A Crowded Coffin(33)

‘Maybe.’ Edith shrugged and took the second slice of cake that Harriet was offering. ‘I didn’t get that sense, not then, anyway.’ She munched thoughtfully, and went on, ‘Once or twice, though, he really did come across as a genuine enthusiast, but it wasn’t about the Romans. It was when he was talking about King Alfred and especially about Alfred’s son, Edmund Atheling. You remember Edmund? The ancestor who’s supposed to have married the heiress, Edith, the one who was descended from the original Roman founding father.’ She wiped crumbs from her mouth. ‘He wanted to know if there are any family documents or legends about Edmund and he was particularly interested in Edmund’s mother.’

‘And are there any?’ Harriet was just about keeping up with all the history. ‘I got the booklet out for Sam to read but I only skimmed through it. I haven’t read it properly for donkey’s years. Who was his mother, anyway?’

‘According to Miss Evelyn Attlin, she was Aelfryth, daughter of a local lordling. Nobody seems to have been scandalized by her affair with Alfred and there’s no record of a subsequent marriage, just a brief mention that she lived out the rest of her life with her son and daughter-in-law, doing good works.’

They looked at each other and shrugged. ‘I suppose I can understand the vicar’s interest in King Alfred,’ Harriet said. ‘He’s an interesting character and pivotal to English history. Not known as a womanizer either, so a reputed son, born the wrong side of the blanket, would certainly throw new light on him.’ She cast a curious glance at her visitor. ‘Do you like him?’ she enquired casually. ‘John Forrester, I mean. I find him a little too pleased with himself,’ she added, as a prompt.

‘I don’t know.’ Edith’s response was accompanied by a look of indecision. ‘He’s certainly very self-confident but it’s not long since he lost his wife, so it feels a bit uncomfortable. What you said,’ she looked suddenly anxious as she turned to Harriet, ‘about him trying to impress me, I mean. I think that’s what he was doing as well, but I also had the feeling that the thing about Edmund Atheling was more important to him, if you see what I mean.’ She fiddled with her coffee spoon and raised anxious grey eyes to her former headmistress. ‘But why would he bother? To pretend, I mean. Who cares if he likes Saxons better than Romans? Nobody round here, that’s for sure.’

Harriet looked thoughtful and poured more coffee in answer to Edith’s nod. ‘They were all at it,’ Edith confessed. ‘Trying to impress me, I mean. It was a bit embarrassing, really, but Brendan was definitely coming on to me, and so was Mike, the Texan guy. It wasn’t just John.’

‘John?’ Harriet gave her a wry look.

‘That’s the other thing,’ Edith said. ‘I was just leaving this morning, to come round to yours, when the phone rang. The landline, not my mobile. It was John Forrester, asking me out to dinner tonight.’

She glanced up as Harriet stifled an exclamation. ‘What? Oh, don’t worry, Harriet. I’m not stupid, I know what the village gossips are like. I’ll be on my best behaviour for dinner with the vicar and make sure we eat somewhere publicly. Anyway,’ she looked put out, ‘Rory got a call from Lara; he’s off to dinner with her tonight too.’

‘She’ll eat him alive and spit out the pips.’ Harriet was diverted. ‘I always reckoned she was a femme fatale, the minute she walked into my school all that time ago. There wasn’t a male creature in the school, staff or student, who didn’t fall over his own feet in confusion whenever she cast a glance at him, and she’s learned quite a few more tricks since then. Poor Rory.’ There was a lurking twinkle in her eyes at the thought, then she reflected for a few minutes. ‘So, apart from your undoubted physical attributes, Edith, why do you suppose all these men are on your case?’

‘I don’t know.’ Edith looked puzzled. ‘But that’s not all I wanted to discuss with you. Something happened last night.’

She filled Harriet in on the previous night’s surprising goings-on in the Burial Field and was slightly shocked by her ex-headmistress’s reaction.

Oddly enough, Harriet showed no surprise, but was insistent as she said, ‘Yes, well, that settles it, Edith. You simply have to call the police; this has got to be connected with the attack on your grandfather.’

‘I know, I did call them, this morning.’ Edith hunched her shoulders. ‘I called the contact number we got after Grandpa’s accident and got a frazzled-sounding woman who took my name and said she’d pass on the message, but they were short-handed and it might be a few days before anyone gets around to us.’ She made a face. ‘I got the distinct impression that what she really meant was that we’d be lucky if anyone turned up at all. But I thought someone ought to know. I haven’t dared tell Grandpa; he directly said I wasn’t to interfere because he doesn’t want Gran upset, and anyway, they’re both pretty frail. I suspect the woman I spoke to just put it down to kids mucking about, but at least I’ve reported it.’