Tuesday, 5 April, 1870
Sometime after teatime this evening, I became aware of a Magickal disturbance which swept over London and made itself felt even within the Wards of my sanctum. A dweomer woven of nightmare had escaped from a Dark Sorceror and threatened to plunge London into Chaos.
As I began a Working to dissipate the effect, I felt the supporting presence of other Adepts working against the rogue spell. It is well that there are so many Adepts in the city, or I fear the spell would have swept over London and all of Britain like a hurricane.
Wednesday, 6 April, 1870
It appears the epicenter of the rogue Working was somewhere in Chelsea. The papers this morning are full of stories of explosions in that neighborhood. I do not know the intended effects of the spell, but the rogue energies apparently plunged those they swept over into a sort of waking dream, hallucinating their worst nightmares. I cannot imagine the chaos if those energies had gone unchecked.
The explosions and hallucinations have been explained to the Sleepers as sewer gas which backed up into several homes.
Monday, 11 April, 1870
The wild child, Edward came to the reading room this morning. He is a most extrordinary child, perhaps eight or ten years old and apparently a prodigy, but his presence was not unusual -- he does have a reading card after all. What was unusual was his companion, his governess, one Miss Ruth Sinclair. I do not envy her the task of governing that child.
Miss Sinclair is one of the rare individuals who possess the Gift of Quiet. Her aura was like the eye of a hurricane to my Sight, a sanctum of calm in the Magick which surrounds us all. The most extrordinary thing about her though, did not come to me until after she and Edward had left. The memory of her face came to me in a flash -- she was one of those at the center of the Chaos of Tuesday last. Most curious.
The records show her residence in Chelsea at the home of a Mr. and Mrs. Merton. I believe I will have to interview her.
Tuesday, 12 April, 1870
The Merton's house is most definately the site of some violence. The scars of explosions still mark the area. I was informed by the butler that Miss Sinclair was no longer in the employ of the Mertons and indeed, he confided in me that he was supposed to feign that she was never in the household.
I did manage to draw him out and discovered that she had recently entered the service of Sir Cosmo Coperthwaite. I have sent a letter to Sir Cosmo, requesting an interview with Miss Sinclair.
Friday, 15 April, 1870 -- Good Friday
A most interesting and vexing interview at the home of Sir Cosmo. I was admitted by the butler and was directed into the presence of Miss Sinclair, Sir Cosmo and a third member of the household, Miss Victoria Whitnell. The records of the Order describe Sir Cosmo as eccentric and the composition of his household seems to bear this out. I am uncertain as to Miss Whitnell's position in the household; she was wearing mourning clothes, but I do not take her to be a widow.
Intriguingly, my Sight revealed Miss Whitnell to be a sorceress. The contrast between the aura of the two women, Miss Whitnell and Miss Sinclair, was striking. Even more intriguing was the sense of recognition when I met Miss Whitnell -- she too was at the center of the Disturbance, whether as Agent or Antagonist I do not know.
I was faced with the delicate task of extracting information from these gentles as best I could without tipping my own hand and revealing more about the Order than is prudent. It was a difficult fencing match. It was quite evident that they were on their guard; their evasiveness would have done credit to a Watcher!
Miss Sinclair related that prior to the incident at the Merton's that Tuesday, she had been in the shop of one Madame Zephyrine (or Zelda -- there was some dissembling on the name) which had marked the Merton's household as the target of a nefarious plot to rob them of their valuables.
Miss Sinclair's tale is that in the evening, Madame Zephyrine and her son broke into the Merton's home in Chelsea and used smoke from some form of burning concoction to lull the household into a drugged sleep, all, that is, except for Miss Sinclair.
She offered no explanation as to why she was immune and related that the smoking brazier was actually in the carriage house -- too far away to be effective if it was purely a natural drug. It is far more likely that Madame Zephyrine was using the Dark Arts and Miss Sinclair's Gift of Quiet protected her from the effects of the spell.
Miss Sinclair was then accosted by Madam Zephyrine's son, armed with a revolver. It is unclear to me how she escaped from him. Apparently about this time Miss Whitnell, Sir Cosmo and undisclosed others arrived on the scene.
Miss Sinclair and Miss Whitnell confronted
Madam Zephyrine in the carriage house. Miss Sinclair struck Madam
Zephyrine on the head with a frying pan, putting an end to her
nefarious scheme. Miss Whitnell says that she was knocked unconscious
about this time. It is possible that Miss Sinclair's frying pan
(and her unique Gift) caused Madam Zephyrine's Working to go disasterously
awry.
It is quite evident from their answers and mien that the women
and Sir Cosmo were concealing critical details. I did, however,
gain enough information and infered even more which might suggest
a course for further action.
I intend tomorrow evening to do some checking of a Magickal nature at the Merton's carriage house.
Saturday, 16 April, 1870 -- Easter Saturday
The Merton's house was quiet when I arrived; my intent was to time my visit to occur when the house was away at the Great Vigil. It took a matter of moments to gain access to the carriage house.
I set out my scrying bowl and filled it with water, a single candle casting a flickering light on the surface. I began to chant the history scrying ritual from St. Jerome's first grimoire. After a few moments, the surface of the water clouded over and then cleared, reflecting not my own face, but the scene as it occured at this place on the night of the incident.
The vision revealed a sorceress within a magical circle, the symbols an uneducated mishmash of sumerian, latin and greek. I watched as she raised the wards and lit her brazier, evidently performing a ritual designed to put the occupants of the house to sleep. As is typical of many of the practitioners of the Dark Arts, she lacked the discipline to become a true master of Magick, her pronunciation of the sumerian was abysmal, but her dweomer was effective.
I watched closely as she started on a third ritual; it appeared to be a ritual for entering dreams to extract information. It was at this time that Miss Sinclair and Miss Whitnell interupted her. Miss Sinclair struck her on the head with a frying pan and Miss Whitnell broke the lines of the magic circle. There is no doubt that this was the Working which caused us so much trouble on the 5th. I am unsure whether it was her Wards being broken or the effects of the frying pan which caused Madame Zephyrine to lose control so disasterously.
It appears that while, without a doubt, Miss Whitnell possesses the Gift, she lacks training. Her training falls within the mission of the Order and she seems a likely recruit. She can certainly keep secrets. I shall attempt to win her trust.
It also appears that the Powers have marked Sir Cosmo's household as one of the pivotal points in the struggle against the Forces of Darkness. I believe life is going to be interesting for them.
Wednesday, 20 April, 1870
The ball of Major General Phipps and his nine unmarried daughters. May the Powers spare me. I espied Miss Whitnell at the ball, but she seemed quite distracted and less than willing to speak with me. I sent her a letter earlier in the week offering to help with her training. I am sure I will hear from her when she is ready.
Another unusual incident at the ball bears mentioning. A disturbance occured at the door, apparently a gentleman who had no invitation was trying to gain admitance. He then pulled a talisman of some sort and appeared to attempt to use a mind control spell to get past the guard. There was not even a flicker of magic that I saw, and his attempt failed miserably. However, I recognized the gentleman as one William Craye, who had been seen nosing around one of the locked cases at the reading room earlier. Does he have delusions of being a practitioner of the Dark Arts? His lack of the Gift will not keep him from becoming dangerous if he is determined enough. He bears watching.
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