Death of a Burrowing Mole

4

Little Rifts Within the Lute

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I don’t really think we need worry,’ said Bonamy again the next morning. ‘If it had been the two girls it would be a different matter, but Saltergate is an expert and dead keen on this clearance and restoration thing. He wouldn’t have missed out on anything as important as a well. There can’t have been any traces of one inside or outside the keep. We’ll have a good look at the interior of the hall before anybody begins work on it. Remember that Saltergate told us he was interested in tracing waterpipes from the source of supply up to the living-quarters? There really can’t be a well under all that rubble they threw out. He would be sure to have spotted it.’

‘I blame the landowner,’ said Saltergate to his wife, as they prepared to go down to breakfast at the Horse and Cart. ‘That’s the worst of these upstart landlords. Old Lord Ambrose would never have given permission for three sets of people, all with different objectives, to work on this one small site. I wrote to this new man as soon as I realised that we were not to have the castle to ourselves, but, so far, have received no reply, and that is uncivil, to say the least.’

‘It would be far worse if we all had the same objective,’ said Lilian pacifically. ‘As it is, our interests do not clash with those of the others. Surely that is something to be thankful for?’

‘It might be, if Veryan and Tynant were not cutting so wide a circle. By the look of things, they have marked out their ground so that they are bound to encroach, sooner or later, on my territory.’

‘Well, they certainly seem to be allowing themselves plenty of scope. We had no idea that their outer ring would be so wide. Anyway, we have lots of clearing up to do before we need make an issue of it. Indeed, I hope to goodness it will not reach that stage. Could you not have a word in Nicholas Tynant’s ear? He is far less intransigent than Veryan.’

‘I think he is very much the junior partner in their enterprise.’

‘All the same, he may be able to persuade Veryan to leave their outer trench a little bit incomplete so as to allow the foundations of our flanking-towers to remain undisturbed.’

‘He is a fanatic. Such people – well, one cannot argue with them. If the foundations of even one of my flanking-towers are dug up and destroyed, my whole project is spoilt. I think I will approach Tynant, as you suggest, and if nothing comes of that – and I’m sure nothing will – I may go up in person to the house and put my case in as forceful a way as I can to the owner.’

‘You will probably be able to speak to nobody but the bailiff. The family are sure to be away at this time of year. In their absence I doubt whether anybody will be prepared to alter arrangements already made. I think you will have to trust to the goodwill of Malpas and Nicholas and so try to avoid unpleasantness.’

‘If any goodwill existed, it vanished as soon as they found that I had an option on the site. I wonder what chance there is of my finding out which of us was first in the field? A prior claim ought to carry considerable weight.’

‘It might be better not to attempt to establish one. You might find that Veryan’s agreement was signed prior to yours.’

‘Yes, that is an embarrassing possibility, I suppose. Anyway, I will adopt your suggestion and begin by having a quiet word with Nicholas.’

‘Oh, Lord!’ said Tynant. ‘Well, I appreciate the position, of course, but Malpas and I have a point of view, too, you know. I am sure we would be only too happy to do as you wish, but, if we fail to complete our ditch so as to spare your foundations, the chances are that we should miss finding one of our secondary burials or (even worse) lose one of the satellite interments and that would spoil the whole dig.’

‘I am not so ill-informed about pre-history as Veryan may think. I have seen Paul Ashbee’s book and it seems to me that all which remains for you to find is the primary grave. All traces of burials higher up in the mound which would have covered the barrow must have been dug up and destroyed long ago, when the cairn, I feel sure, was levelled to make the outer bailey.’

‘On the other hand, you have no actual proof that the ground ever was artificially levelled. If ours was a bermed barrow, whether a disc barrow or a saucer barrow, particularly the latter, there would be very little of the actual burial mound to be seen, so that very little levelling of the ground would have been necessary.’

Malpas Veryan came up to them. He smiled.

‘To employ the opening gambit favoured by the police force, “What’s all this, then?” ’ he said genially.

