The Mystery of the Queen's Necklace

her father won’t let her go with us?” Honey worried.
    “He’s got to,” Trixie said confidently. “Now ‘come along,’ as the English say. Let’s go hear what Miss Trask found out at Oxford today.”
    At dinner there had been so much talk about the pickpocket and the ransacked room that Miss Trask hadn’t had a chance to tell the Bob-Whites about her research on the Hart family. They had agreed to meet in the drawing room an hour after dinner, and Miss Trask had urged Anne and her father to join them. Gregory, of course, was still at the theater. He had a small part in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and had got some good seats for his houseguests for the Saturday night performance.
    There was a fire crackling on the hearth of the pearl-gray-carpeted drawing room, and the boys were sitting rather gingerly on two beautiful antique chairs. Miss Trask and McDuff sat on a sofa, and Anne was poking the logs. Mr. Hart, as Trixie had expected, was not there.
    “I think we’ll have an interesting report for Mrs. Wheeler,” Miss Trask began, riffling through a sheaf of papers covered with genealogical ladders. “I couldn’t find much on the necklace, but starting with Will Shakespeare’s sister’s marriage to William Hart, I have just about traced the Harts to a Thomas Hart who came from London to Hanover County, Virginia, in 1690. His great-grandson, Thomas Hart of Kentucky, married a Miss Gray of North Carolina. Their third son, Benjamin, was the one who married
    Nancy Morgan, the Revolutionary heroine. In my preliminary study in the United States, I had already traced your aunt Priscilla’s line back to the same Thomas Hart. So we have a pretty convincing family tree.”
    “So Honey really is descended from Shakespeare’s sister Joan?” Mart asked.
    “Almost certainly,” Miss Trask said. “There is a ‘missing generation’ in English history—during the time of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650’s—when many records were destroyed, and genealogists trying to trace their families all the way back to Anglo-Saxon times often run into this snag.”
    “I’m sure we’re some sort of cousins,” Anne said, smiling at Honey. “Mother’s charts show a connection with the Thomas Hart who went to the States!”
    “But what about the necklace?” Trixie wailed. “Here we are, supposed to be detectives, and it’s Friday night and we have to go home on Sunday, and all we’ve done is almost lose Honey’s inheritance!”
    “It’s not too late for you to solve your mystery,” Anne said. “Wait till you see what I’ve got to show you in the castle tomorrow.”
    “Terribly sorry to intrude.”
    Everyone looked up to see Andrew Hart standing in the arched entrance to the drawing room. His voice was as formal as his customary evening attire.
    “Father!” Anne jumped up and ran to his side. “Do sit down. Miss Trask has found out the most frightful lot about the Hart family at Oxford today.”
    “Indeed.” Their host raised his heavy black eyebrows. “I take it you are planning a trip to Warwick Castle in the morning?” he said to Miss Trask.
    “Yes, Mr. Hart, that was our plan,” she replied crisply.
    Trixie grinned. Good old Miss Trask!
    “Breakfast will be served at eight then,” Mr. Hart said. “If that is satisfactory. Come along, Anne. I must talk to you immediately. There’s a great deal to be done before Monday.”
    “Can she come to the castle with us?” Trixie blurted out. “Oh, please, Mr. Hart. We could all help you get ready for the people who are coming next week.”
    “That will not be necessary,” he said. “And in any case, I’m sure you will find people to give you a guided tour at the castle. Like all of us,” he added bitterly, “they cater to tourists.”

WarwickCastle ● 14

    SO IMPATIENT was Trixie to explore Warwick Castle that the Bob-Whites found themselves, along with Miss Trask and McDuff, standing outside the gray stone fortress several minutes before it actually opened. Anne’s father had not given permission for Anne to come with them, but Gregory had promised to drive her over as soon as they were finished with their chores.
    “Gordie’s been telling me how important women have been in the history of this castle,” Miss Trask said as they lined up with the other tourists in front of the gate. “For example, in the tenth century, it was Alfred the Great’s daughter Ethelflada who built the very first parts of the castle.”
    “Probably to defend