Eliza suddenly stopped and gasped. “There is something here.”
He came up from behind her and lifted his lantern. There was something inside, but the light didn’t stretch far enough.
“What is in there?” he asked, somewhat alarmed. These caves were supposed to be empty.
“There is a torch on the wall.” Eliza pointed.
That had not been here before either. Lucian struck the flint and lit the torch, which nearly filled the area with light and that is when he noticed a dozen or so crates stacked in the middle. “Where did all that come from?”
“Mayfair, of course,” Eliza answered as she rushed to the crates and started to look around them.
Lucian followed and couldn’t believe the valuables that had been stored in his cave. “All of this was taken from different homes?”
“I assume. I only cared about the mummy,” Eliza answered.
He lifted this lantern and looked around. “I do not see one.”
Eliza walked around the pile of crates then stopped and smiled. “That is because it is here.”
“That is not possible,” he said as he walked around the other side and looked down. There, lying on the ground, was the shape of a body, wrapped in dirty cloths. It was a mummy. “I cannot believe it.”
“I did tell you it was hidden away on your estate.” She laughed again.
“You are going to remind me that you were correct and I was wrong for the rest of my life.”
“I certainly will, especially when it could have been discovered ten years ago.”
Lucian closed his eyes knowing that this moment would never be forgotten by either of them because Eliza would never let them. And, in truth, he didn’t mind.
“What I would like to know is who put it here? Why would they steal all these valuables and then leave them in a cave at Wyndhill Park for ten years and never come back?”
“Maybe there is something in here.” She leaned into a crate and pulled out a thin portfolio then opened it before she withdrew documents then frowned.
“What?”
“I do not know who these people are. Do you?”
Lucian took the papers and quickly read. “They are dead, which is probably why none of this was ever collected.”
“Dead?”
“Two were grooms who traveled between here and London. The other two had similar positions at another estate. All four resigned to join the footguards.”
“They died in war?” Eliza asked.
“Yes.”
“They could have sold everything and not needed to really work again. Why join the army?”
“It says here that they planned to leave everything in the cave for five years and when they returned, the thefts would have been forgotten and then they would sell everything.”
“Except they never returned,” whispered Eliza.
“Had they, you might not have ever found the mummy.”
“Yes, I would,” she answered with confidence. “A person can sell a silver bowl with few questions, but not a mummy.”
He supposed that she was correct.