Nicholas and Edward both began to speak. Nicholas gave way to the older man, so Edward said, ‘I have taken great care to tell my people to respect your dig, Malpas, and on no account to trespass on your territory, but if your trench is carried to what appears to be its logical conclusion, it seems to me that you and Nicholas will encroach quite disastrously on mine. Do you really intend to undermine the foundations of at least one of my flanking-towers? Do you really need quite so much room?’

‘Well,’ said Malpas, maintaining his easy tone, ‘at present it is hardly possible to tell, because these Bronze Age barrows varied so much in size. Owing to your Norman castle-builders and their determination to make a large jousting-yard or whatever they intended, the outer surface indications of my barrow have been lost. The thing could have been as wide in diameter as a hundred and twenty feet or as narrow as thirty feet across. In the ordinary way we should have something to guide us, but here we are at a singular disadvantage except for the very useful guideline of your defensive ditch. I am convinced that the ditch once formed part of my henge.’

‘I am left wondering what makes you think there was ever a barrow here at all. It seems to be merely guesswork on your part.’

‘Not at all. There has been a reconnaissance from the air. Your defensive ditch forms the arc of a circle, the old name for the village here was Yarlbury and the presence of barrows on neighbouring hillsides suggests the distinct possibility that there could have been one here. The sighting from the air.was pretty positive. Where one finds water, such as the little river which winds round this hillside, one expects to find an early settlement and where there were settlers there were graves. It’s as simple as that.’

‘Maybe, but that does not entitle you to encroach on my flanking-towers.’

‘Oh, my dear fellow,’ said Malpas, still smiling but with an edge to his voice, ‘you mustn’t be greedy! According to that plan which you drew so expertly on the damp sand, you expect to uncover the foundations of at least ten of the things. Surely to lose one of them is no great matter.’

‘It matters to me. You might as well say that the loss of one plate out of a priceless dinner-service is no great matter, but I don’t think the owner would agree with you, any more than a person who had an unique set of chessmen would think that a missing or replaced and inferior pawn did not matter.’

‘It’s like this, you see, Edward,’ said Nicholas, ‘I agree with you that the primary grave is the one we are almost bound to find. It will be in the middle of our circle and too deep down to have been disturbed, we hope, but we don’t want to miss a secondary interment or a satellite grave, either of which will be nearer the surface than the primary burial. I can’t believe that one flanking tower (which, in any case, will only be a duplicate of all the others) can be regarded as of greater importance than secondary and satellite graves which will certainly not be duplicates of the primary burial.’

‘You are entitled to your opinion,’ said Edward, in a tone which belied these words, ‘but the loss of the foundations of even one flanking-tower would make every difference to my work on the site. If you insist upon completing the trench you have marked out with your pegs, my reconstruction of the fortifications will be ruined. After all, you have no proof that there were any secondary graves, whereas I know the layout of my flanking-towers exactly. We must go to arbitration, I suppose.’

‘And who is to arbitrate?’ asked Malpas.

‘The owner of the property or his secretary or bailiff. They will be able to tell us which of us has the prior claim to the site.’

‘Whose letter got there first, you mean?’ said Nicholas. ‘That seems reasonable. What do you say, Veryan?’

‘That my work is of greater importance than his. Finding out whose letter got to the landowner first is not going to solve any problems,’ replied Veryan, turning away.

‘Look,’ said Tynant, before he followed his leader, ‘I’ll try to persuade him to leave undermining your walls until the very last. If we find secondary burials during the earlier part of our dig, it may not be necessary to touch your foundations at all. How would that be?’

‘Thanks, but you won’t be able to persuade him to delay any part of his work if he doesn’t want to.’

‘Then I’ll get Susannah to have a try. It would be difficult for any man to refuse her anything, and I know he finds her very charming.’

Dinner at both hotels that evening was an unusually dull meal, Veryan appeared to be brooding, the two boys were tired and Tynant found it hard work to promote any conversation at all. At the Horse and Cart the usually mild Saltergate was sufficiently incensed by Veryan’s intransigent attitude to discuss it bitterly with his wife in front of the two girls and Susannah. Susannah, who had a foot in both camps, was silent for almost the whole of the meal and as soon as it was over she collected the two young women and the three went straight back to their caravan.

