In The Archives | Library Sidethread- Xmas 1677

[Aria]

"I suppose so," Langdon replied to Maldon. Thirty minutes would be sufficient to discuss matters with Susan. As to how long it would take to locate the desired document, Charles had no idea. He supposed it depended upon the number of documents in there. In truth, he would likely be bored after looking for 15 minutes, unless Susan showed an interest in it.

 

Taking his leave of the rest, Langdon followed Potts into the archive and waited for the older man to give him a preview of the files and any hints he might provide. Of course, upon encountering Susan, Charles would feign surprise.

 

"Lady Susan, what a pleasant surprise," he declared in a flattering voice. "Your presence alone will otherwise make dull research into a most pleasant endeavor." He waited for Potts to withdraw before speaking to Susan in a soft voice.

 

"I took the dagger to a weaponsmith who recognized it as a dagger given to lords that provided service to Queen Elizabeth. I came here hoping to find a list of recipients so that we might narrow our search. Maybe the list notes specifically those engraved with the Tudor rose, which was on our blade. I left it with the smith to clean it." All of this information was revealed quickly, in the interest of time.

 

"What have you learned?"

 

Mr Potts opened the door and let Charles proceed him inside. It was a rather large room filled with shelves that were brimming with faded leather-bound tomes, scrolls, and stacked documents. All of them looked extremely old, but they weren't dusty. Someone came in here to clean regularly.

 

In the center of the room was a plain wooden table which held a stack of paper, an inkwell, and a quill. Candles placed strategically around the room gave it light, illuminating shades of brown and gray.

 

There were only two chairs beside the table and one of them was occupied by Susan Herbert. She looked up from the book she was studying as Charles walked in with the librarian. He seemed surprised to see her. She had heard snippets of the conversation outside and had recognized his voice as well as her cousin's.

 

Another gentleman had wanted to come in here as well, and if he had been allowed in first, Susan had planned to abandon her research until it was Charles' turn. They were both looking for clues into the same mystery and she had found something she wanted to show him.

 

“You are the last person I would expect to see here, my lord,” she replied. “But your company is most welcome.”

 

“I'm afraid these files are very disorganized, but you should be able to find what you are looking for,” the librarian said. “I will leave you to it.” He withdrew from the room, leaving the two young nobles alone.

 

Susan sighed in relief when Charles explained that the dagger had been a gift from Queen Elizabeth. “I'm glad you narrowed down the time period. That makes my own research a lot easier.” She indicated the book in front of her. “I found a list of ladies in waiting starting with Elizabeth of York. Now I can concentrate on those who served Queen Elizabeth.

 

“I also found something that might be of interest to you.” Standing up, she moved to one of the shelves in the back and bent down, reaching behind it and drawing out a thick tome. Rising, she walked back over to the table and placed in in front of Charles. “I found this wedged behind a shelf, as if someone was trying to hide it. I didn't look at it closely, but there are pictures of daggers inside as well as other weapons. Maybe it will be of use.”

 

She sat back down in her chair. “When you go back for the dagger, may I come with you? I would like to see what it looks like cleaned up. Did you find out what was engraved on it yet?”

[Charles Whitehurst]

"Oh?" Charles did not know whether to be insulted or not by Susan's remark that she would not expect to find him in the library. "I'll have you know that there are many villains and blackguards to be found in the library, so it is only natural that a Life Guard officer patrol these areas." His smile revealed that his comment had been meant to be humorous.

 

"May I sit beside you?" he asked formally, just in case Potts was eavesdropping on them. He moved to take a seat just as Susan stood to retrieve the book she had discovered. He felt relieved that the lady may have saved him tedious work in searching the shelves.

 

"Really?" Charles liked books about weapons. He would have read the book even without their quest. He took the book gladly and placed it carefully on the table in front of him and began turning the pages slowly.

 

"I do not think we should be seen together there," the Earl remarked quietly. "Already the weapon master is suspicious of my purpose. Imagine if both a maid to the Queen and a officer of the King returned together ... ." He paused to allow her to imagine the ideas that might come to the craftsman. "I'll show it to you after I have the dagger again," he pledged as he turned another page. That seemed logical. Not wanting her to take it too seriously, he whispered "besides if we are seen in public together on multiple occasions, people will start to wonder if you might actually like me." He paused his reading a moment and offered her a teasing smile.

