Blood Line (6 page)

'It is not.'

'It is.'

'You wicked liar. I found it on the floor.'

'I hate you. You're cruel and horrid.'

'I would cut off your head if I had half a chance.'

'You little beast - beast. . . '

As the two fell upon each other with renewed frenzy, Jeremy entered the fray and separated them with difficulty, trying desperately to keep his injured leg away from flailing arms and legs as they tried to kick each other.

'Girls - girls! Stop this at once. Are they often like this?' he asked his mother desperately. 'You told me they never quarrelled.'

'They don't. I can't understand it. Something must have upset them,' she said, clutching Emily while Jeremy seized the opportunity to hold Rose in a firm grip.

Red faced, tear stained, the two girls stared mutinously at each other.

'Now, behave and say you're sorry to your sister, Rose.'

'Shan't!'

'Oh yes you will, if you want any supper tonight.'

'Don't want any.'

'Very well. You will stay in your room - no Arthur's Seat with Vince tomorrow.'

'And no Edinburgh Castle either,' Mrs Faro added for good effect.

The two girls looked thoughtful and distinctly mollified at this punishment.

Then Rose shook her head defiantly. 'All right, I'll behave, if that's what you want, Papa.'

'I do indeed. And you can begin by saying you're sorry to your sister. Ouch - what was that? What have you got in your hand?'

Rose immediately put her hand behind her back.

'Let me see. Come now . . . '

'It's a brooch. I found it.'

'No, she didn't, Papa. I found it,' yelled Emily.

'Never mind who found it. Give it to me - at once.'

And Rose placed in her father's hand a familiar cameo, the Queen Mary jewel which should, at that very moment, have been with Vince on its way to Edinburgh Castle.

'You stole this from your stepbrother, didn't you?' Rose trembled at her father's angry expression. 'Didn't you, you wicked child?'

'I did not,' was her brave reply.

'Oh yes, you did. Rose - and Emily - I am ashamed of you.'

'So that's what you were quarrelling about,' said Mrs Faro. 'You naughty, naughty children. Your Papa has you here for a holiday and you repay him by stealing things.'

'We didn't steal anything, Papa. We - or rather I - found it on the floor, under the table in your study. Rusty was playing with it... '

'What a dreadful lie. Really, Emily.'

'It isn't a lie.'

'It's true, Papa,' said Emily, now staunchly coming to her sister's defence. 'It was after we helped gather up the papers . . . '

'And there's no use protecting one another now. It's too late for that,' said Mrs Faro. 'I'd never have believed the two of you were capable of such wickedness.'

'But we didn't do anything wrong...'

'Honestly, Grandma . . . '

'Let me see that, will you, Jeremy? Oh dear, oh dear.' Mary held it in her hand, and then with a shudder, she handed it back.

'You've seen it before, Mother?' Jeremy looked again. At first glance identical to the cameo he had found on Castle Rock, there was a difference. The tiny miniature in its centre was not of a man, but of a woman in sixteenth-century dress.

'Aye, I've seen it before, lad,' said his mother. 'Your poor dear father came across it during his last case. When he was killed. It might even be the reason why he was killed. I never wanted to see it again. That's why I put it in the hamper with that letter.'

'What letter, Mother?'

'From some antique dealer he knew - an old man in the High Street.'

'What did it say?' asked Faro eagerly.

'Oh, I don't know. I can't remember. All I know is it was too late to save my poor love,' she added with a sniff. 'There was a curse on it - and there still is. Look how it turned our two darlings into wee devils, tearing at each other's throats,' she ended dramatically.

'This is the envelope that it fell out of, Papa,' said Rose, taking a crumpled packet out of her pinafore pocket. 'You see, Papa, we weren't lying,' she added triumphantly, taking Emily's hand.

'And we didn't steal anything from anyone, did we, Rose?'

'Rusty found it under the desk.'

