‘Nigel is accustomed to getting away with things. I’m afraid that’s partly my fault.’ He paused. ‘He was a golden youth. He had all the advantages – privileged upbringing, excellent school, brains, good looks, a charming manner when he chose. But he was never prepared to work for anything. He expected everything to come to him without any effort on his part.
‘When he was well into his twenties with no sign of settling into a career, or even a steady job, my niece asked me if I could do anything for him. Against my better judgment, I found him a position in a company I had an interest in. A mistake on my part. I should not have allowed family feeling to influence a business decision.
‘It was a very junior role, but there were good opportunities if he’d been prepared to work, but he wasn’t. There were – irregularities, and he was required to leave.
‘I agreed to a cover up of what had happened, partly to avoid damage to the company’s reputation, and also for my niece’s sake. She had some health problems at the time and I didn’t want to cause her any more anxiety. Another mistake.
‘Since then, Nigel has seemed to drift from one thing to another. He’s always seemed to live well. I don’t know how. I’ve made a point of not knowing. I’ve made it clear to my acquaintances that I’m in no way associated with or responsible for any financial arrangements he might enter into.
‘When my brother died, he divided his money among his grandchildren, but left the house to me. He told me that he knew it would take a lot of money, commitment and hard work to make anything of Ashleigh, and he didn’t think Nigel could do it. I agreed with him. I didn’t particularly want to take it on, but I’ve done it because it was my brother’s wish. I don’t know if Nigel knew beforehand that he wouldn’t inherit Ashleigh. I think he felt that, as the only grandson, he should have done. He’s always been careful to keep on good terms with me. I’m a moderately wealthy man, and I have no children.
‘I’m not sure exactly whose idea it was that Nigel should sort the papers from Ashleigh. It arose when I was telling my nieces about my plans for the house. I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I’d had any idea that there was anything of financial value there. The idea was that Nigel should go through the papers, tell me what was there, and look out for any personal papers of my brother and sister in law that should go to their daughters. I wasn’t surprised when he abandoned the work after a short time.
‘I let him get away with wrongdoing before, and I’m afraid I’m going to do the same again. I’m not going to the police about this.’
‘You’re not?’ Rob said. ‘I mean, obviously we’d rather you didn’t, but – ’
‘Frankly, I don’t want the negative publicity for Ashleigh that would be inevitable if all this came out,’ Lord Somerden said. ‘As for you people – I must say I rather admire your ingenuity and persistence.’
‘And the document and the ring and the tomb? What will you do about them?’ Rob awaited the answer anxiously. They had told Lord Somerden the full story, including who they believed to be buried in the church.
‘I think you’re right,’ Lord Somerden said quietly. ‘I’ll want to see the stone with the inscription, and I’ll see about getting the tomb repaired. Then we’ll leave him to rest in peace.’
Rob heaved a sigh of relief. ‘And what will you do with that, and the document?’ he asked, nodding towards the ring which Lord Somerden was rolling between his finger and thumb.
‘I don’t know yet. This has all taken me by surprise, you know.’
‘You could sell it, instead of your family papers,’ Rob said. Lord Somerden looked at him in surprise.
‘You’d be more willing to see this possibly go out of the country than a lot of bundles of old paper?’
‘I’d rather not see anything go out of the country. But this – well, it’s just a thing, isn’t it? It can’t really tell us anything. The papers – the information in them probably isn’t earth shattering. But it’ll be about people, real people, ordinary people, who lived here in the county. That’s what’s important in history, not kings and battles.’
Emily was the only other person they told. Rob was doubtful, but Claire insisted she had a right to know.
‘You’d never have known anything about any of it if it hadn’t been for her. And she ended up in hospital, for God’s sake. She deserves to know why.’
Epilogue
Several months later, they received invitations to a dinner to celebrate the opening of the new Ashleigh Court Hotel. Rob and Chris, uncomfortable in suits bought for the occasion, escorted Emily, resplendent in black and silver, and Claire, stunning in vivid turquoise. Laura was not there. She had left her job and gone to visit relatives in Australia.
‘She seems to be having a good time,’ Claire told them. ‘She might even stay out there for good. She’s not said anything about coming back. Not that I’d know what she’s thinking, though. She doesn’t talk to me.’
‘You didn’t – um – talk before she went?’
‘Oh, yes. Christmas at Mum and Dad’s. All very polite, pretending it never happened. What is there to say, after all? Pierson fooled her. She’s just going to have to get over it.’
The guest of honour at the dinner was a Royal Personage, invited because of his interest in architecture. After dinner, though, Lord Somerden took Rob, Chris, Emily and Claire through to the private parlour, where they were introduced, and told their story. Chris pointed out the brick in the hearth with the white rose.
‘I have a personal interest in this subject, as I expect you know,’ the Royal Personage said. ‘I’ve also been asked to say that your decision not to reveal the true identity of Richard Plantagenet is approved of at the highest level. The very highest.
Lord Somerden showed them the ring, displayed in a glass case.
‘It’ll be on show somewhere in the hotel,’ he said. ‘It’ll be in the brochures for the hotel and on the website. Not the whole truth, of course, just the story Edward Finch told in his book, and the handwritten notes. I hope it will be good publicity.’
Emily formally presented Lord Somerden with her copy of Edward Finch’s book.
‘Since it was here for so long, and I’ve just had it a few months, I feel it really belongs here. Perhaps you could display it with the ring.’
Lord Somerden took Rob and Chris aside and gave each of them a long cream envelope.
‘Think of it as a consultancy fee,’ he said.
As Lord Somerden escorted Emily and the Royal Personage from the room, Chris ripped open his envelope. There was a cheque inside. He whistled at the amount, and showed it to Rob. Opening his own envelope, Rob found he had the same.
Then they all walked across to the church, to look at the expertly restored tomb.
It was strange, Rob thought, as he watched Emily laying a spray of white roses. It was not like a book, where the story had a beginning, middle and end, when the villains were caught and punished and all the loose ends were tied up. This story had no beginning, at least not in their time; it grew out of events that stretched and twined back over centuries; long before even the lifetime of Richard Plantagenet. The villains had not been punished. It was not even clear who the villains were. True, Pierson’s actions had at times been violent, illegal and of dubious morality – but then so had his and Chris’s. Were there any good guys in this?
But history was like that, Rob thought. Very few things were clearly black and white; almost everything that happened was capable of more than one interpretation. Events reverberated down through the centuries and it was never possible to say that something was finished and done with. Perhaps this adventure too would have its echoes months or years – centuries, even – in the future.
He realised that Emily, Claire, the Royal Personage and Lord Somerden had left the church. Chris was waiting for him.
‘You all right?’
‘Yes. Just thinking.’
‘You do too much of that. C’mon, let’s hit the bar.’
&
nbsp; ‘Good thinking.’ With a last look at the tomb, Rob turned and walked away.
Author’s Note
The starting point for this novel was the story of ‘Richard of Eastwell’ in Kent. The county of Wynslade is of course a fictionalised version of the county of Kent.
The novel was written before the recent discoveries in Leicester. Nothing the characters think or do or say is intended as commentary on any real life events or individuals. I chose to resolve the story in the way that I did because I wanted to leave the characters more or less as I found them. The media and public reaction to the Leicester discoveries has only confirmed that my characters’ lives would have been changed had revealed what they had learned.
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