Elegy for a Queen

by Margaret James

  ‘Well, it was a lot of nonsense, really. Something about being in a boat, and waiting for the tide. But that’s all quite normal. She’s sorting herself out.’

  ‘How long before she wakes up properly?’

  ‘If we’re lucky, it could be quite soon. But anyway, does she have a friend called Laura Kerry?’

  ‘I don’t think so – why?’

  ‘She kept saying she wanted Laura Kerry, and I thought you’d know her – but you don’t?’

  ‘No, I’ve never heard of her, I’m sorry.’

  A new nurse came into the room. ‘You’re Gavin Hunter, aren’t you?’ she enquired. ‘You’re wanted on the phone. It’s one of Susannah’s friends. I thought you’d like to have a word.’

  * * * *

  ‘Hi, Gavin, how’s she doing?’ asked Anna.

  ‘Well, they seem to think she’s coming round. She’s still asleep, but she’s been talking. Just a load of rubbish, but it’s English and it makes some sort of sense. Anna, do you know Laura Kerry?’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘She’s a friend of Susie’s, we assume. Maybe a digger at the site?’

  ‘I don’t think so, Gavin.’ Anna thought about it for a moment. ‘I know, perhaps she’s talking about her work? That poem they found, remember, and all those bits of stuff about the Saxons? She gave Jan a translation, so I read it. Lord Cenred, one of the blokes was called. Might she be saying Lord Cenred?’

  ‘I suppose it’s possible.’ Gavin shrugged. ‘It probably doesn’t matter. How’s it going on the site?’ he asked, politely.

  ‘Oh, the site.’ Anna sucked in a breath, then sighed. ‘You mustn’t tell Susannah, but it’s been vandalised.’

  ‘It’s been what?’ Gavin didn’t give a damn about the bloody site, but it was important to Susannah. ‘How do you mean?’ he asked.

  ‘When we got there this morning, it was an awful mess. Somebody had broken down the fences, driven a JCB all over it. They’ve bloody wrecked the place. It looks like Passchendaele.’

  Gavin thought he could live with that. ‘Where were the security guards?’ he asked.

  ‘Still in their hut. Three men in balaclavas beat them up, or so they reckon.’

  ‘Oh.’ Gavin couldn’t summon up any sympathy for the guards. He wanted to go back to Susannah now. ‘Well, thanks for ringing.’

  ‘You don’t know the worst bit yet.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Somebody’s broken into the museum. All the stuff we found has disappeared.’

  * * * *

  Gavin put the phone down. He didn’t care about the excavation, or about the theft from the museum, but he knew Susannah would be upset – if she ever recovered consciousness, if she lived to be told.

  He started walking back towards the side ward where Susannah lay. So who had pinched the stuff? Maybe it had been an inside job? Maybe Sir Alec had decided not to give it to a grateful nation, after all?

  He shrugged his shoulders. Cursed or not, the Wellesley Hoard was probably on its way to a collector. It would disappear into some modern dragon’s cave, where it would guarded just as fiercely as dragons guarded hoards in days of yore…

  ‘Gavin?’ It was Susannah’s nurse, it seemed she’d come to look for him. ‘Wake up, love – stop day-dreaming,’ she said.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Gavin stared at her and feared the worst. ‘W-what’s happened?’

  ‘You just come and see!’

  Chapter 19

  ‘Look pleased,’ said the nurse, as she dragged Gavin back towards Susannah’s little room. ‘Or at any rate, try not to cry.’

  She stopped outside Susannah’s room, took Gavin by the shoulders, and looked earnestly into his eyes. ‘I know it’s been very hard for you,’ she said. ‘You haven’t eaten, haven’t slept, you’ve been so worried – but you must do your best to be all cheerful, nice and bright. She’s extremely weak, and still confused. If you get upset, then so will she.’

  Gavin found he was blinking hard, and to his dismay the tears were welling up behind his eyes.

  ‘Take a few deep breaths, okay?’ The nurse smiled up at him.

  ‘I’ll be all right.’ Gavin swallowed. ‘May I go in now?’

  * * * *

  They’d brushed her hair and propped her up against a pile of pillows. All the tubes and wires were still attached, but her eyes were open and although she looked confused, she was alert.

  Gavin swallowed hard again and smiled. ‘Hello, Susannah,’ he began.

  Susannah stared. Gavin assumed at once she didn’t know him, that her memory must be gone.

