The Art of Intrigue by P A Latter

Author:P A Latter [Latter, P A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

It was probably a bit theatrical for Julia to walk out of the curator’s office, after turning Cassie’s questions about the Assassin’s Curse back on her. It was, however, immensely satisfying.

It wasn’t until she was out of the building that she could bring herself to acknowledge that it was a reticence to discuss the painting as much as a desire to discomfort Cassie that had made her answer as she had.

The Assassin created an atmosphere that made her evade queries. The bogeyman comes when you call him: it was best to remain silent. She berated herself for childish fears and resolutely closed her mind to supernatural threats from long-dead noblemen.

She had a new project to divert her attention. The opportunity to explore a possible treasure trove of undiscovered information about the Seckfield family was more than sufficient for her to forget vague anxieties.

If she was being realistic, she knew it was highly unlikely that she would find anything of substance in the dusty boxes, but the flights of fancy persisted that she might stumble upon a document, which would transform their understanding of the family’s history.

She asked Penny to ensure that her Friday gallery sessions could be covered by other volunteers whenever possible and set up her new workstation. She began methodically cataloguing each paper in sequence, carefully keeping them all in the order she found them, even though they seemed utterly jumbled together, with no grouping by date or type of document.

After the novelty of the task wore off, it quickly became tedious. It took time to decipher handwritten sheets and most of the pages were just household bills, if they were Seckfield-related at all.

After two boxes, she abandoned the measured approach and lifted a bundle from the next box to leaf through.

She justified her casual riffling as a reward for her earlier diligence and decided she would rummage - without disturbing the order - until she found something more interesting and once she did, she would “pay” for her find with an hour of proper cataloguing.

The random search eventually yielded treasure and she marked the place, between bills for vegetable seeds and riding boots, with a yellow sticky note. Her find was a family letter dated 1785.

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