'It was so pretty we only wanted to play with it while Grandma was resting and you were busy in your study.'

From the envelope Jeremy withdrew the antique dealer's letter.

Dear Magnus: This is undoubtedly an interchangeable piece of jewellery particularly popular in the sixteenth century in the Court circles, when the monarch would give one part to a particular favourite as a love token, bearing his or her likeness. Also among wealth noble families, for sentimental reasons, parts were exchanged between lovers and parents/children. There are usually two or more pieces which can be worn separately or together as a pendant. In my opinion, this work dates from the mid-1500s and as the miniature is undoubtedly of Queen Mary may indeed have originated from her collection of jewels. Incidentally, the rubies and diamonds are authentic, making this a very valuable piece. I am intrigued to know more of its history. When next we meet you must tell me how you came by it - I am. Your obedient servant, Chas. Pilter.

There had been no next meeting. The letter was dated 3 August 1837, the day after Magnus Faro died. The address, 'Fayre's Wynd, High Street', and presumably Mr Pilter had both vanished a generation ago.

'That lady in the little painting, Papa. I've been thinking,' said Rose, looking over his shoulder, 'isn't she like the drawing we have at home of Queen Mary?'

Jeremy looked at his daughter approvingly. Rose might be only a child, but he was pleased to note that already she showed signs of having inherited his keen powers of observation.

Queen Mary. And the matching cameo, he was certain, would prove to be a portrait of her consort, Lord Darnley, to be worn together or separately as the antique dealer had said.

'Well done, Rose,' he murmured approvingly.

'Am I right, Papa?' she beamed at him.

Hugging her to his side, he asked his mother, 'Didn't you know this might be valuable?'

Mrs Faro shuddered. 'All I knew was that it brought bad luck. It had taken your poor dear father. I never wanted to see it again.' And listening to her, Jeremy Faro heard another echo from the past and knew why the jewel he had found on Castle Rock had been so tantalisingly familiar. Memory clicked into place and presented a small boy whose curiosity had led him to the mysterious hamper so revered by his mother. Caught with the forbidden cameo in his hand, he was scolded severely. He remembered her anger clearly, her tears and his desolation, his fears of God's wrath for naughty children.

What did it all mean? Where was the vital link? For the facts remained. The two pieces had indeed brought a trail of destruction. His own father, Constable Magnus Faro, had died. More than thirty years later a mystery man had also died. And, but for the grace of God, Jeremy Faro himself would have been the third victim.

His mother called it cursed. That label was too easy for Faro, who was not a superstitious man. His logical mind refused to accept the existence of curses. If they existed, then he believed they were brought about by man alone, by his folly and greed, which had a habit of rebounding upon him.

He could hardly wait for Vince's return, but with his daughters forgiven, kissed and cuddled and rewarded with goodies from Mrs Brook's inexhaustible supply, Faro decided to read carefully his father's notes.

Somewhat cynically, remembering how he had found clues and the cameo overlooked by the police searchers on Castle Rock, he decided that tomorrow, with Vince's aid and a walking stick, he was now fit enough to go out to the Piperlees estate. To interview the laird, Sir James, on the subject of the dead man's jacket.

And then he would go up to the Castle and take a careful look around the royal apartments. Trust no one, not even your own first observations. Check and double check, was a motto that had served him well in the past.

But as he climbed the stairs to his study, although the sun shone brilliantly, he shivered as if a cloak of ice had been thrown around him. He knew the feeling well. It was his demon, his own personal premonition of disaster.

Chapter Five

In his study, his door closed with the warning that he was not to be disturbed, Faro began to read his father's notes.

'The Mysterious Corpse of a Baby Discovered in the Wall of Edinburgh Castle. 1837.'

Constable Magnus Faro had been thorough. In his neat, precise handwriting, 'Copied from the Scotsman, 11 August 1830,'Jeremy read:

Sensational Historic Discovery

Two workmen, engaged on renovating the royal apartments at Edinburgh Castle after a fire, have made the gruesome discovery of a tiny coffin. Nearly in line with the Crown Room and about six feet from the pavement to the quadrangle, the wall was observed to return a hollow sound when struck.