[Aria]

Susan had already known he was outside the door, and her comment had been for the benefit of Mr Potts. He seemed like one of those old men who never missed a thing and she didn't want him to think that she knew Charles too well. In truth, she had been hoping that he would choose this day to research the origins of the dagger. She had put the book about knives back where she had found it, but it was impossible to predict if it would stay there. If someone had hidden it, they might come looking for it again and place it somewhere else.

 

She laughed at his explanation. “Then I am glad to have your protection. I haven't been attacked by any villains yet, unless they're hiding in the books that fell around me when I tried to pull one from the shelves.” She had placed those books back in the bookcase after thumbing through them. They had been household records of some sort, and therefore of no interest to her.

 

“Of course, sit down.” As soon as the librarian exited, she told him that she had found a list of ladies-in-waiting and fetched the book she had wanted him to look at, watching as he began to thumb through it. On each page, there was a detailed drawing of a knife, dagger, or sword along one side. Beside each sketch, there was a list of names and dates. There were brief notes next to about a third of the names, such as 'for services rendered.' 'for bravery,'' or 'as replacement.' All of the dates were from the reign of Queen Elizabeth, starting from the beginning of her reign and continuing to the end. Only if one was of artistic inclination would they be able to tell that the sketches had been drawn by several different artists.

 

“How would the weapon master know who I was?” Susan asked. “You could say that I'm your sister.” There was a good chance she would be serving the Queen when he went to retrieve it, and wouldn't be able to go anyway. And, as he had pointed out, they didn't need to be seen out in public together, if only because it might raise her brother's suspicions.

 

“Or they might believe that it is you who fancies me,” she retorted playfully. “When are you going to get it back? And where is the shop you left it at? I don't remember seeing a weapon shop on the Strand.”

[Charles Whitehurst]

Susan had managed to save him a great deal of time by finding the book on dagers. This is going to be easy, he told himself as he scanned for an illustration of the dagger most resembling the one they found. He was looking, in particular, for those with Tudor roses engraved into the bollock guards. He was hoping to determine what those might mean. If they were rare and only presented to a certain class of nobility, it would help narrow the search considerably.

 

"He would not recognize you," Charles admitted. He gave her the name of the old weaponsmith just in case. "He said it will be ready this afternoon. He claimed that his grandfather had made some of the daggers for the Queen."

 

The Earl was surprised that Susan was so interested in visiting the shop with him. She had a sharp mind and he was running out of excuses, yet it seemed right to protect their budding relationship from the scrutiny of others. "Maybe you could wait in the coach?" he offered as a compromise. Charles smiled at her retort about who might be seen to fancy whom. It was best not to say anything further there.

[Aria]

The book covered more than forty-four years and consisted of several hundred pages. If Charles flipped through it too quickly, he might miss something, although it would be quite easy to bypass the many pages that had pictures of swords and other weapons.

 

Abandoning her own book, which was not nearly as thick, Susan stood up and moved behind him, looking over his shoulder. The name of the weaponsmith meant nothing to her, but with it, she could easily find out where his shop was located. She was hoping that she could go shopping and just happen to be in the same area when Charles picked up the knife.

 

As it turned out, she had the rest of the afternoon free. “I don't think we should be seen getting into the same carriage together,” she remarked thoughtfully, “but maybe we can both be in the same place at the same time and we can 'meet' by accident as you are coming out of the shop.” He seemed to believe that the shop was no place for a lady, and she would trust his judgment.

 

“Oh look!” she exclaimed after he had turned a page toward the beginning of the book. She leaned closer, so close that he would be able to smell her perfume, and pointed to one of the pictures. On one of her fingers, she wore the pearl ring they had found on their first excursion into the secret room. “Is this it?”

 

The picture looked identical to the dagger Charles had left with the old weaponsmith. It even had the Tudor roses on the guards. The inscription on the blade was represented by a vertical line because the sketch was too small to write the words on it. Beside it was a list of seven names, all with the date of 1564 beside them. At the bottom, in a different hand, were the words 'first forging.'

 

“First forging,” Susan mused. “Do you think that means that more of the daggers were made at a later time?”

[Charles Whitehurst]

"Or ..." Charles offered as an alternative "I could bring the dagger to the palace and bump into you here, saving you the trip." He was still not sure why she was so keen on going to the weaponsmith.

 

All conversation about logistics vanished as he turned the page to behold a drawing that looked quite similar to his dagger. Without saying a word, he took a closer look. "This one does seem to match," he murmured. Neither Susan's close proximity or perfume distracted him from their quest.

