"What else made you suspect Gosseling?" asked Lisabeth,
when she finally stopped laughing.
"When we entered the house of that sneaky little man, I
put my nose into one of the drawers of his desk. There I found
a will with quite a lot of valuable information in it".
"Who's will was that?" Lisabeth wanted to know.
"The will of the woman who stole the Glasswork of Czar
Wladimir", Anne said proudly. "She was the wife of the consul
in Moscow and she had five children. The eldest was named
Archibald, Peter Pennickx's well-known uncle. And that seems
to be correct, for it was written that Archilbald would
inherit her collection of crystal and porcelain after her
death, as he actually did.
All the other children were daughters. The eldest was named
Beatrice. She married Peter Pennickx's father and she
inherited not the crystal but the money.
But here is the important point:
The third child was named Catharina. She married a certain 'de
Gosselingue' and gave birth to a child, named Govert. So,
Govert Gosseling, as well as Peter Pennickx, are grandchildren
of the woman who snatched the Glasswork from under the Czar's
very nose. So I think Gosseling knew the Glasswork existed
since his mother inherited the library and the family
archives. But he couldn't lay his hand on it, as long as it
was in the possession of Archibald, his uncle, as well as
Peter Pennickx's.
Perhaps Archibald didn't even know that he possessed the real
Muscovite Glassware, but he must have been aware of its value.
He was a connoisseur. Govert Gosseling, alias 'de Gosselingue'
waited until Archibald died, hoping to inherit it from him,
but this wish was not fulfilled.
Instead, the Glasswork went to his cousin, Peter Pennickx.
There, it didn't remain very long, for I ran away with it
shortly afterwards and that's why Gosseling had to contact
me".
"What a misserable creature, not to tell us about all
that", was Lisabeth's opinion. "And the last two daughters?
Didn't they inherit anything?"
"No", said Anne-Christine. "They died before the will was
written. I only know the name of the fourth child:
Dieudonn‚e".
"What a ridiculous name", said Lisabeth and together they
burst into laughter again.
At that moment the front-door bell rang.
"Oh, it's always the same, just when we're wearing no
clothes at all!" Anne-Christine exclaimed. "Who opens, you or
me?"
"You, of course", said Lisabeth, still laughing. "I saved
you from disaster today by changing the contents of the basket
just in time".
"All right, I am most grateful already", Anne-Christine
grumbled, jumping out of bed and slipping into a nightgown.
When she opened the door she had a shock, for a well-known
person stood before her.
"I've got a little present for Lisabeth and for you", said
the Officer whom they had met in France, when he ordered his
soldiers to excavate the hill.
"Please do come in", said Anne-Christine. "I hope you
don't mind me still walking around in my nightgown".
"A soldier must always be prepared for the worst", he said
with a sly wink.
"At least you tell me what you are up to", said Anne-
Christine. "Others tend to be less direct in their meaning.
But please do come in and I'll see what I can do for you".
The Officer picked up his luggage and Anne-Christine
showed him the way to the parlour.
"Please sit down", she said, indicating the couch, "Would
you care for a drink, perhaps?"
"Do you have any Cognac?" the Officer asked.
"I'll go and get it for you", Anne-Christine answered.
She returned shortly with a bottle of Cognac in her hand,
wearing her gown in a way, which she knew would fall open, the
moment she sat down. And this was exactly what happened when
she took her place on the couch next to the Officer and
offered him his drink.
"A votre sant‚", said the Officer as he raised his glass,
while his other hand searched upward from her knees.
"In those bags", he pointed with his hand holding the
glass, "you'll find the rest of the discoveries on the hill,
in which Lisabeth was so interested. While you were fetching
my Cognac, I noticed that you display your own knives
already".
"Oh yes", said Anne-Christine who found it difficult to
follow the conversation, when the Officer's hand reached its
destination. "It's very lovely, such a display-case. Then you
can show things.... whatever you want, and so on".
"You mean, you can exhibit all the discoveries?" the
Officer asked.
"That is exactely what I mean", answered Anne-Christine
from a distant world.
