Edith spoke into the awed silence. ‘You mean this has been knocking around for years, in all that junk of your father’s that you keep in your bureau?’
He nodded, looking very like a naughty schoolboy. ‘I’ve been meaning to sort that out for years,’ he confessed. ‘It was always too big, far too ornate for Father, but my grandfather was a flamboyant old Edwardian and liked a bit of glitz.’
‘But—it’s priceless, Grandpa.’ Edith was still struggling with the idea. ‘Harriet, you’re the historian, tell them what we found out.’
‘Edith and I googled Saxon jewellery,’ Harriet told them. ‘And came up with the Middleham Jewel that was found some years ago. It was sold privately at first and then there was a public subscription to keep it in the country, to the tune of more than two million pounds. And that was a while back, so heaven knows what prices have done since.’
Harriet and Karen were in the Great Hall, which Walter Attlin had decreed was the proper place for a celebratory lunch. As Karen straightened place mats and cutlery, Harriet eyed her keenly.
‘Don’t overdo things, will you, Karen? There’ll be a lot going on in the next few months and I rather think you’ll be busy. Just take care, that’s all.’
‘We always did say you were a witch, Harriet.’ Karen stared at her former headmistress almost in awe. ‘How on earth did you know? Nobody knows except my husband and Mr and Mrs Attlin.’
‘Lucky guess,’ Harriet grinned, looking smug. ‘You’ve been looking a bit peaky lately and I did wonder about the sickness and migraines you suddenly seemed to be getting. Congratulations! Will you be staying on here?’
‘I hope so,’ Karen nodded. ‘Mrs Attlin’s had a brainwave and as long as Edith is happy about it, I’m sure we can sort things out.’
As they tucked into roast pork, bred on the farm, Edith had a sudden thought. ‘Didn’t you say you’d gone off bacon and pork, Rory?’
‘I did.’ He glanced down at his laden fork. ‘When I was in prison I was very ill with food poisoning – some bad pork, they reckoned. Anyway, it put me off all things pig-related for a long time. But this,’ he smacked his lips and raised his fork in a toast to Walter, ‘this isn’t just pork; it’s the food of the gods. I guess I’m pretty much cured now.’
When they had finished lunch Walter Attlin called for silence. ‘I won’t stand up,’ he said, ‘Penny will kill me if I do. But I wanted to thank you all for your efforts over the last few days. I’m sorry Professor Porter couldn’t stay but perhaps it’s better to keep it in the family.’
He smiled round at them. ‘I don’t need to tell you all that it’s driven me mad, having to stay in bed for the past couple of days, just because I had a bit of a dizzy spell.’ He directed a frown at his wife, who smiled serenely. ‘Missing all the drama probably set me back worse than ever, but all anyone would promise was that they’d “tell me later”. Still,’ he glanced at Rory, ‘in the end I wasn’t the only one packed off to bed. I gather Harriet insisted on going home when it was all over, only for the doctor to send her off to be tucked up and sedated, and then Rory followed suit by flaking out with exhaustion. So,’ he held up his hands, ‘here we all are. Let’s have a brief rundown of what went on.’ He nodded to Sam. ‘If you hadn’t managed to sneak in now and then for a chat, I’d have gone stir crazy.’
Sam took up the story. ‘We all know now what happened on the roof, but I don’t believe you’ve heard it from my angle. I couldn’t get to sleep. My mind kept going over and over everything we’d discussed and I tossed and turned and dozed all night. It wasn’t till I went downstairs at about five o’clock, to make a cup of tea, that I heard my mobile beeping with Harriet’s text message.’ He grinned at his cousin. ‘I could have killed you, Harriet,’ he said with a heartfelt scowl. ‘Of all the stupid things….’
He waved aside her protest that she and Rory had, on the contrary, been extremely careful, and went on. ‘Oh well, never mind. I was in a bit of a fix because my cam belt snapped on the way to the dinner last night and I hitched a lift back with a friend. Needless to say, I had no idea Harriet and Rory were in such danger. I hadn’t liked to call Harriet back in case something was up but really I just thought you’d have done something sensible, like take photos and maybe go back to bed. At least,’ he looked rueful, ‘I hoped that was what you’d done.’