 

"Quick, let us find a quill and ink pot and copy these seven names," he declared, eyes searching for writing implements. "Someone must have forged duplicates sometime after 1564," the Earl speculated. The names were scrutinized to see if there were any that he recognized. "I am thinking the Lion must have been quite high ranking." He looked to see if the names had the titles as well. "All we need do is find out which of the seven died mysteriously ... hoping of course that our dagger was a first forging."

[Aria]

Susan nodded. “Yes, perhaps that is a better idea. I have the rest of the day off and I can meet you here when you return. Then we can compare the dagger to the pictures in the book and see if any of them match.”

 

As it turned out, they found a match without it. Charles agreed that the picture she had found looked like the Lion's knife. There was already a quill and inkwell on the table as well as a stack of paper to write on. They were not the first to want to copy something they found here. “I'll do it,” Susan said, taking a piece of paper from the pile and pulling the quill and inkwell toward her.

 

All seven names had 'Sir' in front of them, indicating that the recipients were not high in status when the daggers had been given to them. “None of these men were high-ranking,” Susan commented as she carefully wrote down the names. “But they could have risen in status in later years.”

 

When she was finished, she lay the paper next to the book. The ink was still a bit wet. “Maybe we should look through the rest of the book for the other forgings. Whenever you need to leave to get the dagger, I can continue searching. It looks like I will be here most of the afternoon.

 

“I need to go through the list of ladies-in-waiting and copy those who served the Queen in 1564. Most of them include the dates of their births and deaths. I can disregard the ones who were too young or too old. I don't know why, but I see the Swan as a lady in her twenties.”

[Charles Whitehurst]

Susan agreed to meet him later, which was a good thing. It would save potential curiosity from the weaponsmith.

 

As Herbert's penmanship was likely better than his own, he was only too happy to have her record the names. Her point about the rank resonated with him. Once they were done, Charles announced "let us look for a second forging to see if there might have been higher ranking recipients." Without further pause, he began flipping through the pages methodically, looking for a later forging. There might be a third forging too.

 

"If I find nothing in the next 15 minutes, then I shall leave it to your keen eyesight and I shall leave to fetch the dagger." It was as she offered. Charles was mindful of the 30 minute period Maldon had established. "Lord Maldon wishes to come in here when I depart, so you must be ready with a story as to why you are reviewing a book about weapons."

[Aria]

While Charles flipped through the book, Susan began to go through the list of ladies-in-waiting, writing down the names of those who had the dates of their marriage listed. Unfortunately, the names of the husbands were not included, but the titles of the ladies were. She knew that the Swan had been married.

 

“I can tell him that you asked me to help you with your research,” she suggested. “I heard you talking outside, and he knows that there is a lady in here already. I have never met Lord Maldon, but he could be of assistance as well. There's probably a book in here somewhere that lists the lords who served the Queen. I might be able to match some of these ladies with their husbands, which might tell us who the Swan was married to.”

 

There was indeed a second forging of the dagger, dated exactly twenty years from the first. There were seven names on this list as well … one Earl, three Viscounts, two Barons, and a Baronet.

[Charles Whitehurst]

The second forging required them to record a second set of names to follow the first. The name and title of the earl was the one he remembered. It was the highest ranking of those they had found. "Perhaps there was a third forging," he mentioned as he continued turning pages.

 

In the end, he agreed with Susan's plan. "That sounds believable." Perhaps Maldon could help, unknowingly. "I best be on my way. Good luck," he bade her as he took to his feet. "I'll find you when I have the dagger again," he pledged, and then he was off.

[Aria]

“Maybe even a fourth,” she suggested with a shrug of her silk-clad shoulders. However many forgings there were, Susan would the copy down the names as well as all information written beside them. “Once we have all the names, we should go back through the letters again and see if we can find more clues.”

 

Heat rose beneath her cheeks, and she was glad that she was looking and that the light was rather dim. Susan hardly ever blushed and she didn't want him to know how those passionate letters affected her. Even without the possibility of new insights, she wanted to read them again with him, the way they had done it before, with her reading the Swan's letters and him reading the Lion's.

 

Charles saw nothing wrong with the explanation she planned to give Lord Maldon. Susan wished he didn't have to go so soon, but she knew he had to get the dagger. He might have other duties to attend to as far as she knew. Pushing the records of the ladies-in-waiting aside, she pulled the book of weapons toward her and started copying the information on the gentlemen who had received the daggers from the second forging.

