The Proof

Ten years ago, my husband and I took the vacation of a lifetime in Ireland. We had chosen a self-driving, on the left side of the narrow roads, castle-hotels trip. We quickly decided this was the cleanest, greenest landscape with the friendliest people of any place we had ever been. 

Before leaving Dublin, we went to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, where we heard a children’s choir sing in glorious, perfectly-pitched acoustical harmony. We drove to Trim Castle of County Meath, the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland and the locale used for the castle scenes in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart.

The next day, we drove through beautiful country south and stopped to see a sheep farm and the hand-loomed, wool articles sold there. We went on to the Kilkenny Castle of County Kilkenny, to the Waterford Crystal factory, and the iconic Rock of Cashel of County Tipperary.

We stayed the night in Blarney of County Cork and toured Blarney Castle where my husband kissed the Stone at its apex. We also went to the Blarney Woollen Mills.

Driving on, we spent two nights in Ballyseede Castle of County Kerry with its distinctive character and charm. The castle was surrounded by lush, green woodlands.

The locals suggested we tour Dingle Peninsula in the southwest, instead of the more popular Ring of Kerry. We were glad we took their advice because it was a less-traveled path that took us through some of the most incredible country and coastline.

We saw cattle and sheep farms with dry stone-wall divisions, lakes, waterfalls, and beaches including Inch Beach where the 1970 movie Ryan’s Daughter was filmed. We went to the Bunratty Folk Park and attended a traditional Medieval Banquet in the Bunratty Castle-fortress.

“Huzzah!”

We drove northward through County Limerick to County Clare where we stayed in Dromoland Castle, with its extraordinary history stretching back to the fifth century. It was the ancestral home of the Gaelic Brian Boru, the 35^th great-grandfather to Queen Elizabeth II. He was the High King of the entire island of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. The castle was gorgeous with blended old-world elegance and contemporary luxuries.

From there, we drove to the west coast to see the Eighth Wonder of the World, the fabulous Cliffs of Moher. This picturesque shoreline is featured in many films, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Princess Bride, The MacKintosh Man, and Leap Year. We looped inland through the glacier-formed Burren where we saw incredible limestone formations pierced with tiny wildflowers. We walked to the ancient portal tomb megalithic monument where excavations found the remains of thirty-three people indicating that the tomb was in continual use for six hundred years, somewhere in 4000-3000 BCE.

We looped west again in County Galway and reached the coast to stay in Abbeyglen Castle. This quaint out-of-the-way castle had a warm fire in the large, welcoming fireplace of the lobby, and was filled with narrow halls, steep stairs, and rooms full of antique furnishings.

From there we traveled north through County Mayo to County Sligo, known for its medieval abbey and for being the hometown of Charolotte Stoker, mother of Abraham, who was later known as Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. The seventeenth century Markree Castle was full of period furnishings. The bed coverings included cozy, goose-down duvets for the chilly, damp nights.

In our room, I saw loose wallpaper at the bottom of the wall next to the bathroom that exposed something wrapped in cloth. I pushed at it, thinking it was insulation. A bundle fell to the floor bringing a rectangle of sheetrock with it and leaving a wood-framed gap. The twine that wrapped the bundle fell apart and papers scattered. The typed pages were old enough to be yellowed and brittle.

I gasped and called out to my husband, “Honey, come look at this.”

He looked and said, “I thought you had cornered a mouse or something.”

“Wait!” I said before he walked away, “This might be something important.”

“Just looks like old papers to me.”

“Yes, they’re old, but someone wrapped them in this cloth, Look. I think it might be a manuscript.” I pointed to the top page. “The typing is smudged, but this is the title page. It says, ‘Love at the Helm.’ I think it has two authors’ names on it.” I looked closely and was startled to read the name of Barbara Cartland! I remembered reading some of her books. She was probably the best-selling romance author to ever live.

