The Serpent's Eye

by Brand, Thomas H.

  Published by Thomas H. Brand

  Copyright © 2014 Thomas H. Brand

  Thomas H. Brand has asserted their right to be identified as the author of this book.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

  Cover art and designs © 2014 Emily Brand

  Visit www.thomashbrand.com for more information

  To Francesca,

  My wonderful, wonderful wife.

  I write these words in warning. Do not make my mistake. I fear should anyone start along my path that they will find their fate inexorable. As I have.

  I am gone. He is me. I cannot burn this journal. I cannot. I should do so but his presence withholds my arm. Edgar at least made the attempt, but I am certain whatever agency saved his words will shield mine also. I will never be allowed such freedom. So close. He sees what I see. What I write. He knows, for he is me.

  I am lost. I must hide this journal as best I can. My last act upon this earth is to write this warning: If you are reading these words, it means the sanctum I hoped would be eternal has been uncovered. I implore you, as your mind remains free, take the action that I cannot. See these pages burned. Disperse the ashes in some holy place. Flee. Pray.

  If you cannot do this thing, if you find some power stays your hand, then please, I beg you, see that it is once again hidden. Let the unwitting souls of others be shielded, and then see about your own affairs. If this be the case, then I fear we have already met in that great stone corridor. Dark. Eternal. Forever.

  I go to my end.

  In the name of God

  George Sandings

  January 4th 1817

  Monday, April 8th 1816

  Herein this journal are recorded the words of myself, George Bartholomew Sandings, attorney; working on the behalf of Caine and Dennings, Solicitors, at the behest of my client; Sebastian, Earl Leer.

  This morning my ship has at last arrived at port in the good city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The ocean voyage has been long, and as arduous as such an undertaking can be for one who has never before travelled beyond England's shores. But my companions upon this journey have been pleasant company, and through that companionship I found myself not too hard pressed by the enforced inaction of the voyage. However, I find no small gratitude in being once again ashore.

  I have travelled here to this foreign land at the instruction of my employers, Messrs Caine and Dennings, to see to the probate of the late Earl Edgar Thomas Andrew Leer, who passed away within this city some time last year, and the settling of his business. Despite my position within the company as a mere junior associate, it has fallen upon me to act as legate and representative for the Leer family on this matter. It is a role I have accepted gratefully, showing as it does the favour my employers hold me in.

  I was met at the wharf by my contact and guide; one Mr. Arthur Cartwright. He is a hearty, affable fellow, hailing from the hills of Wales of all places, though now settled and employed here within Buenos Aires. Whilst we waited for my baggage to be unloaded, and then again while making the journey to my lodgings, he regaled me with the tales of how he came to settle in a city so far away from his one time home. Upon leaving the army, which he tells me he joined in his youth as an escape from the farm life he was born to, he decided upon the southern Americas as a place to increase and enjoy his fortunes. After some travel about the continent he found himself here in Buenos Aires, though bereft of what moneys he had begun with. As he so readily enjoys telling me, rather than gain wealth as he intended, he instead lived life. And life was expensive. To his good fortune he took a liking to the city, as well as finding himself a wife who much settled him. He now makes a comfortable living by various means, not the least as a guide and contact for foreign visitors such as myself.

  I find I like the fellow. Some years my senior, he is of an open disposition and has treated me like an old acquaintance from the off. Already I have found his assistance invaluable, as I have discovered my Spanish has deteriorated much since my school days. The people here speak at such a speed my ear cannot make sense of much more than the odd word, but with Cartwright's assistance I am confident I will soon regain much of my former knowledge. I have simply to be thankful that my parents insisted I learn the language in my youth so that I have this basis of knowledge on which to rebuild.

  I have established myself in my modest lodgings; a fine, if plain, room in the house of one Señor Mercallo. My host is an amiable man, living here with his wife and son. He speaks a little English, and so with my halting Spanish we manage to communicate. I imagine they often rent out this room to travellers, as they seem understanding of the weaknesses I appear to be suffering after so long at sea.

  I have unpacked my belongings and plan to take an early night. The sooner my recovery from this journey, the sooner I can be about my business.

  Wednesday, April 10th 1816

  It is now two days since I arrived in this city, and I finally begin to feel myself once more. Whilst I believed my constitution unaffected by my travels, upon disembarking I discovered I had become more acclimatised to sea travel than I had realised. It has taken these two days before I have been able to stand firm without the sensation of the ground lurching beneath me. A common complaint, I am told, for one having undergone their first major ocean voyage.

  The city, as much as I have seen of it so far, is both strange and familiar. It is alike to London in many ways, or indeed any English city, and yet different in so many others. The people and their mannerisms are noticeably altered from my own race. They are not unpleasant, either to converse with or look upon, but being amongst them leaves me with an unavoidable sense of being a foreigner in this land.

