Dangerous Inheritance by Dennis Wheatley Page A

named George Kalaichairetis had determined to save the body, together with that of St. Theodora; so he had stuffed both into sacks and loaded them, one either side, on a donkey. Pretending the sacks held only fodder, the courageous George had made his way through Infidel-held Greece and eventually reached Corfu. There, these holy relics had been received with due veneration and as, soon afterwards, the Corfiotes attributed the cessation of a plague to St. Spyridion, they had made him their patron.
    In his will George had left the body of St. Spyridion to his two eldest sons and that of St. Theodora to the youngest. After three generations the testaments of the brothers had led to St. Theodora becoming the property of the Church, but a niece named Asimene had inherited St. Spyridion and on her marrying a Corfiote noble named Bolgaris it had passed to that family, who had continued to own it and receive the rich revenue in offerings that it brought right up to the present day.
    On leaving the church, Fleur, Truss and Douglas drove out to the Castello, a fine crenellated pseudo-mediaeval building with a lofty tower, some miles to the north-west of the town, that had been turned into a hotel. While the waiter was getting them their drinks Truss remarked:
    â€˜What an extraordinary thing that a priest should have considered the bodies of two saints to be his personal property, and that a private family should still be making a big income out of one of them.’
    Fleur shrugged. ‘It’s even more surprising that in this day and age hordes of people should still believe that they can do any good for themselves by paying good money to venerate a casket full of old bones.’
    â€˜Such beliefs die hard,’ said Douglas. ‘Many wealthy Buddhists in Ceylon who have been educated at universities continue to make rich gifts to the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy.’
    â€˜It is the Buddhists who are responsible for the persecution of the Tamils, isn’t it?’ Fleur asked.
    He nodded. ‘Yes, the Buddhists are a big force in the “Everything for the Sinhalese” movement. After years of sloth there was a strong Buddhist revival in the 1880s. They argued that when Ceylon was a Sinhalese kingdom Buddhism had enjoyed a privileged position, whereas under the British it had been usurped by the Christian religion. It is true, of course, that pupils educated in Christian schools got all the best jobs, because they were taught English.
    â€˜As long as British rule continued the Buddhists got no redress for their grievance, but when Ceylon received independence there came another great upsurge of Buddhist feeling, and in 1950 Buddhist leaders from all over the world assembled in Ceylon to inaugurate the World Fellowship of Buddhists. After that our Buddhists began to agitate in a big way for the official language to be changed. Neither Senanayake nor Kotelawala would give in but Bandaranaike got elected largely on that ticket, and two months later the “Sinhala Only” Bill was passed.
    â€˜Not unnaturally the Tamils began to kick. They organised strikes and riots in which quite a number of people were killed; so Bandaranaike reached a compromise with Chelvanayakam that a limited use of Tamil should be permitted in certain provinces, and various other matters. It is his having recently gone back on his pact that is causing the present trouble.’
    â€˜The Tamils are Hindus, aren’t they?’ said Fleur.
    â€˜Yes; they first invaded Ceylon from southern India many centuries ago, and there was a time when in the north of the island there were Tamil Kings. But there was another great influx in the latter part of the last century, and it still continues because Ceylon is a richer country than the part of India they come from, and our estate owners are glad to employ Tamils because they work much harder than the Sinhalese.’
    Stubbing out a cigarette, Douglas went on, ‘I should,