The Lost Ancestor by Nathan Dylan Goodwin Read Free Book Online Page B

with full Edwardian splendour and many of which he
recognised from The Friary.
    Having completed the tour of the house,
Morton made his way to the tearoom, which was located in an airy, converted
barn a short distance from the house.  Morton ordered a large latte and
took a seat at a round metallic table.  He sat in a warm shard of
sunlight, which cut through the glass front.  But for an elderly couple
queuing at the till, the tearoom was deserted.  Sipping on his drink,
Morton began to read the Blackfriars guidebook.  He quickly learnt that
the Mansfields had resided here since shortly after the Dissolution of the
Monasteries, when they were gifted the property and the title Earl of Rothborne
from Henry VIII.  At the centre of the guidebook was a pull-out
genealogical chart of the Mansfield family.  The current owner and
title-holder was Milton Francis Mansfield, Earl of Rothborne, who had inherited
the property from his father, George Richard Mansfield.  Morton studied
the chart carefully: during Mary Mercer’s time at Blackfriars, the property was
held by Cecil and Philadelphia Mansfield.  Morton flipped to the index
page and searched for further references to Cecil and Lady Philadelphia;
predictably, there were several, as their tenure at Blackfriars neatly
coincided with the period portrayed in The Friary.  Morton went to
the first reference and found a photo of the couple alongside a similar modern
image of the actors playing Lord and Lady Asquith in The Friary.  The
accompanying information wove a potted history between the Mansfields and the
Asquiths, largely, it seemed to Morton, where interesting contrasts and
comparisons could be drawn. 
    Morton tucked the guidebook away in his
bag, intending to finish reading it later, and left the tearoom to get a better
feel for the whole estate.  He followed the gravel footpath and slowly
meandered through a patchwork of tall pines, low rhododendrons and great
swathes of tidy grass upon which a sprinkling of visitors were
picnicking.  The path turned and opened out onto a large lake in the shape
of a pinched oval.  It was filled with lilypads and bordered by a variety
of plants, flowers and trees whose low-slung branches dangled inches from the
water’s surface.  Morton felt compelled to take a seat on one of several
benches slightly set back from the path facing the water.  He sat and
watched as a small flock of Canada geese pushed off from the water and
elegantly flew off into the distance.  Across the water stood a charming,
evocative and slightly dilapidated boathouse.  The gabled, wooden
structure gave Morton the impression of an ancient church, swallowed up by the
murky depths, leaving only the peak still visible.  He guessed that the
boathouse was once used by the Mansfields to access a tall cylindrical stone
building situated on a small island in the centre of the lake.  The
building had no windows, only an arched wooden door.  Curious to know more
about the strange building, Morton opened his guidebook and read that the tower
was a folly, serving no useful purpose.  Inside, a metal staircase rose to
the top, giving an unobstructed view of the formal rose gardens and Koi fish
pond further down the estate.  It had been built in the 1850s and so was
certainly here during Mary’s time as a housemaid.
    Morton continued his journey around the
periphery of the lake, sauntering slowly and enjoying the fresh air and warmth
from the hot sun.  The path took him past a Victorian heather-covered
ice-house and into the orchard, which contained an array of traditional English
apple, pear and plum trees.  Close to the path by which he had entered
Blackfriars were the ruins of the oldest part of the abbey.  The guidebook
informed him that it was the ruins of a thirteenth century Franciscan
chapel.  Morton entered the ruins—just two stone walls and two arches were
all that remained.  With little else to see, Morton made his way back to
the main path to