  But then she smiled. ‘Hello, Gavin,’ she whispered, weakly. ‘What are you doing here?’

  Gavin could have wept. Susannah looked so ill, so young, so frail. Her face was greenish-white. The circles underneath her eyes were black, just like her hair.

  ‘I hear I gave you all a fright,’ she murmured, as he sat down and took her hand. ‘I’m really sorry.’

  ‘You’re not to blame.’ Gavin found smiling difficult, and had to remind himself he had to do it, for Susannah’s sake. ‘You cut yourself. It got infected.’

  Susannah grimaced, looked down at her hand. ‘But it was such a little cut.’

  ‘Okay,’ said the nurse. ‘I’ll leave you two to have a natter. Gavin, if you need me, ring – all right?’

  Susannah wasn’t sleepy. Gavin supposed it wasn’t surprising. She’d been asleep for days. At ten o’clock that evening, she was still wide awake. But Gavin couldn’t stop yawning.

  The nurse on duty told him to go home and go to bed. ‘Yes, why don’t you go to my place, get a good night’s sleep?’ agreed Susannah. ‘Poor Gavin, you look awful, pale and ill.’

  ‘Well, if you’re sure,’ said Gavin.

  ‘They told me you’ve been here all week. No wonder you’re exhausted.’

  * * * *

  To Gavin’s surprise, he slept. He woke at nine the following morning with Susannah’s pillow in his arms, and cramp in his right leg from lying on it all night. When he arrived at Marbury Royal, they said that later in the morning Susannah would be taken to a women’s general ward.

  ‘You’ve spent too long in here,’ smiled the nurse. ‘When Dr Russell sees you, I’m sure he’ll send you packing.’

  As the days went by, Susannah got her colour back. She started eating again, she walked around the ward, and soon she didn’t look as if she was dying.

  ‘God, I’m bored,’ she said one afternoon. ‘There’s nothing to do in here. Gavin, can’t you get me a decent book? I mean, there’s nothing in these magazines.’

  Janet came back to Marbury, and stayed with Mike and Anna. Although she’d made a good recovery, she wasn’t well enough to work just yet, so she spent a lot of time sitting on Susannah’s bed.

  ‘Here he comes,’ she said one evening, as she watched Gavin striding up the ward. ‘Look, he’s been to Waterstone’s, how terribly romantic. Why doesn’t he bring you flowers, like any normal man?’

  ‘Hello, Susie.’ Gavin kissed Susannah. ‘Hello, Janet. Good to see you looking better.’

  ‘Darling, you don’t look so bad yourself.’ Janet twinkled at him. ‘I hear you’re going to be an engineer?’

  ‘The way my firm is going, I’ll soon be on the dole.’ Gavin moved Janet’s jacket to one side and sat down on the bed. ‘Mike and Anna are in the Lamb.’

  ‘That was a bit obvious,’ frowned Susannah, as she watched Janet sashay down the ward, collecting admiring glances from the husbands as she went. ‘You almost threw her out.’

  ‘I want you to myself.’

  ‘You don’t like Janet, do you?’

  ‘I don’t trust her, certainly, and she isn’t good for you.’

  ‘You can’t police my friends!’

  ‘I’m not, don’t be so silly.’ Gavin took Susannah’s hand and stroked it. ‘You see who you like.’

  ‘I shall, don’t worry.’ But then Susannah smiled at him. ‘They say I can go
home on Saturday.’

  ‘Brilliant!’ Gavin beamed.

  ‘Soon I’ll be able to go back to the dig.’

  ‘Well, not just yet,’ frowned Gavin.

  ‘I don’t mean to work, I want to see what’s going on. Janet’s been to see the mess, and reckons it can be sorted out, there won’t be any need to close the site.’ Susannah shrugged. ‘Of course, the treasure’s not been found.’

  ‘What does Janet think has happened to it?’

  ‘Oh, she doesn’t know. Sir Alec must be furious. It all belonged to him. So even if they’d said the stuff was treasure trove, and he’d had to give it to a museum, he’d still have got the market value.’

  ‘No, he wouldn’t,’ said Gavin. ‘There was something in the papers about that. If stuff is treasure trove, the finder gets the money, not the owner of the land.’

  ‘Yes, maybe you’re right,’ agreed Susannah. ‘But when we started digging at Little Wellesley, we all signed a contract saying we’d give anything we found to Alec Fletcher.’