A little later Bonamy and Tom left the Barbican and went in Bonamy’s car to the pub they had discovered in Stint Magna. Fiona heard the car drive off and said she wished she were going with them.

‘I thought you despised their company,’ said Priscilla.

‘It would be better than that of the Saltergates tonight. What a dismal dinner! There has been a row. That was obvious. Even Susannah could not cope.’

‘Everybody was tired, that’s all,’ said Susannah, ‘and when people are tired they magnify trifles.’

‘I heard what Edward Saltergate was saying to Lilian,’ said Fiona. ‘He was hot under the collar and no mistake about it. No name was mentioned, but he was talking about Professor Veryan. I’m sure of it.’

‘There was bound to be trouble sooner or later, I suppose,’ said Priscilla. ‘There has been a clash of personalities. I imagine Professor Veryan will win. He is the stronger character.’

‘I am going out for a walk,’ said Susannah abruptly. ‘It is much too early to go to bed.’

‘She won’t be walking alone, that’s for sure,’ said Priscilla, when the door of the caravan had closed. ‘She has a date with Nicholas Tynant. I thought you might be tactless enough to offer to go with her.’

‘Not I. I’m aching with fatigue. All that navvying is no joke when it goes on day after day. I shall cry off soon and go and spend a weekend with my family. Oh, no, I can’t. They will be away. I shall cry off, all the same. I’m not only tired; I’m still most terribly bored.’

‘I wish I knew why Bonamy and Tom are here. I’m sure they’re not really interested in either architecture or archaeology.’

‘No, and they don’t seem to have picked up any girls,’ said Fiona, ‘so that’s not why they are staying.’

‘They take that car out every evening, you know,’ said Priscilla.

‘Only to do a pub crawl, I expect. Let’s play Beat Jack Out of Doors for fivepenny pieces, or shall we go up to the keep while the boys aren’t there and make them apple-pie beds?’

‘I thought you were tired.’

‘I am. All right, then, let’s hit the hay.’

‘Well, dinner proved us to be four strong, silent men,’ said Bonamy.

‘Funeral bakemeats was more like it,’ said Tom. ‘Something has happened. Something has fouled up the works. I wonder whether Susannah is at the bottom of it?’

‘How your mind does run on that pulchritudinous wench!’

‘Veryan has got his beady eye on her, and Nick Tynant knows it. That’s my reading of the situation. They didn’t say a word to one another at dinner.’

‘But Veryan is married, isn’t he?’

‘What’s that got to do with it? Probably divorced, like everybody else nowadays. I’ll tell you what, though. I shall put in a few more days of this sweated labour and then I’m going on strike for the weekend.’

‘During which time one of the others will find our well.’

‘It will still be there when I come back.’

Tom’s impression that Veryan also was attracted to Susannah was underlined by Priscilla. She voiced her sentiments as the two girls got ready for bed.

‘Would you call Professor Veryan a lecherous old man?’ she asked.

‘Ni l’un, ni l’autre,’ Fiona replied.

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Not old, not lecherous.’

‘He must be fifty.’

‘You can’t call that old.’

‘I’ve seen him look at Susannah.’

‘She is well worth looking at. She ought to be painted or sculpted or something, before she begins to get a middle-age spread.’

‘I finished my sonnet.’

‘Any good?’

‘Probably not. I always think I’m better than Shakespeare when I first finish a poem, but the feeling wears off later.’

‘I should think that’s a very hopeful sign.’

‘Which half of it?’

‘Oh, all of it; first that you think you’re good, and then that you realise you aren’t.’

‘But I am good,’ said Priscilla, piqued. ‘Of course I’m good. I’m not as good as I’d like to be, that’s all, but it will come in time. I know it.’

‘If Professor Veryan ever did contemplate a pass at Susannah, I wonder how she would take it?’ said Fiona, reverting to the more interesting subject of conversation. ‘He is more eminent than Nicholas and I believe he has money.’

‘I wonder how long Susannah intends to stay out tonight? I hate the door not to be locked when I’m in bed.’

‘ “And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted”,’ said Fiona sardonically. ‘Don’t worry. It won’t happen to the likes of us. Lock the door, though, if you feel nervous. I’ll let her in when she comes back. I’m going to relax but I’m not sleepy.’