  There is little sign remaining here of the battles for independence still being fought in the north. I pray it remains that way for the duration of my stay. This country's struggles against its Spanish masters do give me some trepidation when walking the streets. I cannot say visiting a land in such a state of upheaval appeals to me, but the chance to further my prospects is great enough that I can brave such dangers as may be. My European stock has indeed aroused some interest in the streets, but my landlord seems a decent fellow and appears little concerned with my heritage. My rooms, at least, will provide me with a refuge from whatever hostility I may encounter.

  I sit now in a most comfortable coffee house, recommended to me by Señor Mercallo. It is close by my lodgings and as fine a place as any to settle my legs and absorb the town's atmosphere. I have not had much of a taste for coffee before, but here it is stronger and more flavourful than that which I have tasted at home. Whilst I would prefer tea, I do feel I could develop a taste for this drink.

  The swapping of the seasons is the strangest thing. It is April still, yet here I find myself in the last throws of summer. You can read about such global effects in any number of books, but to actually experience it is another thing. I am only glad I shall not be here more than a month, or else I might well have gone from one winter to another without the relief of summer!

  I wish to be about my purpose as quickly as I may, and so, despite the lingering discomfort from the voyage, this morning I made my first approaches into the city. I have made appointments with city officials regarding my business for tomorrow at noon. As I fill in what time remains today enjoying the warmth of the afternoon weather, I shall recount, for the sake of this journal's completeness, the situation I have been sent to finalise.

  Last autumn, the previous Earl Leer, Edgar Thomas Andrew, died whilst residing in this city. The late Earl was infamous for his life of expl
oration and adventure, amongst other aspects of his personality. It was not unexpected, nor unprepared for, that Earl Edgar's departure from this world to the next would not take place in England, for he spent very little of his life there. He was orphaned at a young age, as his father and mother both perished in the sinking of the Endeavour in 1759 when Edgar was not yet six years old. The young Earl then spent a childhood watched over by a series of guardians who presided over the family estates until Edgar's majority was reached.

  I am given to understand that, as he grew, Edgar quickly gained a reputation for recklessness and a less than savoury manner. On his twenty-first birthday he took full control of the wealth of his estates and at once set off across the world with his young and, to the great dismay of the family, common-born wife, Margaret Elizabeth. The marriage was a great scandal at the time, but the exact details have been obscured by the family so I have been unable to discover a definitive story. Different rumours have her as either a maid at Oxford University, where he had been studying, or the niece of one of Edgar's tutors. I cannot comment on the validity of either rumour, merely recount them.

  What is known is that the Earl's life was not that of a respectable man. While I demur from speaking ill of the dead whenever possible, I believe such an assertion cannot be avoided when recounting tales of Earl Edgar's life. Neither, by all accounts, did he make any attempt to hide or feel embarrassment from his reputation. He was a young man with no father to guide him, but with the riches of the Leer family at his disposal. One might say his swift fall into corruption can be understood, if not condoned. An excess of wealth and lack of a father's moral guidance would be too much for many good men, and the fact that even his notorious excesses across the whole breadth of the world did not fully bankrupt his family shows exactly what fortune he had at his disposal. In forty years he managed to spend most of it, but still enough remains for the family to be considered wealthy by common standards.

  I can tell of only two occasions where Earl Edgar visited England. Twenty-seven years ago he returned to deliver his newborn son, Sebastian Edward, into the hands of those same guardians he had so despised, before leaving again almost on the same tide. There has been some speculation as to whether Edgar had fathered any children prior to this date, but no substantial claims of patrimony have ever been made. Sebastian was the first and only child the Earl acknowledged as his own. After that, I believe the Earl returned but once to his native land, ten years ago. For what purpose this was I am unsure.

  Six years ago, soon after the death of his wife, Earl Edgar settled here in Buenos Aires. The cause of death for the Lady Margaret is as yet unknown, and it is one of my tasks to ascertain this so it can be marked in the family histories. What is known is that the Earl married again soon after, at the age of fifty-seven. He then ceased his travels and lived out his remaining years in the city. Also, if rumour is to be believed, he sired another son with this new wife.

  Upon news of the Earl's death reaching England over the winter, Sebastian has wasted no time in taking control of his family's failing estates. The new Earl makes no secret of his hatred for his parents, their abandonment of him and their squandering of the Leer family fortunes. Since reaching his majority, he has champed at the bit to take control of his inheritance. I myself have been involved in a number of cases brought to the courts, all of which have been in vain. He has been forced to watch from afar as his father frittered his money away through a life of lavish excess. The Leer estates in Derbyshire were sold off when the new Earl was a child, and those that remain lie in disrepair.

  Now we reach the purpose of my sojourn here in South America. Earl Sebastian wishes the probate of his father concluded at as swift a pace as possible. Also, as my employer Mr. Caine reminded me before I embarked, there is much in the way of the late Earl's past that must be clarified for the family histories. A family such as the Leers has been documented through the centuries, and Earl Edgar's life and travels have left a blank to blight that history. During my time here I am expected to learn whatever I can to rectify this.

