Gift of Fire

was one other. A young hotshot grad student who showed up claiming he’d heard about the legend from a professor. The kid claimed he was getting a degree in history, with a specialization in Renaissance art. Said he was curious about the villa and the legend, and wondered if Digby would let him help look for the treasure. He said it would be the chance of a lifetime to work with a scholar of Digby’s reputation and all that malarkey. Said if they found the treasure, he’d write up the find in a fancy journal, and Digby would get all the credit.”
    “Did Mr. Hazelhurst let him help with the search?” Verity asked.
    “For a while. Digby was gettin’ a bit past it by then, if you know what I mean.” Maggie tapped her temple with a forefinger. “For a time I think he was just glad someone from the academic world was interested enough to help him search again. But he sent the kid packing soon enough. Said the kid was just a two-bit treasure hunter, not a real scholar, and it would be a cold day in hell before he ever got a Ph.D. after his name.”
    “Did anyone else ever get out here to the island?” Jonas asked.
    “Over the years a couple of cheap treasure-hunter types contacted Digby saying they’d heard about the legend, but Digby never gave ‘em the time of day. Never let ‘em come to the island. Claimed he’d never turn this place over to a real treasure hunter because that type wouldn’t have any understanding or appreciation of the history locked up here.”
    “What about you, Maggie?” Verity asked. “Did you ever help Digby look for the treasure? You must have known a lot about the progress he was making.”
    Maggie concentrated intently on her breakfast preparations. “Sure, I helped out when I could. Held the ladder for him when he went inch by inch over the ceiling, that sort of thing.”
    “Did you ever believe the treasure might exist?” Verity asked gently.
    Maggie paused in her work and stood gazing out the window into the weedy courtyard. “I had a few hopes during those first years after I came to live here, but that was about it. I stayed on account of Digby, not because of the treasure. Lord, I miss that man.”
    Elyssa’s indefatigably cheerful voice hailed them from the doorway, breaking into Maggie’s reverie. “Good morning, everyone. Isn’t it beautiful outside today? Positively gorgeous, the sort of day that makes you aware of all your senses. The kind of day one can use to really get in tune with the different levels of nature’s reality.”
    Verity glanced out the window. “It’s raining.” A dull, steady gray mist was falling.
    “That’s what I mean,” Elyssa said, sweeping over to the counter to help herself to coffee. “A day to delight the senses. How did you two sleep last night?” Her gaze was on Jonas.
    “Fine.” Jonas poured himself more coffee.
    “Did it seem strange to sleep in a genuine Renaissance villa?” Elyssa demanded, watching him closely. “Did you get any feeling of attunement with the past?”
    “No.” Jonas turned at a sound in the doorway. “Morning, Doug.”
    Doug Warwick walked into the kitchen. “Hi, everyone. Ready to go back to work today, Jonas?”
    “Sure,” said Jonas. He began to detail a stone-by-stone examination of the west wing, and Doug paid close attention to his description of how to differentiate original construction from later patches and additions.
    Verity listened with proud satisfaction. She also found herself quite interested, even though she knew that Jonas was simply playing the role she had assigned him. The man knew his stuff, she thought.
    “Mustn’t forget the influence of Alberti’s treatise on architecture,” Jonas said gravely. “He wrote it in the fifteenth century. It was heavily influenced by the classical works of Vitruvius, of course. Alberti accepted a lot of the principles unquestioningly and passed them along to his contemporaries. But his work had an impact on all major Renaissance architecture. This villa isn’t exactly a shining example, but it definitely reflects the Alberti influence.”
    “I see,” said Doug, looking quite impressed.
    “There was a lot of concern for harmonic proportions in architecture at the time this villa was built. That makes certain features very predictable, which in turn makes my job easier.”
    Preston Yarwood and Oliver Crump wandered into the kitchen just as Jonas launched into a fine monologue on the differences between the architecture of