 

“Good luck to you too,” she said with a smile. “I will probably still be here and then we can compare the dagger to the pictures we've found.”

 

Once he was gone, she went back to work, expecting that Lord Maldon would join her at any moment. Maybe he was better at finding things than she was. She dreaded going back to the shelves and hunting for more useful tomes.

[Guest]

John arrived some time later. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light but he’d been in darker, dustier archives than this one by far. But his attention was focused on the books.

[Aria]

The room John stepped into was large and the walls were covered in bookcases which contained a variety of leather-bound tomes, scrolls, and documents. Some were arranged neatly while others looked like they had been tossed carelessly upon the shelves. There were a few stacks of books on the floor as well.

 

Susan Herbert was seated at the plain wooden table in the center of the scholarly chaos, one book open up before her and a quill in her hand. Another book also lay on the table. She looked up when the door opened, blinking at the brighter light from beyond it.

 

“You must be Lord Maldon,” she said with a rather distracted smile. “Lord Langdon told me to expect you. I'm Lady Susan Herbert.”

[Guest]

“A p-p-pleasure.” John said. He hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to engage in conversation. Normally, John wouldn’t have expected her to speak to him at all. They hadn’t been introduced and he felt it was normal to just walk past someone in a library… though perhaps that was just him.

 

He dawdled for a moment before his eyes wandered over to the shelves. But if Lady Susan didn’t do more than greet him, he had plenty to look for. Aside from general interest as a published historian, his relatives had probably been at the zenith of their power during the Tudor era. A reminder of great ancestors (aside from being personally gratifying) might make a fine gift. And John had a great fondness for a (deceased) relative of his and Chief Minister during the later part of Queen Elizabeth's reign and the beginning of King James'.

[Aria]

Lord Maldon wasn't very talkative. Susan had expected that he would ask what she was researching, but he didn't seem interested, which was just as well. She wouldn't have to make up any excuses to explain why she was writing down the names of some of Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting.

 

There was no order to the books arranged on the shelves, either by topic or era. Everything was mingled together. Books of household purchases sat beside those of gifts given or received by various monarchs. Tomes containing lists of servants were next to others with lists of nobles. The best way to find something specific was to dig in and start searching.

 

Susan looked up from her writing. “Are you looking for anything in particular, my lord?”

[Guest]

John was a historian and a published author so this was firmly in his area of experience. There was information in the type of paper used, the sort of ink, the language used, and other subtle cues. A glance at the binding and paper could tell John roughly the decade a book had been made. There were a thousand other context clues to help him sort quickly.

 

Susan inquired into his research. “A f-f-few things about my family.” John said. The era she was researching was rich with the subject. “What about you? What b-b-brings you to the archive?” John asked.

 

Despite speaking he moved over to the archives. Fortunately, he was not looking for obscure figures. He was looking for his ancestors and relatives. That was several prominent servants, virtually all the Chief Ministers, and several other ministers besides. A history might come out of it eventually.

 

John was a particularly enamored with the last Chief Minister of Elizabeth's reign and the first of King James. An relative of his, the man who had overseen the Stuart succession and suppressed all plots against it. He was also an ugly, hunchbacked cripple who'd started his career as a diplomat. The affinity was natural and a portrait of the man hung in John's home.

[Aria]

Susan wondered exactly what about his family he was looking for, but she thought that asking for more information would be rude. “I'm just curious about the ladies who served the former Queens and what their lives were like. I'm writing down the names of those who were close to my age. Hopefully, I'll be able to find out more about some of them.”

 

This wasn't exactly a lie. She was hoping that one of the ladies would turn out to be the mysterious Swan of the letters that she and Lord Langdon had found in the secret passageways. The book of weapons she had found for him lay beside her on the table, waiting for his return. It was closed and its cover was unadorned.

 

There were books of all types on the shelves and stacked on the floor. Three of the walls were covered in bookshelves and they were all full. Some were in better shape than others and not all of them were completely intact. There were so many of them it would even take a historian several days to sort through every last one of them. Some people were lucky enough to find what they were looking for in a matter of minutes. Others were not so fortunate and never found the information they sought, either because it didn't exist or because they became frustrated and gave up.

 

"Would you like some help searching?" Susan asked. "I came upon books on many different subjects when I was looking for a list of ladies-in-waiting."

