“You have not paid me a visit since Fielding’s death,” Vale said softly. “As it happens, I have been away a good deal of the time this past year. I spent several months exploring the ruins of an ancient Roman villa not far from Bath. The mosaics were quite astonishing. I made some colored drawings.”
Joan turned away from the necklace. “I should like to see them.”
Vale smiled. “I would be delighted to show them to you.”
Lavinia saw the silent invitation in his eyes and knew from the way Joan moved quickly to another display case that she had seen it too.
Tobias appeared oblivious to the small exchange. He examined a vase with casual interest and then looked at Vale. “This is the club’s private museum, I assume?”
“Yes.” Vale stroked the carved stone of an ancient altar with a lover’s caress. “Much of what you see in this chamber was found right here in England. It is fashionable to send young men on the Grand Tour to view the glorious ruins of ancient Rome and Greece, but as Mr. Lysons has demonstrated, we have our own rich classical history to explore, do we not? The Connoisseurs are devoted to preserving British antiquities.”
“England was a Roman province for several centuries,” Joan said. “It is reasonable to assume that the ancients left many interesting relics.”
“Indeed. The Romans left us an inheritance in the form of the remains of magnificent villas, public baths, and temples.” He indicated the case of gleaming objects next to her. “And who knows how many hoards of ancient jewelry and coins are yet to be discovered buried in the ground.”
“Few of those hoards are likely to be reported by their discoverers, given the law of treasure trove,”
Tobias said dryly. “It is asking a great deal to expect a poor farmer to turn over a cache of ancient gold and silver valuables to the Crown without payment, all so that the objects can be melted down.”
“Indeed.” Vale chuckled. “But rest assured that a good many undeclared discoveries are made on a regular basis, and they go far to ensure a lively market in antiquities for the likes of Mr. Nightingale and other dealers.”
Lavinia examined a series of little enameled bronze brooches twisted into fanciful shapes that made her think of tiny dragons. Then she moved to look at some rings set with engraved stones.
The first featured a red carnelian decorated with the tiny figure of a draped woman. The little cornucopia and steering oar identified her as Fortuna, the goddess of good fortune. The red jasper stone in the neighboring ring depicted another draped goddess, this one winged. She was shown with a small scourge. Lavinia recognized her as Nemesis, the goddess in charge of preserving the balance of good and ill in human affairs and with the task of exacting vengeance.
Tobias lounged against an elaborately carved sarcophagus and looked at Vale. “This is an interesting collection, but I believe you were going to tell us about the Blue Medusa.”
Vale nodded and walked slowly through the gallery. “The bracelet itself is said to be a particularly exquisite example of the ancient goldsmith’s craft. But of even greater interest is the cameo set into it.”
“So we have been told,” Tobias said.
“From what I can determine, the antiquity was found sometime early in the last century. It was handed down through a family that gradually thinned out until only a maiden aunt and her nephew, a boy of about fifteen, were left in the line. One morning many years ago, the aunt’s body was discovered by a maid. The kitchen knife that had been used to kill her was still in her back.”
“Dear heaven,” Lavinia whispered.
“There was no sign of the nephew, and a number of valuables were missing, including the Blue Medusa,” Vale continued. “It seems to have been sold and resold a number of times before Banks eventually found it in a small antiquities shop here in London a year and a half ago.”
“What of the nephew?” Tobias asked.
“As far as I know, he vanished for good. Perhaps he changed his name. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he made his way to America or the Continent. I doubt if anyone searched for him.”
“Even though he was the most likely suspect in his aunt’s murder?” Joan asked.
Vale moved one hand in a flat line. “The boy was not well liked. The neighbors feared him. Evidently there had been some nasty incidents with dead animals and some small fires that were attributed to him. In any event, there was no one who cared greatly about justice for the aunt.”
“We have heard that the cameo is an unusual depiction of the Gorgon,” Tobias said.
“It is not an ordinary representation of Medusa.” Vale paused at the end of the row of gravestones and looked at him from the shadows. “Sometime back I came across an old book that made reference to a peculiar cult that flourished for a time here in England in the fourth century. Arcane societies and secret temples were not unusual in the Roman Empire, especially in the more remote provinces such as England. My studies indicate that a number of them existed here. But this one was quite unique.”
“In what way?” Lavinia asked.
“The cameo includes, in addition to the Medusa figure, a wand or rod. It appears to have been the emblem or seal of the cult’s master, who was both feared and dreaded.”
“Why?” Joan asked curiously.
Vale hesitated and then shrugged. “You will not credit this, but the old volume indicated that the master practiced an ancient form of mesmerism.”
Lavinia stopped halfway to another display case and spun around. “Mesmerism? In ancient times? But it is a modern science.”
Vale looked amused. “If animal magnetism is, indeed, a real force in the human body, why should it strike you as strange that techniques for controlling it might have been discovered and lost and rediscovered many times over the course of the centuries? Do you really believe that we who live in this enlightened era are the only ones who manage to stumble onto ancient truths? That we are any more intelligent, insightful, or intuitive than those who came before us?”
Lavinia winced. “I take your point, sir. But you must admit, it is odd to consider that some ancient pagan cult here in England may have practiced a science as advanced as mesmerism.”
“Always assuming that it is a science,” Tobias muttered.
Vale laughed softly and turned back to Lavinia. “Odd and deeply fascinating. And, in this case, more than a little disturbing.”
“Why do you say that?” Joan asked sharply.
Vale resumed his stroll through the relics of the past. “According to the book, the master used his mesmeric powers, which were said to be drawn directly from the stone itself, in dark ways. From what I have been able to discern, the cult was founded on fear, secrecy, and great mystery.”
“Medusa was an obvious choice as a symbol of such an unusual cult, in that case,” Joan observed. “After all, in the legend, she could turn a man to stone with her gaze.”
“More than a symbol.” Vale paused meaningfully. “As I said, the cameo in the bracelet was considered the actual source of the priest’s power. The members believed that the only person who could control it was the one who was imbued with a natural talent for drawing the energy from the stone.”
A solemn silence fell on the gallery.
Tobias shattered the uneasy quiet with a humorless smile. “I trust that your interest in the Blue Medusa is purely scholarly in nature, Vale. I would not like to believe that a man of your education and experience of the world places any credence in the supposed mystical powers of an ancient cameo.”
Lavinia saw Joan frown and glance quickly at their host.
But Vale looked amused. “I assure you, March, I have no use for metaphysics, especially those of a rather unpleasant, long-dead cult. But it never ceases to amaze me how often seemingly intelligent, educated people do fall under the spell of old legends and strange beliefs.”