“Wow! This takes me back to the summer before I entered high school,” I told my husband. “Mother introduced me to the county library where I began to check out Barbara Cartland’s novels. I must have read two dozen of her books that summer. They were full of drama, intrigue, adventure, love, and closed-door romance. The stories spanned centuries and countries, with strong heroines, evil rivals, dashing heroes, exciting revelations, and always culminated in happy endings.”

“That was almost fifty years ago.” My husband said. Then he asked, “Could these papers be that old? Why do they smell like vanilla? And what about the other name,” he pointed. “Louise Mountbatten?”

“I’ve never heard of her.” I swept one hand through the air over the papers as I asked, “What should I do with all this?”

“Just take it all to the front desk and let somebody else worry about them.”

Before I further damaged any of the fragile pages, we decided to lay them on a pillowcase. My husband took the case off one of the pillows and helped me transfer the pages to the case where I gently wrapped the papers.

I told the young people at the desk about the hole in the wall and asked if they knew what I should do with the papers. They just looked at me and shrugged their shoulders; nevertheless, they wore friendly smiles. After some encouragement and coaxing on my part, they called someone who called someone else who finally called back and advised me the second name was not Louise. It was “Louis, as in Admiral Louis Mountbatten. Dame Cartland asked her friend, Admiral Mountbatten, for his advice on many of her on books.”

“How interesting!” I said with enthusiasm. “What should I do with these papers?”

The voice on the phone told me I should “take the papers to Dublin.”

I said, “We are going there day after tomorrow anyway.”

The voice recommended that I “take them to either the Irish Manuscripts Commission, the National Library of Ireland, or Trinity College.”

I said, “We plan to go to Trinity College anyway to see the Book of Kells Exhibition in the Old Library.”

The voice laughed and said, “How convenient.” We made plans for me to meet a lady who specialized in this type of discovery.

Before my husband and I left the castle-hotel, I used the business center to search the web for information linking Barbara Cartland with Louis Mountbatten.

Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland (1901-2000) became a successful society reporter when she was 21 and shortly began writing romantic fiction. She became known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels. Her prolific output totaled 723 novels in 38 languages. Filmmakers adapted many of her novels for television.

When she was 26, she married Alexander McCorquodale, but they divorced after six years. Three years later, She married Alexander’s cousin, Hugh McCorquodale. She had three children including Countess Raine Spencer, who was the step-mother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Dame Cartland was a London society figure who often wore pink chiffon gowns, heavy make-up, blonde wigs, and plumed hats. Most photographs of her included her white Pekingese.

​ Dame Cartland had a long friendship with Admiral of the Fleet Albert Victor Nicholas Louis Francis Mountbatten (1900-1979). He was the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, a British statesman, naval officer, colonial administrator, and close relative of the British royal family. He helped Dame Cartland by providing background naval and historical information for many of her novels. Proceeds from their collaborations supported their favorite charities.

Dame Cartland discussed the plot of a new book with Admiral Mountbatten, and he provided information she could use in the book. She finished the manuscript, but before the admiral corrected the proof, he went for a holiday and was brutally assassinated. She said, “His death was the greatest sadness of my life.”

“Assassinated?” I questioned. So I searched for more information.

Classiebawn Castle, a country house on the Mullaghmore Peninsula of County Sligo was inherited in 1939 by Edwina Mountbatten, who, with her husband, Admiral Mountbatten, made several improvements, including electricity and indoor plumbing. After his wife's death in 1960, Mountbatten spent his summers there until his death.

In August 1979, Mountbatten was assassinated by a bomb planted aboard his fishing boat that blew him out of the water near Mullaghmore of County Sligo. His grandson and two others on the boat were also killed. A member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army had placed the bomb. Mountbatten received a ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey and was buried in Romsey Abbey of Hampshire, England.

The Mountbatten Memorial Trust established by Mountbatten's great-nephew Charles, Prince of Wales, received the proceeds of Love at the Helm on its release in 1980.

