‘Interesting if they try,’ Theo said slowly and with relish, and Laura felt her nerve snap.
‘Oh, you infuriating man!’
‘I’m sorry.’
For a second Laura thought Theo was mumbling an apology at her, then she saw Will Thwaite was stirring restlessly.
‘It is all right, Mr Thwaite.’ She took his hand and stroked it, hoping to calm him. ‘Lie still, you have been hurt. You have nothing to apologise for.’
‘Neither have I, come to that,’ Theo muttered. ‘Unless it is simply being male that is the crime. You are safe now, Will,’ he added firmly.
‘You men are all the same,’ Laura said, still cross with him. ‘Danger is amusing, risk is sport, murder is an adventure. Perhaps you think someone trying to stab you would be fun? Lift Mr Thwaite’s head a little so I can give him a drink. Mrs Bishop found an old pap boat for feeding babies, but I don’t want to strain the wound in his back.’
The water seemed to revive the curate because he took several long sips and then opened his eyes. ‘Where am I?’ he asked as they laid him back down.
‘I always wondered whether people really did say that,’ Theo remarked and earned himself a glare from Laura.
‘You are at Mannerton Grange, Mr Thwaite,’ she said. ‘You were attacked in the churchyard and brought here. The doctor has seen you and you will be quite all right in time, but you must rest.’
‘Attacked? Me? No, no. I must have tripped and fallen.’ He blinked at her. ‘Miss Darke? I thought you were in Bath.’
‘No, that was a… mistake. I’m sorry, but it cannot have been an accident – someone stuck a knife in your back.’
‘Good gracious,’ he said mildly as his eyelids fluttered closed. ‘Good grac…’
‘He’s asleep again.’ Theo sounded frustrated.
‘If he had seen who it was then he would have known he had been attacked,’ Laura pointed out. ‘So, there is no point in trying to rouse him. He might recall something later. Meanwhile, we need a plan.’
‘What do you propose?’ he asked, surprising her by not announcing that he would decide what to do.
‘First we inform the household of our fears and get them on the alert. Then we have luncheon. After that we organise the timings for tonight – who sleeps first and so forth. When our defences are in place then we ransack Perry’s library for local histories, antiquarian works, armorials and old maps – anything that might refer to the tomb. It has coats of arms on it, I think, but I never looked at them closely.’
‘Will was going to take rubbings of them so we could look in detail,’ said Theo. ‘I can’t recall much about them, other than a fat beast that looked like a pig.’
‘Why don’t you do that this afternoon, I think we’ve some black wax. You could have your groom as a bodyguard – don’t poker up at me, there is no point in taking unnecessary risks.’
‘True. Let us call everyone together and brief them on the situation. We had best do it in the hallway, because I do not want to leave Thwaite alone.’
‘Rum do, this, my lord.’ Jed scrubbed at the moss and lichen on top of the tomb while Theo warmed the ball of cobbler’s wax in his hands to make it a little softer. ‘Who’d kill a curate over this old thing?’ He brushed his hands on the seat of his breeches and moved to hold the first sheet of paper for Theo. ‘Ugly bit of work.’ He pulled a face at a podgy, blank-eyed cherub.
‘We might be mistaken and it is only a coincidence,’ Theo said as they spread the paper over the inscription on the top and he began to rub. ‘Still, at least this is coming up surprisingly clearly and it will be interesting to translate it.’
Jed’s grunt expressed clearly how interesting he thought the idea of translating funerary inscriptions from the Latin might be. ‘I don’t suppose this slab lifts?’
‘What, the lid?’ Theo squinted at the edges. ‘Looks far too heavy, but we’ll give it a try.’ They strained and heaved for a bit, then both flopped over the top and panted. ‘If I’m as red in the face as you are, Jed, then we’ll both be having seizures if we keep this up.’
‘Whoever’s in there ain’t coming out in a hurry, anyways,’ the groom said and hunkered down to brush at the carvings on the sides of the great box. ‘Rum old coats of arms. Is that a pig?’
‘Wild boar perhaps?’ Theo rubbed vigorously at the panel and looked at the result. ‘The local stone mason wasn’t much of an expert on carving, I’d say. More used to plain stone buildings, probably.’
They finished the four side panels and Theo rolled up the results. ‘These will strap on the back of the saddle.’
Jed gave the tomb a parting kick with his heavy boot. ‘Is that my imagination, my lord, or did that echo?’
‘Your imagination,’ Theo said firmly. ‘I don’t want nightmares about echoing vaults, thank you very much.’ Or to have to remember Jed’s remark about the heavy lid keeping the occupant in. ‘We must get back. I don’t like leaving Miss… Mrs Albright, even with two footmen.’
‘Aye, best to be cautious in naming the young lady. That’s a tricky old bugger, her uncle, by all accounts.’ Jed swung up into the saddle and brought his horse alongside Theo’s. ‘Still, I reckon she’ll be safe enough, at least while Mrs Bishop’s about with her shotgun.’