"Father", shouted Lisabeth, as she came in to check that
there were no problems downstairs. "Father, you did come!"
Anne-Christine came to back to the present with a shock
and didn't at first understand what was happening. But when
she saw how the Officer and Lisabeth greeted one another like
father and daughter, she realized that Lisabeth had organised
a surprise for her.
"You didn't know, did you?" asked Lisabeth when she at
last released the Officer. "With your help, I have found my
father again, just by coincidence, in France".
She pressed herself against his colourful uniform once
more.
"That is something you must explain to me from the very
beginning", said Anne-Chirstine. "How long is it since you saw
each other?"
"I was a very small child when he left", Lisabeth said
happily. "We didn't even recognise each other that night in
his tent on the hill. But when I wore only my travel icon, he
realized who I was, for only one of them exists in the
world".
"Only one icon or only one of you?" Anne-Christine asked
teasingly.
"Only one of both of them", the proud father said. "And I
am most relieved to see you in safety without a scratch, for
there are a great many problems in France these days. Do you
know that they killed our King?"
"I know more than just that", said Anne-Chistine frowning.
"Come, do let's sit down and have a good chat".
"We come from a restless family" the Officer began his
story. "My father was a diplomat and a spy whose orders were
to travel from Moscow to Japan, to keep a close eye on
developments there. Well, during that trip, in the heart of
cold Upper-Mongolia, I was born and both my parents died. I
grew up there among the local people but, after a number of
years, decided to travel to the so-called civilised world.
There I met Lisabeth's mother but I didn't manage to settle
permanently. Instead I searched for new adventures when
Lisabeth was just so high".
Here he held his hand above the floor.
"I joined a number of armies and I was glad that my last
contract expired a few days ago, for it is no pleasure being a
soldier at this moment. The whole country is upside down."
"You can stay here", said Anne-Christine. "But did I
understood that your father was a diplomat in Moscow too?"
"Yes ma'am", the Officer said, "but why do you need that
confirmation?"
"I.. I've seen a will concerning a diplomat from Moscow,
and the diplomat's wife especially is rather important to
me"
"Anne, You are insane!" called Lisabeth. "That just can't
be true. That would imply that my own great
grandmother..."
"What is going on here?" The Officer asked in
surprise.
Anne-Christine interrupted him straight away: "Do you
happen to know your mothers name?"
"Her name was Dieudonn‚e", he said after thinking for a
long while.
"Ah, then I know", Anne-Christine said, "and I think I
understand why".
She now directed her words to the Officer. "Your
grandmother had a number of children. We have a certain
knowledge of some of them:
We know Archibald and also Beatrice, who married Peter
Pennickx. And there was Catharina, who was going to bear the
name of Mr. Gosseling and now we can add your mother,
Dieudonn‚e, to the list. When your grandmother died, her
daughter Dieudonn‚e was not mentioned in the will because she
was reported to have died in Upper-Mongolia a long time before
the will was written".
"That may be a hundered procent correct, but why are you
so remarkably well-informed on this subject?" the Officer
wondered, in amazement.
"That is a very long story, sir", Anne sighed. "And I
doubt whether it is a good idea to reveal it all to you".
Anne-Christine rose from her seat.
"I'll leave you alone for I while. I don't feel completely
well, I think" she murmoured as she walked to the door. "I'll
stay in bed until dinner".
Once in bed, Anne-Christine found it very hard to organise
her thoughts. She had discovered that Gosseling was a direct
heir to the person who stole the Muscovite Glassware, but she
also knew that the girl who shared her life at this very
moment seemed to have more claims on the Glasswork than she
had.
"And I don't even know where the Glasswork is!" she
thought with a shock. "Who knows what Lisabeth put in the
basket that Gosseling ran away with!"
When the idea struck her that Lisabeth might have hidden
her Glasswork or even given it away, a cold shiver crept down
her back. She jumped out of bed immediately.
"How stupid and naive of me", she thought, the idea
throbbing in her head. "Gosseling and Lisabeth played an easy
game with me. They are relatives!"