  I have a month in which to conclude my business, with passage home booked for the end of May. If all goes well, and I can conclude things swiftly, I hope I may have the chance to see more of this city and the surrounding country. This is my first trip overseas, and I wish to make the most of it. Other than joining the army, I cannot see any way I would otherwise have this opportunity.

  I also have it in my head that making connections and friendships within the city might put me in a unique position within the firm, promoting my interests should Mr. Caine and Mr. Dennings have any future business here. This trip has provided me with a great opportunity to further my prospects, and I intend to see that I grasp it fully.

  Thursday, April 11th 1816

  This afternoon I had my first meeting with the local authorities of the town; a formal interview with the city magistrates to go over the records from last year regarding the late Earl's legal statuses.

  There is a record of the Earl's second marriage; to one Maria Juanita Gonzalez, a maid some thirty-five years his junior, that took place a little over two months after the Earl's arrival in the city. There have been no records found of the Lady Margaret's death, so I must surmise this unfortunate event happened before the Earl's arrival within the city. Hopefully, once I have met with those who travelled in the Earl's circle, I will be able to discover more about the lady's fate. There is also a birth notice naming Earl Edgar and his young wife as parents of Tobias, a boy born little more than two years prior to the Earl's death.

  I do not relish undertaking my interview with the widow. Rumours of her and her son's existence have long reached England's shores and found their way to the ears of Earl Sebastian. He has made it clear he neither recognises the marriage, nor the legitimacy of the child. He has already engaged my firm to deal with that matter, and in the English courts I imagine that by now all the legalities must be settled. I pray this young lady has family she might rely on for the care of her child, as she shall find neither sympathy nor support from her husband's kin.

  By the records of the city, of which I am now in possession of written copies, it seems the Earl's death was discovered on 29th July, 1815. I shall have to give myself time to read the witness statements in full, but the indication given is that the Earl's final days were not taken in a noble manner.

  It is to my good fortune that the combination of the Earl's rank and his infamy around the city meant his death was notable, and so thoroughly examined at the time. I have much information on which to begin my report, and have acquired the names of those known to be close to the Earl whom I might interview myself. While I deal with these initial matters, and familiarise myself with the city, I can allow myself several days before seeking out the Earl's family.

  Friday, April 12th 1816

  As my time spent in this city goes on, I find myself liking it more and more. The home of Señor Mercallo is warm and his family most welcoming. The coffee shop to which he directed me on my first day has become much like a study. I find the city's humid warmth most agreeable, and am very happy to bask in it while I read those reports I have so far acquired.

  Standing out as I do in this land of dark skin and hair, so unlike my own fair complexion, has brought me to the notice of the proprietor, one Pascal de Certona who, I have learnt from my landlord, owns the shop with his sister; a lady I have yet to meet as she is visiting family farther south. He speaks no English, and seems much amused by my halting Spanish. He welcomes me warmly upon each visit, and has bestowed upon me some name or title I cannot quite comprehend. Attempts to persuade him to use my given name have proven futile.

  I also find a firm friendship growing with Arthur Cartwright; my rock of Britishness in this sea of exotic unfamiliarity. It amuses me that while he speaks Spanish like a native, upon reverting to his mother tongue his lyrical Welsh lilt returns as strong as ever. Last night he and his wife took me to a tavern he knows well where we were treated lik
e family. Mrs. Cartwright is a native of this city, and one of the smallest women I have ever met. She appears quite incongruous sitting next to her rotund husband, but from the amount of wine she drank throughout the night, which little affected her manner, I have no doubt of her constitution. I myself must admit to feeling more than a little worse for wear this morning, but Señor Certona's wonderful coffee seems a tonic to my condition.

  In my delicate state, I decided against further exploration of the neighbourhood and gave today over to reading through the reports I garnered yesterday in greater detail. It seems the late Earl, for all his uproarious youth and famed wanderlust, became somewhat of a recluse in his final years. He had apartments in the rich side of the town, and was noted for riotous parties and occasions held open to both notable and infamous alike. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the authors of these reports make vague mentions of people and events they assume the reader to have a previous familiarity with, and so certain details are omitted. I have made a note of what seems to be missing, and shall focus my research on these areas.

  Last night, while we dined, Cartwright had begun to tell me some of what he knew of the matter, but Señora Cartwright made it clear she did not consider talk of the Earl such a thing to be discussed at the dinner table, so I learned frustratingly little other than that in the days running up to the discovery of the Earl's death he had been seen by no one. Indeed, he had become such a recluse that when news of the discovery of his body spread many were shocked, as they believed he had either fled the city or died already. I was very frustrated by Mrs. Cartwright's refusal to allow her husband to tell me more. I shall enquire further when next I see him.