “If that heart holds a clue, then it really is a fake.” She’d gotten so wrapped up in the hunt that she’d forgotten her initial pledge to preserve her grandfather’s legacy.
Penn put his arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “If your grandfather knew of the palimpsest and said it was the key to everything, it seems likely that he knew it was fake.”
Yes, it did. But she had so many questions. That would likely go unanswered. An overwhelming wave of sadness washed over her. Penn perhaps sensed that as he drew her tight against his side and brushed a kiss along her temple.
