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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
now, that there might be a pair of Smokies in 'the ice box', adding, 'So I'll
see what I can do, Mr James; but mind you don't get back too late.' May had a
habit of treating Bond, when the mood was on her, as a nanny will treat her
small charges.
The fact that Bond was only out of his office for a few minutes mollified M,
who had refilled his pipe and was poring over the dossiers. Caustically he
asked if 007 had managed to arrange matters so that they were not interrupted
again.
'Yes, sir,' Bond replied calmly. 'I'm quite ready for the Laird of Murcaldy,
Rob Roy and even Bonnie Prince Charlie, if you wish.'
'It's not a matter for levity, 007,' M spoke sharply. 'The Murik family is a
noble line. There was a Laird of Murcaldy at Dunbar, and another at Culloden
Moor. However, it is possible that the true line died out with the present
Laird's grandfather. It has yet to be proven, or even properly tested, but it
is a matter which disturbs the Lord Lyon King of Arms greatly.' He shuffled
through some of the first dossier. 'Anton Murik's grandfather was well-known
as an adventurer a traveller. In the year 1890 he was missing for more than
three months in central Europe - searching, it is said, for his brother who
had been disinherited for some offence. Their parents were dead, and the
village folk believed that Angus Murik - that was his name - planned to return
with his brother, shepherding the black sheep back into the fold. When he did
return it was with a wife: a foreign woman, the records say. She was with
child, and there are also written documents suggesting that the prodigal Laird
was not Angus at all, but the brother, Hamish. It is also suggested that the
child, who became Anton's father, was born out of wedlock, for there are no
records of a marriage having actually taken place.'
Bond grunted, 'But surely that would only weaken the line, not destroy it
altogether.'
'Normally, yes,' M continued. 'But Anton was also born in strange
circumstances. His father was a wild lad who, at the age of eighteen, also
began to travel. He did not return at all. There is a letter, extant, saying
that he had married an English woman of good family in Palermo. But shortly
after that a young woman arrived at Murik Castle, in an advanced state of
pregnancy, with the news that her husband, the heir to the title, had been
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killed by bandits during an expedition in Sicily.' 'When was this?' It sounded
a confused and odd story to Bond.
'Nineteen-twenty,' M nodded, as though reading Bond's thoughts. 'Yes, and
there are newspaper reports of some "English" gentleman having been killed in
Sicily. The newspapers, however, claim that this gentleman's wife also
perished at the hands of the bandits; though the young woman insisted it was
her maid who died. The graves, at Caltanissetta, are so marked; but diaries,
and some memories, say that the girl who presented herself as wife of the
Laird-presumptive was far from being an English lady of good breeding. It's
difficult to sort out fact from fiction, or even bigotry. What is certain is
the fact that some of the older people on the Murik estate maintain Anton is
not the true Laird though, knowing which side their bread is buttered, they
only whisper it privately, and will not commit themselves to either strangers
or authority.'
'But the baby was baptised Anton and took the title?' 'Baptised Anton Angus,
yes; and took the title Laird of Murcaldy, yes,' M said with a slight curl of
the lip.
'So, whatever else, we must treat him as a Scottish Laird. I presume he is
also a bona fide nuclear scientist? We have to take that part seriously?'
'We take him very seriously indeed,' M looked grave, repeating, 'Very
seriously. There is no doubt at all that Anton Murik is a man of great
intellect and influence. Just take a glance at the background précis.' He
passed the relevant sheet from the dossier across to Bond, who took it in with
a quick sweep of the eyes:
Anton Angus Murik. Born Murik Castle, Murcaldy, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland,
December 18th, 1920. Educated Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge. First
Class Honours in Physics followed by a Fellowship, then a Doctorate. So good
that he was reserved for work under Professor Lindemann - later Lord Cherwell
scientific adviser to Winston Churchill; also worked on Manhattan Project
(the making and testing of the first atomic bomb); Committee for the Peaceful [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