My husband drove us to Dublin, and we made our way to Trinity College, founded in 1592, which housed the Old Library, built in 1712-1732 and renovated in 1992. While my husband stood in line to see the Book of Kells Exhibition, I went directly to the Old Library reception desk.

Within minutes, a pleasant woman came to the desk and escorted me to an office. She put on white gloves before unwrapping the pillowcase. She used a jewelry loupe magnifier to look closely at the papers. She smiled and said, “These look authentic. We will know more when the lab has tested the paper, the typing and smudges, ink markups, and any fingerprints.”

She even asked that we let the lab get our fingerprints to eliminate our prints from their findings. While I thought of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, I said, “Of course, but my husband is in line for the Book of Kells Exhibition.”

She said nothing.

I said, "I'll go get him."

While fingerprinting took place, I asked, “Why was the manuscript hidden in the wall of a room in Markree Castle? How did the book get published without it?”

The lady said, “Firstly, I don’t know. Secondly, the markups on the papers indicate that your find was most likely the first, partial proof of Love at the Helm.”

“A proof? Not a manuscript?” I felt deflated.

“Correct. This is only the proof of book portions pertaining to Admiral Louis Mountbatten’s information provided to Dame Cartland for her new book. He was to proofread it and make corrections where needed.”

“So, how was the book published without this edited proof?”

“My understanding is that Dame Cartland used a tape recorder to dictate her books to her secretary, Audrey Elliot, who used the recordings to type the manuscript. Ms. Elliot sent the first, partial proof to Admiral Mountbatten.. When this partial proof was lost, hidden, or stolen, and the Admiral died, Ms. Elliot referred back to the original manuscript on file and sent a second, clean partial proof to Mr. John Barratt, the Admiral’s controller and secretary. Mr. Barratt reviewed it and made necessary corrections.”

“What’s a controller?”

“An accountant.”

“So, does this first, partial proof of the book have any importance, now?” I asked.

“If it is indeed the proof on which Admiral Mountbatten made his corrections, it could be quite valuable.”

“Really?” I cheered up, “What will happen to it?”

“The proper people will examine it and make their findings known. If it’s what you and I hope it is, the estates of Dame Cartland and Admiral Mountbatten will decide its fate.”

Then, the lady led us to the front of the line to see the Book of Kells, proving once again that the people in Ireland are extremely nice and helpful. We saw the famous, medieval illuminated book of the four gospels of the Christian New Testament. It was written in Latin, crafted by Celtic monks around the year 800, and is possibly the oldest book in the world.

After we returned home to Texas, I ordered a copy of Love at the Helm. Its story line is:

Captain Conrad Horn takes command of a new ship, The Invincible. He is to sail his ship to Antigua to defend British trading routes. He is obliged to take his cousin, Lady Delora Horn, whom he has never met, with him. She is to marry Lord Grammell, the Governor of the British island. Amid perilous battles on the high seas, Conrad is seriously wounded, and Delora saves his life. Of course, love blossoms between them. But so does despair, for she is already betrothed …

About a year after our wonderful, memorable trip on the emerald isle, we received a letter thanking us for taking our surprise discovery to Trinity College. The letter confirmed that the papers were:

… the authentic, original, first proof of the authentic, original manuscript for Love at the Helm, a novel by Dame Barbara Cartland, published in 1980. This original, first proof was sent to and marked up personally by Admiral Louis Mountbatten who provided information to Dame Cartland related to American privateers, and sea battles, as well as duties and discipline on a British two-decker, a sail warship with its guns on two fully-armed decks with additional guns on the upper works. 

Proceeds from the auction of this authentic, original, first proof will go to the Mountbatten Memorial Trust established in 1980 by Charles, Prince of Wales, and supporting the charitable organizations preferred by Admiral Mountbatten during his later years. Chief among these are technological research, the application of technology to aid handicapped and disabled people, and support for disadvantaged young people …

"Huzzah”