Rosamund AlbrittonTall young gallants, glorious in velvets and brocades, with dashingly applied patches and luxuriant wigs, waxed rapturous over Miss Albritton's exquisitely clear and light complexion, her petite but shapely figure, happy nature, and pretty manners, and sighed over the abundant tresses that, when not powdered, shone like gold in the sunshine; middle-aged gentlemen who considered themselves proof against beauty vowed themselves slaves to her daintiness and haunted by her lilting little laugh; elderly aristocrats, jewels flashing from frail hands and the assurance of wealth resting upon them like invisible mantles, declared themselves ennuyés without the sparkling presence and merry good humour of the English belle and beseeched her to rescue them.
Chapter 1Robert Victor MacTavish
A young gentleman seated with a friend at a nearby table turned and looked at her. She remembered him from the reception line, where she had judged him to be the second most handsome man at the ball. No taller than the captain, he was of more slender build and moved with catlike grace despite the fact that he had a slight limp. An Englishman. Robert something or other. Tonight he wore powder, of course, but by his colouring she thought he must be fair-haired, and he had a pair of remarkably dark grey eyes. Those eyes were cold now; his mouth, which she had thought rather grim for such a young man, looked grimmer than ever, and one eyebrow arched in a scornful manner that at once irritated her.
Chapter 1She peeped at him. How wide his eyes were. A most unusual grey, and there was a darker band around the iris, she noticed.
...
She did so, concentrating on his hands as he worked, and noting that besides being so icy cold, they were long hands and quite beautiful.
Chapter 2Through her own shocked shyness, Rosamund was struck by the horrified dismay in his eyes. They really were very nice eyes, and with such thick, brown lashes. And his light hair had little red-gold highlights and an attractive soft wave.
Chapter 3For his part, the colonel viewed a lean, athletically built young fellow, who might better have been an inch or two taller, although he wore his clothes well, the dark grey satin coat clinging snugly to a fine pair of shoulders, and the lighter grey breeches and stockings revealing muscular legs. 'A good-looking boy,' thought the colonel, although the peaked brows and down-drooping eyelids bespoke a hauteur that accorded ill with his chosen profession. The nose was straight and determined, nor could he find any fault with the firm jut of the chin. The mouth was harsh, and the eyes - 'grey steel,' he thought. Which confirmed that the silly lad had mistaken his calling. He was more a fighting man than a scholar and healer, and to judge by the rapier he'd worn when he first arrived, he'd seen his share of action. A hasty temper too, unless he mistook the matter, and with a sight more spirit than he'd ever need in a sick-room. Pity Charles wasn't blessed with some of it.
Chapter 7Estelle Porchester
Estelle Porchester was a widow, still young enough to be hopeful of changing her marital status, and sufficiently comely - in a tall, rather large-boned way - to render that not unlikely. A slightly untidy lady, with the fair colouring of her house, a generally amiable disposition, and the best will in the world to be obliging, she was somewhat given to stubbornness and had a way of repeating her remarks, that, together with one or two other little habits, never failed to irritate Colonel Albritton.
Chapter 1Colonel Lennox Albritton
The colonel had an air of command, strong features and a proud carriage. His well-cut burgundy velvet coat, pearl-grey waistcoat and satin knee breeches set off a powerful frame devoid of fat or flab. He wore a moderate pigeon-wing wig which did not become him and was not quite straight on his head, but this did not detract from the fact that the heavy brows, piercing light blue eyes, and square chin proclaimed him a man of strong will and volatile temperament.
Robbie's first impression of the Colonel, Chapter 7The Reverend Mr. Charles Albritton
Charles Albritton possessed the high forehead, clear, calm eyes, and sensitive mouth of the intellectual. He had put off his gardening clothes and wore a sober black habit à la française. Tall, lithe, of a lighter build than his father, and a totally different type of man, he was handsome in a quiet, fine-cut way. The plain white stock that proclaimed his calling and the gentleness of voice and manner tended to be deceptive, but there was a tilt to the chin, a firm set to the lips, and a steadiness in the blue eyes that to Victor's way of thinking marked him as one to be reckoned with.
Robbie's first impression of Charles, Chapter 7Captain Jacob Holt
He was young and of no great height, but his figure was good; his dress regimentals fitted snugly across his broad shoulders, and his knee breeches hugged a pair of muscular legs. As for his looks, they were indifferent; his powdered hair was thick but rather severely tied back, framing regular features notable only for a pair of frigid blue eyes and a rather small mouth above the stubborn chin.