She rushed to the bedroom door and opened it quietly. She
then tiptoed swiftly to the study, making sure the door didn't
creak.
"The basket is gone", was the first thing she noticed.
"No problem, if only Lisabeth took out the Glasswork
beforehand", she hoped.
She started feverishly searching the entire study but, to
her great satisfaction, she soon found the Glasswork in the
drawer of her own desk. She stepped out of her nightgown and
tucked the Glasswork in it. Then she sneaked back to her room,
still being careful not to make any noise. She closed the door
behind her and took time to collect her thoughts together.
She repacked the Glasswork very carefully into a hat box in
which she used to keep things which needed mending. She held
every piece of Crystal up to the light and, if that were not
enough, she made each Glass sing, to be certain that they all
produced the right sound. She carefully flicked the belly of
the decanter and finally made a last sunbeam play in the
Sphere, to be sure that it was genuine.
At that very moment she heard Lisabeth and her father
coming up the stairs. Without wasting a second, she opened the
window and stepped onto the window seat, where she could reach
for the ivy covering the facade.
"A matter of emergency!" she thought, as she slid down the
branches, wearing nothing but the hat box which she held close
to her side. She ran through the park to Ruyters, who couldn't
believe his eyes, when he opened the door.
"Quick, you've got to help me!" Anne-Christine pushed the
steward out of the way as she ran into his cottage.
"Oh Ruyters, please don't stand there gazing foolishly",
Anne-Christine begged. "You have been married. You ought to
know what females look like".
"Of course, Mylady, but you... and all of a sudden!" he
stuttered.
"Please Ruyters, it is of the utmost importance to me.
Will you bury this box for me in your kitchen garden, the
deeper the better?"
"Of course, Lady Anne, but you are covered with
scratches!, he said thoughtfully.
"It is a case of emergency, Ruyters. Please do exactely as
I beg you. I shall be all right, for I shall return to the
Castle right away. I shall be very grateful if you will do
this".
"At least do put on my shoes, Mylady, just to do me a
favour. The days when you played around here in your bare feet
have long since gone", said the steward, who seemed to be more
interested in the physical well-being of the Lady of the
Castle than the state of her mind.
"I'll do that, Ruyters, and I'll return them to you as
soon as possible, I promise you. You are the only one I can
really trust, you know that?"
Anne-Christine began to put on Ruyters' giant shoes while
she noticed him taking a spade to dig a hole in the ground.
But, wasting no more time, she shuffled quickly out of the
cottage.
"I'll explain to you later, Ruyters", she said, as he put
his spade into the ground.
"Oh, don't you worry, Lady Anne, your certainly know what
you're doing", she just heard him say.
As she climbed up the wall of ivy, Ruyters' shoes hindered
her more than they helped her, so she took them off and held
them in her hand. Exhausted, she fell asleep on her bed, which
lay open exactly as she had left it.
She could faintly hear Lisabeth and her father walking
around in the study, as they talked together. She didn't quite
understand what they were saying, and didn't really try
either.
"My Crystal is safe", was her only thought as she fell
into a deep sleep.
"Anne, wake up", called Lisabeth. "Dinner is being
served".
"I'm coming, I'm coming", was the only phrase Anne could
produce. She had just woken from a wild dream and was
convinced that the entire rescue operation was a part of it.
But, after she had stumbled over Ruyters' shoes, she knew
there was no doubt that it had really happened.
She unlocked her door.
"My goodness, there are scores of scratches on your arms,
what have you been doing?" Lisabeth asked in wonder.
"I'll explain later", Anne answered. "I'm hungry and I'll
be with you just as soon as I've found my nightgown."
"That Mr. Gosseling must be a clever man", said Lisabeths
father during dinner. "Lisabeth did tell me a lot of stories
while you were asleep. I think it most unlikely that we met by
coincidence over there in France. But it must have been a
disappointment for him that I didn't spend the night with you
but with my own daughter. He must have been wondering all the
time whether we had recognised each other or not".
"Me, too", Anne-Christine added to the conversation.