  ‘I reckon Julius is in on this,’ said Gavin.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I dunno, but he’s a shifty bastard. I wouldn’t trust him with a ten pence piece, let alone the bloody Wellesley Hoard. God, I wish they’d concrete the whole site, and while they’re at it they could bury Julius as well.’

  ‘You mustn’t blame poor Julius,’ said Susannah. ‘He’s only trying to – ‘

  ‘Oh, you’re Gavin, aren’t you?’ said a nurse, who was walking past Susannah’s bed. ‘The consultant from the ICU’s in Sister Palmer’s office. He’d like a word with you.’

  Chapter 20

  ‘You’re Susannah’s fiancé, is that right?’ asked the consultant.

  ‘I hope to be,’ said Gavin.

  ‘But she has no living blood relations?’

  ‘Only some great aunt who’s pushing ninety. So can you tell me what happened?’

  ‘Last Saturday, Susannah reacted violently to some powerful stimulus. We don’t know what the stimulus could have been. We don’t discount the theory that she picked up an infection when she cut her hand. But now we’ve got the results of various tests we did last week, and I have to say this seems unlikely.’

  ‘You mean she didn’t have toxaemia?’

  ‘I still don’t know.’ The doctor shrugged. ‘But whatever set off all this business gave her system such a shock that it’s a miracle she’s with us.’

  ‘It’s just as well I woke up when I did, then?’

  ‘Oh yes, absolutely. If she’d been left an hour longer, her heart and kidneys would have failed, and she’d have been beyond our aid.’

  ‘I see,’ said Gavin, feeling ill himself now. What if he hadn’t woken? What if he’d gone downstairs to have a coffee and talk football with Aubrey Gordon, and left Susannah sleeping? What if, what if, what if...

  ‘She must be very careful from now on,’ the doctor said. ‘She mustn’t take any medication unless it’s been prescribed. I know it sounds ridiculous, but even aspirin could be risky now. We’ve no idea what started this, you see.’

  ‘I knew it.’ Gavin glared down at the floor. He would have liked to strangle Julius Greenwood.

  ‘Gavin, are you listening?’ The doctor frowned at him. ‘I’m not saying Susannah’s in the habit of using recreational drugs. But she reacted very badly to some unknown substance. I’d be failing in my duty as her doctor if I didn’t warn you that it could happen again.’

  ‘Yeah, I know what you’re saying.’ Gavin met the doctor’s gaze. ‘I’ll see Susannah gets the message, too. She mustn’t have any drugs, not even aspirin.’

  ‘No codeine, paracetamol, no pain relief of any kind unless it’s been prescribed. I shall be seeing her tomorrow, and I’ll tell her what I’ve told you today But can’t you tell me anything that might throw some light on this?’

  ‘No, I can’t. I’m sorry.’ Gavin chewed his lower lip. ‘May I ask you something?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  ‘I suppose there are lots of drugs that cause hallucinations? Especially if they’re mixed with alcohol?’

  ‘Yes, there are several. Why d’you ask?’

  ‘Last year, Susannah and I went to a party – well, it was lunch, but anyway. I didn’t drink very much at all, but Susie got well rat-arsed. Then she got confused. Actually, she was out of it. She really frightened me.’

  ‘Did she say she’d taken anything?’

  ‘No, and I’m sure she hadn’t. Or not on purpose, anyway.’

  ‘Well, there are some anti-depressants that can be quite dangerous if they’re mixed with alcohol, or even certain foods. Do you know if she was taking any medication?’

  ‘I’m almost sure she wasn’t.’

  ‘She could have been reacting to some stress.’ The consultant smiled. ‘Gavin, don’t look so worried. Last week, you saved Susannah’s life.’

  * * * *

  ‘They’re not discharging me until Wednesday now,’ Susannah grumbled, as Gavin sat down by her bed. ‘They say I have to put some weight on before they’ll let me go.’

  ‘Quite right too,’ said Gavin.

  ‘What?’ Susannah glared at him. ‘You’re saying you want me fat?’

  ‘No, but I don’t want you looking starved.’

  ‘I’m sick to death of being in this place! People go on and on about their wombs and veins and haemorrhoids, it’s disgusting! What did Dr Russell want?’