[Guest]

“Ah, I see.” John’s tone said he didn’t quite believe her. It was almost disappointed. But he wasn’t going to pry. Especially after his experience outside. He did have his own purposes here. Since his offer of joining in had been rejected, he would pursue them.

 

John had spoken outside about how books, writing techniques, and other things had evolved over time. How one could identify book’s time periods by their features. Books and records were not disinterested containers of words but objects themselves. They betrayed information to the experienced even if no one had organized them or intended them to. He didn’t have to hunt entirely at random.

 

Regardless, the amount wasn’t daunting. He’d already trawled through much of the information about the Household in the general collection. No doubt this would give him greater insight still. And if there was nothing on his family here, that would be significant in of itself. Something worth investigating.

 

“Indeed.” He agreed the archives needed to be organized. He continued looking. “If you have anything f-f-from Tudor times or l-l-later, that’d be useful. Especially the l-l-latter part of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.” Ideally about his family, but it was a place to start. Especially because that was when his crippled relative had been Chief Minister.

[Aria]

Susan was a perceptive young lady and she could tell that Lord Maldon suspected that she wasn't telling the entire truth about her research. She realized how odd her explanation must have sounded, but there was no reason a lady-in-waiting to the Queen could not be interested in her historical predecessors. The worst that could happen is that he would think she was strange, and that didn't bother her. She just hoped he didn't tell anyone or he would probably wind up on the receiving end of her brother's rage. And she didn't wish that on anybody.

 

She stood up and walked over to one of the shelves toward the back of the room. “This is where I found the book I'm looking at now. There are some records from Queen Elizabeth's reign among them.” Susan pulled one out and opened it to a random page. “This one is from that period, but I doubt you would be interested in lists of food that was ordered for the kitchens.”

 

Susan put the book back on the shelf and returned to her seat. “That shelf might be a good place to start.”

[Guest]

Susan had a lot to lose if her brother turned his wrath on John. Feuding with the Cavendishes was not a wise move. Lord Cavendish was a famed duelist and would defend John. And trying to murder a peer, or actually murdering one, was treason. If convicted, her brother would be executed, his title extinguished, his property confiscated. It would leave her destitute, out of favor, and untitled.

 

“Thank you.” John said with a smile. He moved over to the records. He knew from Susan’s own search there were records of who held offices and gained titles here. And there were obviously financial and governmental records from her kitchen book. So he thought he was probably in the right place. He continued his own search with practiced ease.

 

“What d-d-do you have there?” John gestured to the books she’d collected. It made sense to see if any of them were of interest to him as well. He was still looking through the shelf though.

[Aria]

Crossing the Earl of Pembroke for any reason would be a mistake. Not only was he a violent man who had escaped repercussions for other crimes, but his family had the King's favor. If he accused John of slighting his sister's honor, it was possible that his relatives could not save him. There was also no chance that the Herberts would lose their lands, titles, or become destitute because everything would be given to his brother should Pembroke ever do something unpardonable. But a confrontation between Pembroke and John was highly unlikely, since there was no reason for John to speak ill of Susan.

 

There was only one other book on the table and Susan glanced over at it. “It's a book of weapons that I found for Lord Langdon.” She didn't know if Charles had mentioned returning to the archives after he had collected the dagger, so she said nothing more.

 

John would find all kinds of records on the shelf that Susan had pointed him to. There were quite a few lists of household expenses, a few containing gifts given or received by various monarchs, and lists of servants. None of them had titles or descriptions on the cover, so he would have to open them up to see what they contained. As he searched through them, he would find a book of poetry that was conspicuously out of place. A folded note, yellow with age, fell from its pages and landed on the shelf in front of him.

[Guest]

The book she was keeping sparked John's interest. "Oh really? D-d-does it have daggers in it?" John had a strange dagger. He didn't know how old it was but he thought it was worth looking.*

 

John enjoyed going through the books immensely. It was a game of seeing patterns. What gifts rose and fell. Where orders came from and how they ebbed and flowed. And contextual knowledge: What a sudden uptick in gifts from France was about. Why the Queen suddenly started ordering large amounts of thistles. And he enjoyed the ones about the gardens most of all.

 

He enjoyed the books themselves too. The various types of paper and binding. The ink. The scripts. There was a fascination in seeing the evolution. And the curiosities. A list of porks that had been done by a scribe who was stubbornly holding to old ways of writing on newer paper, probably old and almost retired. A fresh new hand that looked like it didn't quite have the proper penmanship... And the odd printed book, which meant the records had been made and disseminated rather than just kept and stored.

