Matthew’s father had left a reasonable estate on his premature death, but life had not been easy for Margaret, so much was used up by the time Matthew was leaving university. He’d gone to London to work with a friend in a firm of London Stock Brokers. This had been a successful choice, and his uncle’s legacy notwithstanding, he was able to retire at sixty-five a very wealthy man.
He’d never married, preferring instead a lasting homosexual relationship with Kenneth, a friend from university. It was this relationship that Millicent found distasteful, and was the main reason she and Matthew rarely communicated. Kenneth had tragically died in 1995 from an infection complicated by AIDS. Overcome with grief and loneliness, Matthew now lived alone in the large house, apart from a recent addition of the Stewartbys, a housekeeper and her husband; the latter also acted as gardener and general handyman.
His one interest and meaning for life was to be found in his collection. He was fascinated by anything old; the older the better. Many parts of the house were now cluttered with artefacts ranging from the Roman occupation of England, through to the Tudor period. Anything after 1600 was of little interest to him.
His keenest interest was with Saxon and Viking items, mainly weapons and ornate jewellery. He housed this not insignificant collection in one wing of the house, devoting three floors, twelve rooms and virtually every inch of floor space to cabinets and display cases. Not that many people ever came to admire them, for Matthew shunned any company except the occasional academic or archaeologist.
Mrs Stewartby refused to go anywhere near them, as she felt that most were grotesque and revolting, for which he was grateful.
Matthew lived in the past. As a keen amateur historian, he was forever to be seen researching different aspects of local history, often paying for and being involved in many archaeological digs in the area.
He knew that the town of Bedford was founded by the Danes. He was thrilled to discover that there may have been an existing settlement when the Danes conquered that part of England in the late 9th century, but Matthew couldn’t find any evidence of the settlement’s existence. Whether there was or not, the Danes created a town at Bedford. They made a burgh or fortified settlement north of the river Great Ouse by a ford. The burgh was surrounded by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top.
However, Bedfordshire was recaptured by the English king Edward in 915 AD. King Edward then created another burgh or fortified settlement south of the river. A ditch called the King’s Ditch surrounded it. Afterwards Bedford prospered. It was more than just a fortified settlement. It also had a weekly market and a mint. Just as things seemed to be on the up, Bedford was pillaged by a different bunch of Danes in 1010, and there was a fair amount of evidence of settlements, battles and skirmishes to be seen all over the county.
Exactly what was considered English gave Matthew some deep thought, for the original tribes that met Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC had long since vanished - assimilated and blended with all the others that formed the population at the time. The land had been home to a vast array of people groups, the Britons, the Scotti (from Ireland) and the Picts, (in the very north only), and various Celtic tribes, particularly in the west. Many of these came from northern Gaul (France) and so brought their unique language with them. Even today, the Breton, the Welsh and the Cornish languages are closely related, despite being apart for centuries. Then, there were the Northern Europeans who came to the East of the country. Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Danes, Vikings and various smaller tribes who all saw the long British coast as an open invitation to pillage, loot or even settle.
Matthew was particularly attracted to the Saxons and the Danes, who had, in actual fact given the modern English Language a greater proportion of words than any other, including Latin of the Roman invaders and the French of the Normans. Strangely, of the Angles’ tongue, who had given their name to the language, nothing is known to survive. Matthew was only mildly interested in the Celtic languages, of which only a few living examples existed.
Matthew was also intrigued by the old religions, particularly of the Germanic and Scandinavian religions. He was less interested in the Druids and the old Celtic religions. A Saxon keep had been discovered recently in the grounds of the manor, and a burial mound uncovered just two years previously in the woods by the lower orchard.
Matthew was thrilled to oversee the find, particularly when the possible name of the dead warrior was discovered on a tablet to be something like the name Brandt. Here could be a direct ancestor to his family!
He was less than thrilled when the English Heritage and the local court ruled that the site was of important historical interest and that all items found therein would be seized by the Crown and put on display at the local museum.
He was able to retain a few items that were missed by the audit, but he swore that he would neither ask assistance in, nor declare any future finds.
His piece de resistance was the sword that now rested in his hand. It was old, any fool could tell that, but it was also exquisitely made and beautifully crafted. The leather on the handle was long since decayed, but the blade was still sharp, clear and amazingly untouched by the years. He had often been to various castles and museums with expansive collections of weapons, most far newer than this one, and yet, this sword could have been made for a contemporary re-enactment or movie.
Odd, ancient writing was just visible on both sides of the three foot blade, stretching from the hilt for a distance of twelve inches. It bore no resemblance to Saxon scripts, which surprised him. Neither did it appear to be Latin or even Norse. The letters were different to the alphabets with which Matthew was familiar, appearing very ornate and curiously artistic. Weird symbols accompanied the letters, again of a type completely unknown to any source that Matthew could locate.
The scabbard was wooden covered with leather. The leather had almost all fallen away, but the fine wood was still clear of worm and decay.
The long-dead Saxon warrior had been holding it in his bony hand, so Matthew had literally pried it loose before anyone else entered the tomb. He had placed a small, ornate chest that was next to the body on the dead man’s chest, resting his hands on it. That was how the archaeologists saw it, and so, he kept quiet and put the sword away in his home. It now rested in a special drawer in his study, the only item that was not housed with the rest of his collection.
He would often spend many a moment, grasping it by the hilt, trying to imagine the men who carried it and the battles it had witnessed. He often wondered how many lives it had taken, stirring up an almost sexual arousal at the thought of large, sweaty warriors battling for their very existence with such wickedly crude weapons.
To the outside world, Matthew was a slightly portly, elderly man, with a bald head, pale complexion and hesitant voice. No taller than five foot seven, he was always clad in a tweed suit. Indeed, he was the epitome of conservative gentry; well spoken, educated and wealthy. He did not appear camp or effeminate and had never belonged to any gay scene. To see him, one would not necessarily guess he was homosexual. He had found that was to his advantage in a prejudiced and judgemental world.
He supported both local and national charities. He shunned the church, mainly for its stance on homosexuality, and although conservative by nature, he belonged to no political party.
Matthew had been celibate since Kenneth’s death, in that he had had no physical contact with another man since then. In his mind, however, he would often fantasise about being a Viking or Saxon warrior-King, overwhelming brutish warriors in an explosion of violence and sadism, often exacting sexual release with their dying bodies.
Matthew had one other interest, and one that, until recently, he had been completely unaware.