  ‘Oh, just to ask me if I’d keep an eye on you. He’s coming round to talk to you tomorrow.’ Gavin took Susannah’s hand. ‘He said you mustn’t take any drugs unless they’ve been prescribed.’

  ‘What does he think I am, some sort of smackhead? I hope you didn’t suggest – ‘

  ‘He did the talking. Listen, Susie, do you want more books or anything? I could bring some stuff tomorrow morning. Oh, and remind me to ring Mum. I’ll tell her to expect us both for supper on Wednesday evening.’

  ‘I’m sorry?’ Susannah stared at him. ‘Gavin, I’m not staying with your mother!’

  ‘You are, it’s all arranged.’ Gavin smiled. ‘Darling, she’ll look after you, she’s looking forward to it, actually. You can’t be left in Marbury by yourself.’

  ‘Of course I can! But anyway, I won’t be by myself. Aubrey and his mates at the Dean’s House will keep an eye on me. Anna and Mike have promised to call in, and Dave will do my shopping.’

  ‘Susannah, for God’s sake – ‘

  ‘In any case, there’s all that work on the millennium project that I was hired to do. I can’t afford to take much more time off, I’ll get the sack.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be so stupid. Susie, you’ve been very ill. You need to convalesce.’

  ‘Maybe.’ Susannah looked down at her hands. ‘But I don’t want to go to Berkshire.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Gavin.

  ‘It – it’ll send out the wrong signals.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘It’ll sort of make us look official,’ said Susannah, and she began to twist a strand of hair around one finger.

  ‘Well, would that be so bad?’ demanded Gavin.

  ‘I don’t know what you’ve told your mother.’ Still Susannah wouldn’t look at him. ‘But if she thinks – ‘

  ‘Okay, okay,’ said Gavin, shrugging. ‘I’ll take another week off work, look after you myself.’

  ‘You can’t do that!’ Susannah said. ‘Look at all this time you’ve had already, won’t they sack you?’

  ‘Yeah, they might.’

  ‘Listen,’ said Susannah. ‘I’ll be fine in Marbury. I’ll never be alone, the guys at the Dean’s House will see to that. Janet will be coming round, and Dave and Mike will call – ‘

  ‘Yeah, all right, you win,’ said Gavin, sighing. ‘Just as well I didn’t think life with you would be a picnic.’

  ‘Oh?’ Susannah looked at him. ‘You take a lot for granted.’

  ‘What do you mean?

  ‘There’s no l
aw that says you’ve got to have me in your life.’

  As Gavin stared at her, Susannah realised – much too late – that what she’d said was unforgivable. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, quickly. ‘That was a really nasty thing to say.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Gavin stood up. ‘Right, I’ll be going. I know you need your rest.’

  ‘Please, Gavin! Listen – ‘

  ‘You’re right, of course. I make too many assumptions.’

  ‘Gavin, I’ve apologised, don’t sulk!’

  ‘I’m not sulking.’

  ‘Then you’re angry.’

  ‘I think it’s time I went.’ Gavin kissed Susannah on the cheek. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  ‘What was all that about?’ enquired a nurse, who’d come to take Susannah’s pulse and found it racing. ‘Did your friend say something to upset you?’

  ‘No, I upset him.’ Susannah sniffed and dabbed her eyes. ‘I was horrible. I don’t know why.’

  * * * *

  Susannah went back home to the Dean’s House, where Aubrey and his fellow beaks made conscientious nurses. But after she’d lounged around for a week, she got so bored that she went back to work.

  David fussed and clucked and fiddled with the central heating. The temperature in the library was right for books and manuscripts, but a bit on the low side for actual human comfort. So Dora brought in a shawl and draped round Susannah’s shoulders.

  Although she knew it was almost certainly a waste of time, Susannah checked through all the Anglo-Saxon stuff and all new acquisitions page by page and line by line, looking for references to Weolinsleah, the Maransaete or the People of the Forest.

  ‘Where are they, Aescwin?’ she demanded, as she searched the stacks. ‘Beorn, you worked in the scriptorium, you must know what’s here.’

  ‘Talking to yourself again?’ asked David.

  ‘Talking to Beorn and Aescwin, actually.’

  ‘Aescwin’s never been very helpful.’ David dumped some papers on Susannah’s desk. ‘There are some proofs to read, when you have time. But if you’re looking for stuff about the People of the Forest, why don’t you ask Ceola?’

  ‘I didn’t think he could read?’