Up here the hill isn't worked anymore. It's all
bracken,
and rocks on the ground, and sterility.
It's no place for work now. The peak is scorched
and the only cool thing is your breath. The real labour
is in reaching the top: one day the hermit climbed up
and has stayed ever since, to recover his strength.
The hermit wears nothing but goatskin,
and he gives off a musk of animal and pipe
that has soaked into the land, the bushes, the cave.
Cesar Pavese, "Work's Tiring", 1936
Juniper is not the only person looking for something. Auden and Callista are having breakfast at a famous London restaurant (TBC), where they read something relevant in a newspaper.
Auden has at times eked out his remittance dealing in art. He has access to a few modest paintings through some shadier dealers. He sees an advertisement for a medieval exhibition at the New Burlington Galleries. He drags Callista along, hoping to chat up a patron and negotiate a deal.
At the International Surrealist Exhibition Callista overhears Juniper and Alex discussing the possible Lost treasure.
She does not realise the import of this at the time, but it will become important later.
