by P A Latter
‘Are you quite sure?’
‘Oh yes. Tristan, would you tell Hugh what you told me?’
‘OK. I can’t promise yet, but I’m hoping we can loan the watercolour of Henry Morton to Fathon House, to display them together.’
Julia picked up the thread. ‘With Edmond’s letter and diary and some panels to tell the story, it would make a fascinating display.’
‘If we are not having to pay a curator’s salary for six months, I suppose there might be a bit of money to design their presentation,’ Hugh said, clearly warming to the idea.
‘There’s something else that I can’t quite promise yet: I’ve been talking to a Castelli expert in Italy and he’s really keen to come over and take a look at the Assassin. Even if he won’t authenticate it, it will be interesting to get his opinion,’ Tristan said.
‘And I have another piece of news,’ Julia tried not to look over-excited, ‘I know you said major donors don’t appear from nowhere. But Felicity Carmichael has just sold John’s house. She had no idea of property values around here.’
‘She’s going to make a donation from her inheritance?’ Hugh asked.
‘She would like something to have John’s name on it and I showed her my enhanced café scheme paper.’
‘She doesn’t want his name on the café?’
‘No, idiot. The new, first floor “Dr John Carmichael Gallery” will take the place of the current bedroom. It will more than replace the ground floor space taken by the café. And we renovate the second floor storeroom, to open that to the public as a bedroom.’
‘If it can be done without a loan, the board will find it difficult to argue. And your projections of café profits provide the income to keep the museum afloat.’
Hugh looked impressed. ‘You’re a marvel. Are you quite sure you don’t want the curatorship permanently?’
‘You know you might use your research on the Assassin as the basis for a doctoral study if you wanted to pursue that,’ Tristan said.
Julia felt both of them looking at her as if she were their personal protégé.
‘It has taken me a long time to come to terms with it, but I really am happiest here as a volunteer. It’s the right place for me - helping visitors to understand and appreciate the collection. For whatever accidents of history, the Assassin is a part of that collection.’
~
Julia had told Penny that she now felt at peace with the world. She was, of course, in the first glow of contentment in her relationship with Tristan, but it was more than that.
There had been demons haunting her since she had witnessed the death of the stalker. He had been hit by a car, while he was staring at her.
Those demons had been exorcised by putting a name to another stranger whose eyes had seemed to follow her. Even if she hadn’t uncovered all of Henry Morton’s secrets, he no longer held any power over her.
She looked fondly at Tristan sleeping beside her. Tristan had embraced her quest to reveal the Assassin’s identity as his own and had never dismissed her nebulous fears and uncertainties.
She smiled to think she had become the watcher, as she studied his features. Hints of his scholarly intellect and curiosity could be read into the drawn-in brows as he slept.
But his essential nature - his warmth - was hidden. It could only be read from one feature. It was his eyes, of course.
Postscript 1785
My Dearest Cousin,
I greet you again from my exile in Venice with renewed hopes for return and, as ever, my Worshipful Adoration. My lips salute the paper of your letters to me, and long for whatsoever else may be permitted to a poor relation, on my return.
As you move into half-mourning, I beg you will spare time from selecting your new toilettes, to resume your regular Salons. It would be a criminal offence to deprive our Noble and Parliamentary colleagues of your Beauty and your Wit. I have a further reason to desire this, which I shall presently relate.
I received word of your confinement and offer my congratulations on the birth of a healthy son. He will be a worthy heir for the continuance of the family Line.
I will be sending to you, shortly, a likeness I have commissioned, which I hope, with modesty, will bring your poor cousin to your recollection. To descend to vulgar cliché, there is more to it than meets the eye. The painting will reach you by the hand of a personable young man, whom I have made something of a Protégé. I know you will be good enough to recognise his Bucolic Gentility and pay some regard to his innocence. The family cannot afford more scandals in the wake of those I have afforded them.
I have the most particular reasons to request you to hang the picture in your Salon, that I may cast an eye over the company you receive. And I must ask that you pay especial attention to the following: Do Not, on any account, touch the frame of the painting with an ungloved hand, or permit your servants to make such contact. It has been infused with a certain Preparation having venomous properties. For this reason, I enclose with this letter, a gift of Venice Treacle - the Theriaca andromachi that is a Panacea to protect against poison. I pray you will never have occasion to require its use.
The unusual qualities of the frame, in conjunction with those of the portrait, will be the tools to effect my return. Knowing you as I do, it is not impossible that you may also find an application for the frame, amongst your acquaintance.
If you have the leisure to continue to read my ramblings, I will relate a little of the history of commissioning the work of art that you will receive:
I became acquainted recently with an unusual individual, skilled in Arcane Arts, who has promised me a way to resume potent influence in London. He assures me that a person’s spirit may be imbued into his likeness, by means of certain material and Metaphysical Preparations.
The spirit will be shielded by the alchemical properties of the frame, and can subsequently exert the Will of the individual, at the location of his painted representation. The projected spirit’s Volition may be used, intra alia, to draw other individuals into contact with the venom of the frame. I have witnessed in a private demonstration of such a Volition.
Accordingly, I sought out a suitable artist at the Venice Accademia and swiftly placed one Bernadino Castelli in my debt, by means of my greater skill at piquet. I confess myself pleased with the outcome of the commissioned work that he has delivered to me. I hope you will not find its lack of subtlety offensive.
A courier leaves Venice in the morning, and will bear this letter and the jar of Venice Treacle to you. Tonight, I visit the Master who will perform the concluding steps to effect the suffusion of the portrait with my spirit. Thus, I hope, ardently, that my Anima shall be with you before year end, even if my body must continue to lie abroad
Until they are cleft tonight, my body and spirit are united in their desire to cleave, once more, to you -
With all the Affection of your fondest cousin,
Henry
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Neil Arksey for constructive criticism and patient advice, not always heeded, and to everyone from the Novel Development Workshop for excellent and encouraging feedback.
Anne Sharp did an amazing job on the cover art, to visualise the painting far better than I could have imagined.
I am extremely grateful to Becky II and to Darren for taking the time and trouble to read the entire first draft, providing thoughtful and helpful comments. Especial thanks to Penny and to Bevan, my earliest readers - ever supportive.
All errors of fact and infelicities of style are, of course, my own.
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