On removing a block of stone, a recess was discovered measuring about 2 feet 6 by 1 foot, containing the remains of a child enclosed in an oak coffin, evidently of great antiquity and very much decayed. Wrapped in a shroud, a cloth believed to be woollen, very thick and somewhat resembling leather, and within this the remains of a shroud of a richly embroidered silk and cloth of gold which suggested some portion of a priest's vestment, most likely used in the Masses secretly held in Queen Mary's oratory.

Such a sanctified garment would be approved as suitable for the interment of one of royal blood, a little prince, born and baptised in the Popish faith, rather than for the hasty disposal of sonic Court lady's indiscretion. Further evidence being two initials wrought upon the shroud, one alas, was indecipherable, but the other, the letter 'J', was distinctly visible.

From the coffin's concealment in the wall, secrecy of the closest character was evidently the object, and being wainscoted thereafter, no trace remained.

By order of the Castle officials the remains were restored to the coffin and the aperture closed up.

Attached was a further newspaper cutting, dated 12 July 1837.

Egyptian-Style Curse in Edinburgh Castle.

Two workmen, Matthew O'Hara and John Femister, died tragically when the high scaffolding on the battlements of Edinburgh Castle collapsed under them. A third man, Peter Dowie, suffered serious injuries. All three had been engaged for renovation work on the inside of the royal apartments and when the old panelling was removed in line with the Court room and near the quadrangle, the workmen's attention was drawn to a loose stone just above their heads. Further investigation revealed the presence of a child's coffin which had been interred behind the wainscoting a short distance from the bedchamber where, on 19 June 1566, Queen Mary gave birth to the future King James VI (and I of England), the only issue of her marriage to Lord Darnley.

Following upon the recent suicide of Colonel Theodore Lazenby, the officer in charge of Castle renovations, the accidental deaths of the two workmen irresistibly raise the question in the minds of gullible and superstitious persons, as to whether these unfortunate happenings were mere coincidence, or the fulfilment of an Egyptian-style curse for disturbing the dead?

It is now almost seven years (August 1830) since the original discovery was made. Then as now misfortune and death struck the unhappy individuals who disturbed the oak coffin containing an infant's mummified remains. Reverently reinterred, this gruesome mystery from Queen Mary's tragic reign has lain undisturbed until last week when repairs and renovations were ordered to make all in good order and readiness for Her Majesty Queen Victoria's first visit to her Scottish kingdom since she ascended to the throne last month.

Concerning the deceased. A full obituary of Colonel Lazenby, a distinguished officer and gentleman who was recently married, is to be found on page 2. Of the two workmen who died, Mr John Femister, aged 35, from Leith, is a widower with one daughter. O'Hara, aged about 23, an itinerant labourer, is believed to hail from Ireland, as is Dowie who sustained serious head and back injuries and has been admitted to the Infirmary.

Attached to the newspaper account was Colonel Lazenby's obituary, a glowing tribute to his service at home and abroad in India and Canada. Magnus Faro had underlined heavily that he was the only son of Lord and Lady Phineas Lazenby, Aberdale, East Lothian.

Magnus Faro's report followed. Of how he had been on duty in the High Street when the scaffolding collapsed. He had raced to the scene, where he had found two men already dead and one so critically injured as to be near death. His account continued:

My attempts to investigate the accident further were impeded by Colonel Lazenby and other army officials who refused to allow me to proceed, in the interests of my own safety, and insisted that I inform the Central Office immediately and return with other constables to assist me. By the time I returned, half an hour later, the debris was in the final stages of being carted away and the dead men were on their way to the mortuary. I realised, of course, that any evidence, of negligence or of unsafe timber and ropes, if such existed, had also been lost.