Chapter 1Roland Fairleigh
The night air was cool after the ferocious heat of the crowded ballroom, and Rosamund, her gloved hand resting on the arm of her escort, glanced at him in some amusement. There could be no doubt but that he was not only the most handsome gentleman at the ball, but the most handsome man she had ever seen. Tall and well-built, he carried himself with a lazy but prideful air. His voice was low and pleasingly well modulated, and that incredible face! The lofty, intelligent brow, the velvety black eyes with their long, curling lashes, the lean countenance, finely chiselled nose, high cheekbones and strong chin were so near perfection as to have captured the eyes of every lady present. Yet there was a manliness to his looks and he made no bow to affectation or excess. His dress was, if anything, rather austere for so young a man, for although this coat was a masterpiece of tailoring and fitted his broad shoulders to perfection, it was of black velvet relieved only by a swirl of silver embroidery on the pocket flaps and the cuffs of the great sleeves. The white satin waistcoat was embroidered here and there with black fleurs-de-lis, the knee-breeches were also white satin, and she could not but notice that the stockings revealed an extremely shapely leg. Only his mouth she found displeasing, for although the thin lips were well cut, they had a sardonic twist.
Chapter 1Trifle
He was only four months old, but during the past few weeks it had become very apparent that his well-born Danish mama had been acquainted with another admirer before she was presented to her equally well-born selected mate. The appealing and affectionate puppy (whose tri-colour coat had secretly worried his breeder) had doubled in size. Any resemblance to a spaniel, even an Irish water spaniel, had ceased to exist. If his fluffy ears had stopped growing, his legs had not; what his paws lacked in the way of tassels they made up for in size and digging ability; and if he belonged on a lap, it might better have been that of a Mongolian war-lord than that of a gentle eighteenth-century lady of Quality.
Chapter 2Lennox Court
A charming, many-gabled edifice, Lennox Court nestled comfortably in the centre of its twenty acres. Architecturally, it fell within the loosely structured bounds know as Old English. The plastered walls were adorned with half-timbering, carefully restrained ivy, and the warm patina of age. There had been several additions, obviously, with a resultant jumble of little angles and juts, but the original style had been preserved, the deep latticed bay windows and the pitch of the gables faithfully reproduced throughout the pleasant sprawl of the building. The single front door, of thick boards, painted white and dramatically accented with black Gothic ironwork, was slightly recessed under a small brick arch.
Chapter 7The pavilion loomed up. He had glimpsed it earlier from the window of his bedchamber and thought it charming. Of octagonal design, it was a good size, topped by a pagoda-shaped dome, and with broad steps encircling its base. He started up the steps, peering for the entrance, then blundered into something, which he discovered to be a handrail supported by vertical iron bars. He saw then that there was another railing a few feet distant, evidently forming an approach to what was now the front door.
Charles' "private suite" Chapter 7Victor paused, surveying the scene with admiration, an emotion Rosamund thought might for once be genuine, since it was indeed a fair prospect. The terrace followed the inward curve of the house and was edged by a low balustrade inset at intervals with large plaster urns containing brightly blooming flowers. Broad steps led down to the rear drive-path, and beyond was the emerald sweep of lawns dotted here and there by clusters of silver birch trees or the stately might of oaks. To the left was the garden pavilion. In the centre of the lawn and closer to the house than the pavilion, a small pool was adorned with delicately hued water-lilies, and off to the right, bordered by hedges and small trees, were more flower-beds and the prized rose garden.
Chapter 10Robbie's Farm
"I have inherited property near the border, not far from Wrexham. Is a beautiful spot..." His voice became dreamy. "The gentlest of green valleys, the hills clad with woodland and girdled by a rushing stream. Warm-hearted, kindly folk... Once you've heard the Welsh at their singing, ma'am, you're never like to forget it. A man could find peace there, and contentment, of Fate were kind..."
Chapter 10The autumn afternoon was fading when the two riders came to the brow of the Welsh hill. A lush valley spread below, enclosed on three sides by tree-rich slopes, and with a stream hurrying busily across the valley floor. A shepherd boy was herding his flock toward higher ground where were cultivated fields and fenced paddocks, and far off, the chimneys of a broad, low house sent smoke curling upward against the pink sky.
