gave his uncle a warm hug. Julien was younger than Richard by fifteen years. He lived in Paris, and was a former head librarian of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Julien had persuaded his brother to become a librarian as well. Richard had just graduated from the Royal Naval College in Greenwich and had every intention of making his career as an officer. After one visit from Julien, however, Richard abruptly changed his mind—and the course of his life. He took a position at the Bodleian instead, as a part-time library assistant. He quickly worked his way up the ranks, after it became obvious that he was extremely passionate and thorough about every detail of his job. In time, he was appointed head librarian while still in his 30s.
Pressently, Natalie shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. She saw her uncle standing in the room and cried, “You’re back!”
“Of course I’m back,” he said with feigned gravity. “You summoned me.”
A Guiding Spirit
Natalie looked confused and shook her head. “I never called you, Uncle.” She looked questioningly at her brother. “Did you?”
“Not I,” he replied.
Mrs. Murphy looked flustered. “Well, what does it matter anyhow? Would you all sit down already and have your breakfast?”
They needed no further encouragement, and pulled out their chairs. Uncle Julien buttered his bread and took a bite, closing his eyes as he did so. “How I’ve longed for your cooking, Madame Murphy,” he sighed. “French cuisine is delectable of course, but nothing compares to the comfort I reap from your kitchen. You are an angel, cheri.”
Mrs. Murphy blushed. She always had a special place in her heart for Julien Romarin.
“Uncle,” Natalie interrupted, “What do you mean when you say we summoned you? I assure you we didn’t, although we’re very glad to see you again so soon.”
“Yes,” added Calvin, “you just left us a week ago, right after the funeral. I assume you went back to Paris?”
“I most certainly did,” replied their uncle, “and little did I know I’d be back again within the week, but you children did indeed call me back, though you probably weren’t aware of it.”
“But, how did we do that?” Natalie asked, unconvinced.
“By a very clever device dreamed up by my brother,” he answered. “Mes enfants,” he added, “we have much to discuss, but first, we eat!”
After that, there was very little conversation. Julien and Calvin were similar in that they both loved food almost as much as they loved women.
“Let’s retire to the library,” suggested their uncle, after breakfast. “I will endeavor to answer the many questions I’m sure you wish to ask.” He turned to Mrs. Murphy with a courtly bow before leading the way upstairs.
“Let’s all have a seat by the fire,” Calvin suggested. “It’s so cold outside, and I can feel it creeping into the house.” He knelt by the hearth and arranged the kindling, and soon the fire was blazing merrily. Mrs. Murphy entered the room only to set down a pot tea, leaving them to talk in private.
“Now then,” Julien began, clearing his throat. “First I must tell you how I came to be here this morning.”
“Yes, please do. I’m very curious,” Natalie urged.
“Well, I told you that Richard invented a device. That device was triggered by something you touched in this library. I was called electronically by his ingenious little gadget, but don’t ask me how it works or where it is. It was Richard’s invention, and I never understood it. He told me about it many years ago, but when I asked him why it was necessary for him to have such a thing, he was annoyingly vague and said, ‘I have my reasons. You’ll just have to have faith in me.’ All I really know is, he was adamant that when I was summoned in that fashion, I must immediately come to England, to this house, and to the library specifically.’”
Calvin and Natalie glanced at each other, absorbing this. Finally Natalie spoke.
“The gadget that called you to us must be connected to the hidden compartment we found. At first we couldn’t open it, but we finally found a trigger on the door. You must have been alerted as soon as we unlocked it. We did hear something click, didn’t we, Calvin?”
Her brother nodded in agreement.
“I see,” Julien said slowly. “But what was in this compartment you speak of?”
Calvin answered in a somber tone, “We found what looks like the original handwritten manuscript of Paradise Lost.”
Their uncle had been leaning forward in his armchair, listening, but now, he leaned back and stared fixedly at his niece and nephew, with his mouth agape. “It can’t be an original can it?”
Natalie jumped up excitedly. “That must be why you’re here, to help us find out! You are a world-renowned authenticator. Uncle Richard must have known we’d need you. What better person could help us determine if this finding is legitimate? But why he went to such great lengths to help us find something that he could easily have shown us himself is very perplexing.”
Uncle Julien looked thoughtful. “Richard was always very secretive. I used to think that maybe he missed his military days, and was acting the spy.” He smiled sadly. “Now it seems he was guarding a very big secret indeed, if this manuscript turns out to be authentic.”
“So, how do we find out if it’s the real thing?” Calvin asked impatiently.
“Well, first you must let me have a look at it,” replied Julien archly.
~
“I’ll get my Leatherman,” Natalie said, and rummaged around in a desk drawer while Calvin showed Julien the panel. They had replaced the books in front of it as a precaution.
“This is very exciting,” he said as Calvin revealed the safe once more. “I feel like Howard Carter at the threshold of King Tut’s tomb.”
“This does seem like something that only happens to other people, or to a character in a movie,” Natalie agreed. “But it is helping to distract us from our sadness.”
“That’s true,” said Calvin. “But, now it makes me feel closer to Uncle Richard.”
Natalie inserted the hex tool into the knot again and turned it. After pushing on the door and watching it recede into the channel, she turned to her uncle.
“Well, here it is,” she said, and brought forth the portfolio. She passed it to Julien, who took it from her with shaking hands. “This is beautifully wrought,” he observed, looking at the design on the leather cover. “C’est le paradis perdu, je pense.”
“We thought it might depict the Garden of Eden as well,” said Natalie, nodding. Her uncle often lapsed into French when he was either overly tired or impassioned. She reflected he must be experiencing the latter emotion, as he always did when looking at something beautiful