‘Oh, I don’t really mind about the door, so long as I’m not alone in the caravan. You are a tower of strength.’

‘I feel like one when I’m heaving stone blocks and shovelling rubble. I think we shall all need a break very soon. I intend to take one anyway, whether the Saltergates like it or not.’

‘It does seem as though the best thing to do, after all, is to find out whether the others or you have priority,’ said Lilian Saltergate that night.

‘Malpas is against such a course. He thinks it would solve nothing.’

‘The other thing would be to take a vote.’

‘Susannah is attached to our party, but she would vote with Nicholas and for Malpas.’

‘The two boys would vote with us, surely?’

‘Most unlikely, if Susannah voted with the other side. They admire her very much. Besides, Veryan feeds them and you know what is said about the way to a man’s heart.’

‘What are the chances of Malpas picking up a germ of some kind and having to retire from the scene? You could manage Nicholas if Malpas were not there.’ Lilian laughed as she said this.

‘It is so unreasonable of Malpas,’ said Edward, ‘If he knew – if he were certain – I might feel better about it, but he has no proof whatever that anybody is buried under one of my fortifications. He is prepared to sacrifice my definite, actual reconstruction for some purely experimental fiddle-faddle of his own. I’ve got to do something to stop him. The question is – what can I do?’

‘We could always throw all our stones and dust into his precious trench, I suppose.’

‘You take the matter lightly.’

‘No, indeed I do not. I wonder whether we could make a bargain with him?’

‘Of what kind?’

‘That we will raise no objection to any damage he does, provided that he and Nicholas and their workmen will promise to make it good afterwards.’

‘Well, he should be willing to give an undertaking of that sort, but I am not willing to ask for it. I have as much right here as he has.’

‘Sometimes it is unwise to insist too strongly on one’s rights. That attitude can provoke a war.’

‘A war can have a righteous cause. Anyhow, before I try anything else, I am going up to the house. I shall say nothing about priorities or rights. I shall simply tell the owner or his representative what Veryan proposes to do, and I shall ask whether they are prepared to allow him to undermine and damage a historic monument. That ought to be enough for an injunction, I think.’

‘I wish Malpas would tumble into his beastly trench and do himself an injury,’ said Mrs Saltergate. ‘I hate him for upsetting you like this.’

Meanwhile Bonamy and Tom had become acquainted with two girls who were staying at the pub in Stint Magna.

‘Now that we’ve found corn in Egypt,’ said Tom, ‘I am a good deal less keen than I was on sweating away on that job at Holdy Castle. The story about the treasure is probably a myth, anyway – something for the local yokels to speculate upon when the telly goes wrong on some dark winter evening. Let’s pack the job in and disport ourselves with Virginia and Sarah. What a real bit of goose that they should be staying at a pub where the beer is excellent and our welcome assured by such a pleasant landlord as Sam.’

‘It’s going to be a bit sticky telling Saltergate we’re packing the job in. He’s got nobody else except his wife and the wenches to help him,’ said Bonamy.

‘I thought he was co-opting Veryan’s two workmen.’

‘There’s a fuss-up going on between the parties. I fancy all good feeling has died the death. Anyhow, we can’t opt out straightaway. Give it another week or so. We only work in the mornings, anyway, and Virginia and Sarah need that time for their holiday reading. They’re going to be third years and say they’ve got a lot of leeway to make up. Everybody slacks off in their second year and those two have had to listen to some more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger remarks from their tutor. We’ve got every afternoon and evening free to sport with Amaryllis. Be content with that. We’d have to buy them a proper lunch each day if we had them all day long, and think of the price of petrol! As it is, we buy them a drink and a packet of crisps and lie out on Sam’s back lawn resting from our labours all afternoon and then take them out to tea.’

‘Where they shovel away enough jam and cream to—’

‘Never mind to what. Chivalry deplores these excessive comparisons. We stick to Saltergate, then, with an occasional switch to Veryan when he needs a hand, but only for the next fortnight. After that, we’ll see what the options are. Right? Agreed?’

‘Just as you say. Lord, though! How I do ache!’