Chapter 19
Albritton Family Lennox m=f m=f | | +---------+ +---------+ | | | | Louis de Fontblanque=Maria Lennox Albritton=Irene Estelle Porchester (Comte) | | +------+------+ +-----------+----------+ | | | | | | Elise Jacques Louis William Charles RosamundSingleton Family (distant cousins of the Albrittons) Major Montague Singleton=Violet Carrier (died 1743) | +------+-------+ | | | Harold Deborah Howard (died 1746)Colonel Lennox Albritton was a Colonel of Hussars.
There is a great-aunt Caroline in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Possibly on Rosa's mother's side - Estelle calls her Aunt Caroline.)
There is a Cousin Hilde in Europe.
Deborah Singleton, thought to be in Paris and Copenhagen with relatives, spent the summer as Betty Park, kitchenmaid, at Highview Manor in Oxfordshire, helping Quentin escape.
MacTavish Family +--------------+ | | James Victor=Hortense | +-----------+ | | Robert Victor Prudence
b.May/June? 1727
Military Captain Jacob Holt
Ensign Walter Trumbull
Lieutenant Brooks Lambert, demoted for having set a trap for a Jacobite and been outwitted. The real trap was actually laid by Merry Carruthers and Roly Fairleigh. (see The Tyrant)
Callahan - trooper with Captain Holt
Robbie claims to be Robert Victor, Captain in the Fourteenth Light Dragoons and nephew of Colonel Archibald Cunningham, commander of the occupation forces in Inverness.
Chapter 5
Villains
Servants Jessie - Rosa's "sleepy" maid who fell in love with Tante Maria's footman and stayed in Paris
Fifi- Tante Maria's maid that she offered to send with Rosa and Estelle. Estelle thinks her a hussy.
Sorenson - Roly's manservant
Miss Seddon - housekeeper
Addington - Rosa's replacement abigail, and a Scotswoman. She knew Captain Otton when she worked in Oxfordshire.
Cobham - the only footman at Lennox Court
Other Folk The Earl of Bowers-Malden - thinks he recognizes Robbie as a friend of his son Tio's
Mr. Zachary Troy - was to have escorted Deborah to Tante Maria's in June
Butterworth - ship's surgeon
Trevelyan de Villars - masquerading as "Billy Coachman"
Gordon Chandler
Thaddeus Dunster, Lord Briley
Commodore Egbert Whipley, retired. Avid gardener and dog-hater. Provider of Corthunus paradigma. (aka hedge bindweed - a pernicious, noxious weed)
Lowe - captain of a smuggling vessel
Lord Boudreaux
Mrs. Rebecca Parrish
Animals Trifle - part spaniel, part larger unknown, all puppy aka the Unmitigated Disaster
Lightning - Charles' big Persian cat
Rumpelstiltskin - Roly's magnificent chestnut stallion, just past five years of age. Rump knows how to bow.
Chapter 9
Travels From Paris to Dover.
From Dover to Lac Brillant to The Mermaid Inn in Rye to Crowhurst to The Galleon a mile or so east of Lewes. Overnight at The Galleon.
From The Galleon to Lennox Court, just north of Chicester in Sussex.
Charles, Robbie, Rosa, Debbie and Roly work to solve this. Roly is the one to call attention to the Arabic 4, when the other verses have Roman numerals. Robbie finally has the bolt of inspiration, sparked by something Rosa said, to solve it.Colonel Sir Ian Crowley, the Scots officer who knew the key, died in France, having been hounding into exhaustion and pneumonia by Captain Holt.
The Entire Cypher The Cypher Solved
Trivia Estelle's musicbox plays "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?"
Chapter 2Roly Fairleigh is subject to mal de mer.
Chapter 2The reward for a courier carrying a cypher is 200 guineas, and for the one carrying the list, 300.
Chapter 4Robbie attended Cambridge, as he revealed to Rosa while reminiscing about his university days. (The Backs are in Cambridge - not Oxford, which both Charles and Roly attended.)
Chapter 9"She's beautiful and therefore to be wooed." Roly quotes Shakespeare to Rosa.
Chapter 9Rosamund owns an old Celtic pendant she inherited from her grandmother.
Chapter 10Willowvale, the Aynsworths' home, is close enough to visit and return from in an afternoon.
Chapter 10Geoffrey Delavale is watched, so that even Prue doesn't dare try to see him.
Chapters 14&15Charles' bishop knows what he's about, and helped by reassigning him to various parishes.
Chapter 15Mention of Fotheringay and the list which he'd had in hand and lost at Willowvale.
Chapter 19Robert Victor MacTavish and Rosamund Albritton were married, by a special license provided by Charles' bishop, in the Dorsetshire parish of Pudding Park.
Chapter 19
Last updated 29 November 1998
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