"I hoped it would be a nice surprise for you", Lisabeth
defended herself. "He told me he would leave the army very
soon and that's why I invited him, without asking your
permission".
"All right, maybe I'm just a litle bit upset", said Anne-
Christine. "But what were you two doing in my study?"
"Lisabeth wanted to show me the Crystal Sphere that we dug
up in France. She told me how you brought it back. But it
seemed to have disappeared from the drawer it was supposed to
be in", the Officer explained.
"Do you think Gosseling took it with him anyway?" Lisabeth
wondered. "Or did you hide it in a better place?"
"Oh, yes, don't worry. Sometimes I don't look after my
belongings very carefully but I'm attached to them after all",
Anne-Christine answered gradually cheering up.
"What a relief!", Lisabeth sighed.
That night Anne-Christine and Lisabeth had a long
conversation in their broad bed.
"It bothers me, Lisabeth. I have a Glasswork, while you
are more entitled to possess it than I am", said Anne-
Christine opening her heart. "It was your great-grandmother
who stole it, not mine".
"Oh, but that's not a problem! She stole it, so it isn't
hers and therefore it isn't mine" Lisabeth replied.
"But then it isn't mine eiter, for I stole it just as
well, albeit a few centuries later", Anne whispered.
"That may well be the case", Lisabeth replied. "But
perhaps it just asks to be stolen. Or is that impossible?"
"I really don't know", Anne-Christine said, "I looked
twice in the Crystal and twice I saw a girl who seemed to be
me, and that's why I thought the Glasswork was meant for me.
But then I heard that you are the great-grandchild of the
thief in Moscow, and with that came my doubts. I may have seen
you too among all those colourful images. By the way, what did
you actually see, when we cheated Gosseling?"
Lisabeth waited for a few seconds.
"It was all rather confusing. I do not exactly know what I
saw. To me, it looked rather like the battle which Gosseling
spoke about, but everything was moving about and there wasn't
enough time to recognise anyone. Do you think that Crystal can
really make those images?"
Anne-Christine took a deep breath:
"I can't understand it. Those images are very clear but I
still wonder were they actually are: in the Crystal, in the
room or just in my head? Shall I ask Ruyters to dig up the
Crystal again?"
Lisabeth was startled:
"Did you make him bury the Glasswork? Is that why you have
all these scratches and bruises?"
"Perhaps I was in a bit of a hurry, but this afternoon it
seemed to me the most sensible thing to do", Anne-Christine
declared. "I couldn't take the risk. It upset me very much to
know that you are related to Gosseling".
"That's not my fault!" Lisabeth cried.
"By now I'm fed up with it!", said Ann, "I don't care if
that collection of Crystal flies away to the moon. I've seen
more than enough of it".
"You mustn't say that", Lisabeth retorted. "Tomorrow we
are going to dig it up and then we'll check whether it is a
real magic Glasswork or not".
"If you say so, then we'll do that", said Anne-Christine,
turning over sulkily, away from Lisabeth.
"Thank you for bringing back my shoes", said Ruyters. "Is
there anything else I can do for you, Mylady?"
"I think so", Anne said shyly, "That old hat box, which
you buried yesterday: do you mind digging it up again? I was a
little confused and it wasn't actually necessary to hide it".
"Why, of course, Lady Anne. Now let's see, where did I
bury it yesterday, was it here or was it there?"
The old men scanned the garden with his eyes.
"When I left, you were working over here", said Anne-
Christine indicating a spot right in front of the steward's
feet.
"Yes I know that, but I struck a root, which prevented me
digging any deeper and made me start digging somewhere
else".
Ruyters looked around in despair.
"Where can it be?" he wondered. "I've been turning over
the soil of almost the entire garden, you know. I've been
virtually everywhere and I've completely forgotten where I hid
that box..."
"God bless you, Ruyters", Anne-Christine thought almost
out loud. "At last that closes this strange chapter of my life
forever."
"... but I can give you some other rags if you need them,
and the Glasswork is still here as well. I took it out because
I wasn't quite certain that you intended to dispose of
it".
"Neither was I", Anne managed to reply.