“She sounds very interesting … so does the grandmother.”
“You’ll find lots to interest you here, Noelle.”
“You and your father are so good to me.”
I heard my voice tremble and he said quickly: “We’re going to show you all this place has to offer. We want you to be happy here. I know how difficult it is just now, but it will get better.”
“Tell me more about Fiona.”
“Well, it all started when she found some coins in her garden. There was quite a fuss about it. It was an indication of what might be here … right on our doorstep. Sir Harry Harcourt … have you heard of him? He’s one of our leading archaeologists … he’s been out to Egypt recently and made the most fantastic discoveries. You must have heard of him.”
“Yes. I know his name.”
“Well, he made a personal visit to Mrs. Carling’s garden, and I fancy was rather impressed with Fiona. She was about sixteen at the time, and he offered her a job in one of his concerns. Old Mrs. Carling didn’t want her to go, but Fiona’s heart was set on it. And of course, it was a wonderful opportunity. Fiona was hooked … and she was a good worker. So when all this happened, she was sent here to look after the bits and pieces which were coming to light in fairly large quantities once they started digging around. Old Mrs. Carling was pleased because it brought her granddaughter back, and Fiona was content. She’s a kind girl and hated to disappoint her grandmother. So … Fiona could do the work she wanted to and at the same time feel no remorse. And the workshop is only a stone’s throw from Mrs. Carling’s house.”
“I look forward to meeting her.”
“I am just going to show you our greatest find, and then we’ll look in on Fiona. There, look. This is the remains of the villa. Mind how you go. The ground is uneven. You’d better take my arm.”
I did so and he pressed my hand against him.
“You need to watch your step. This is part of the villa. This mosaic paving is some of the best-preserved in Roman Britain. Now I must show you what I consider the most important of all. It reveals how civilized the Romans were. Be careful here. Fiona was wondering if we should fence some of this off.”
“Do many people come here to look at it?”
“Now and then. Particularly when there is some new discovery and it’s mentioned in the press. What I want to show you is the bath. At a time when cleanliness was not the major preoccupation of most of the world’s population, the Romans were very particular about it. This bath has been revealed in almost perfect condition. There are three pools. The tepidarium, the warm, the calidarium, the hot, and the frigidarium, the cold, which I believe they plunged into at the end. A very spartan people these. Look, you can see how deep they were. Don’t go too close. It would not be very pleasant to fall in. Sir Harry was very excited about it. Every now and then some party comes down, intent on further exploration. I can tell you, it has altered things at Leverson. It has given us some notoriety in the archaeological world. So excuse me if my enthusiasm runs away with me.”
“It’s quite fascinating and I love to hear about it.”
“You will hear lots about it, I can assure you. Oh, look! There is Fiona. She’s heard our approach, I think.”
A girl had emerged from the cottage. She was wearing a green smock which was very becoming to her flaxen hair. I noticed that her eyes were green, accentuated by the colour of the smock. Her face creased up with pleasure at the sight of Roderick. Then she was looking at me with a curiosity which she tried in vain to suppress.
“Oh, Fiona,” said Roderick. “I was just talking about you.”
“Oh, dear,” she said, in mock dismay.
“Extolling your virtues, of course. This is Miss Noelle Tremaston, who is staying with us.”
“Good afternoon,” she said. “I heard you were here. News travels fast in this place.”
Roderick laughed. “Miss Tremaston … Noelle … already knows who you are: Miss Fiona Vance, our archaeological expert.”
“He flatters me,” said Fiona. “I’m an amateur.”
“Oh, come. That’s overmodest. You should see the work she has done on some of our finds. We’re getting a good idea of the kind of ornaments and pots which were used on this site … all thanks to Fiona’s careful work. Are you going to ask us in, Fiona?”
“I was hoping you would suggest it.”
“Let’s go, then,” said Roderick. “Miss Tremaston wants to see some of the marvels you’ve produced.”
She smiled at me. “I’ve only fitted together what was already there,” she said. “I was just going to make a cup of coffee. Would you care for some?”
“We’d enjoy that,” Roderick answered for us, and I immediately agreed.
It was indeed a cottage which had clearly been converted into a workshop. There were two rooms made into one. Benches had been set up and these were crowded with oddments and various tools, some of which I did not at that moment recognize as such but which afterwards Fiona explained to me were bellows to blow away loose earth, coarse metal sieves, ladles, steel rods for inserting into the ground which were called probes, as well as brushes of different sizes. There were containers of all sorts, glues and bottles of several kinds of solution; and in the centre of the room was a stove on which stood a pan of hot water.
Leading from this room was a small alcove, part of a kitchen. In this was a deep sink and a tap. There was an old stove there and a cupboard, from which Fiona took cups and a coffeepot.
There were four small chairs with wicker backs and on these she asked us to be seated while she went into the alcove and made the coffee.
Roderick told me that the cottage had not had to be changed very much. The stairs near the old kitchen led to two rooms upstairs, the bedrooms, and they were left just as they had been.
“That is where Fiona has a rest when she is tired.”
“That is not true!” retaliated Fiona from the alcove. “I’m never tired during the day. I bring a sandwich with me most days and make coffee. Sometimes I take them upstairs just to get away from all the muddle and the smell of some of the products I have to use.”
She brought in the coffee in cups on a tray.
“Are you staying long at Leverson?” she asked me.
I hesitated and Roderick said: “We are trying to persuade her to.”
“And you come from London, I believe?”
“I do.”
“I daresay you’ll find it a little dull here.”
“Shame on you, Fiona!” cried Roderick. “With all this on your doorstep! I’ve just been showing her the baths.”
Her eyes shone. “Aren’t they wonderful?”
“I have never seen anything like them before,” I told her.
“Few people have … in such condition. Isn’t that so, Roderick?”
“See how proud we are. Fiona, you are worse than I am.”
They exchanged glances, and I wondered about the relationship between them. He was obviously fond of her and she … well, perhaps it was too soon to say, but I fancied she was of him.
She went on to talk about the vase she was piecing together.
“It’s an unusual one,” she was saying. “There is too much missing as yet. It’s disappointing.”
“There is quite a unique pattern on it.”
“Yes. That’s what is so maddening.” She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at me. “Well, that’s all part of the job,” she went on. “There is often something which could be made perfect … but the essential parts are missing.”
“The coffee is delicious,” I said.
“Thank you. I hope you will look in whenever you are this way.”
“Shouldn’t I be disturbing your work?”