 

Then there was a book of poetry. John's brow furrowed. Poetry? John had been trying his hand at that since James had given him those lessons last season. He'd not gotten the nerve to send any of it. He flipped through A bit of paper fell out. These books are falling apart.

 

He picked it up and looked at it.

 

*This is BG's plot, a mystical dagger John has. I don't know if you want to just say it's not in there to gloss it over.

[Aria]

“Yes, there are daggers in it.”

 

If John looked through it, he would not find a picture resembling his own.

 

Susan stood up and stretched. “I think I'm going to take a break. I've been researching for most of the afternoon." She smiled at John and then glanced at the books on the table. “Please leave these here. "I'll be back in a bit. I hope you find what you're looking for.” And with that, she walked through the door, closing it softly behind her.

 

The book of poetry, which consisted of odes to love, was much newer than the other books in the archives and looked as if belonged on the shelves in the library proper. The note was not ancient either, written perhaps twenty to thirty years ago. It was a love letter addressed to 'My Dearest Veronica,' and the author asked the object of his affections to meet him by the duck pond along with professing his undying love for her. It was signed with an initial, an elaborately written 'R.'

[Guest]

"Ah, g-g-good day." John said with a smile. He was glad she was gone shortly for John coughed and blushed at such bold declarations.

 

His mind soon escaped into mulling over what he'd found. Twenty or thirty years ago was well into the Commonwealth or early in the Protectorate. The R could be... Richard Cromwell. Or it could be for a Rich, a family related to both Devonshire and Cromwell. Or it could be some lesser personage. (Or a nickname...)

 

The pair were obviously sneaking around. St. James park had fallen into such disrepair over the course of the Civil War the King had had it entirely redone upon the Restoration. (By a Frenchman, much to John's frustration.) He didn't imagine it would've been a very romantic spot, with dying plants and overgrown weeds. But it might have been a private one.

 

John checked the book for a mark. If the book was not marked as library property, he could simply leave with it. He'd brought his own books in with him before, so his leaving with books was not strange.

 

He looked too to see if he could tell what page the note fell out of.

[Aria]

The name 'Dwight' was handwritten on the inside cover. There was nothing to indicate that it had come from the library and it was impossible to tell which page the note had fallen out of. A few corners were creased as if they had been turned down once to mark favorite poems. All in all, it was just a simple book of love poetry.

[Guest]

Dwight? He’d hoped for a bit grander name. But it was helpful. Something to bring up with Elizabeth. Or perhaps he could find a genealogical book. He could also query his relatives. Many had still been in government during the Protectorate.

 

That this involved inquiring after an unmarried lady’s ancestry, showing her a book of love poetry, and talking about her family with his relatives was completely lost on John.

 

Thumbing through the book, he looked at where the book had been placed. Perhaps that held some information.

[Aria]

The book had been tucked between tomes holding records of various types. None of them would be of particular interest to John. It was possible that through the years, the book had been moved from its original location. There was nothing at all remarkable about it or the place where it was found.

[Guest]

Not seeing anything more to be gleaned, John tucked the book in arm. Mystery or no, he still had history before him. Days and days of records to trawl and nowhere to be for some time. And the resistance he'd encountered made him doubt whether he'd be allowed back in to continue at a later time.

 

He continued to seek information on the household of Queen Elizabeth and its principals. Especially his ancestors, and especially the Chief Minister of the last decades of her reign.

[Aria]

John would find a list of minor lords and a few genealogies, but none of them contained any information about his own family or anyone else he knew.

 

After about an hour had passed since John entered the room, the door opened and Mr Potts stuck his head in. “Forgive me for the interruption, my lord, but there are two gentlemen who would like to take a look in here. Would you mind letting them have a turn?”

 

Since Lord Maldon had only given Lord Langdon thirty minutes in the archives, the librarian didn't expect him to protest when he had been there twice as long. He could always continue his own research on another day.

[Guest]

Mr. Potts peeked in. "Hmm?" John looked up from a book, surprised. "Who are they?” John asked. This was not a popular archive. Mr. Potts had been surprised with only three visitors. Francis had implied it would draw notice for all three of them (and had himself wanted to note what they were up to). Two more was even stranger. And its most recent records were seventy-five years old.

 

John was curious if he’d run into a pair of historians. If not, they were at least people with some historical task and so worth meeting. Perhaps they would be more inviting. But even if not, they were worth noting.