6 June, 1870
What an extraordinary day.
I awoke slightly earlier than usual, having been dreaming that I was standing backstage at some theatrical performance. There was an orchestra pit, and a devilish gentleman (complete with red skin and horns) standing at the conductor's positions. Just as the musicians prepared to play, some unseen person shoved me onto the stage with and impertinent, "You're on!"
The rather unorthodox beginning of the day proved prophetic. I and the rest of the staff were about our usual activities preparing for the beginning of a new day. I could hear Edward out in the carriage house, pounding on some piece of metal. Miss Sinclair decided it was a bit too early for such noise, and went out to speak with him.
A moment after she left I noticed the strangest thing. All of the clocks in the downstairs area--my watch, the clock in the servants hall, the clock in the kitchen, and even the grandfather clock out in the hall, began ticking much more loudly than normal---and in perfect synchronicity! I had just pulled my watch out of my pocket, to comfirm that it was not my imagination, when I heard a sound like a music box. I looked up, and David was standing nearby, holding his watch as well, it's chimes were ringing, though not in their usualy tune. "Most peculiar, wouldn't you say, Uncle Alex?" he said.
And I agreed with his evaluation, but was also too distracted by the fact that the chimes of the hall clock, not to mention the harpsichord inthe parlor, all seemed to have joined in playing the same tune as David's watch. Otherwise I would have reminded David that he should more properly address me as Mr. Graves when we are both on duty.
I went straight to the parlor, to see what was happening with the harpsichord. I found Miss Whitnell standing, transfixed, in the parlor, watching as the harpsichord appeared to be playing itself. I concluded that the most likely explanation was that Edward had modified one of the musical instruments in his clockwork collection and installed it in the harpsichord. I began examining the instrument for the device.
Miss Whitnell informed me that it was some sort of magic, she was certain, but she couldn't fathom what sort it was.
There was no device.
At that point, I recognized the sound of Edward's voice, singing rather loudly, coming from what I thought was the back wall of the house, near the second or third floor. It sounded as if he were moving upward. I took my leave of Miss Whitnell, since sorcery is outside my perview, intending to make my way upstairs.
When I reached the hall, the sound of the mechanical harp, which had been gifted to the master by Edward last Christmas, was quite loud in the study. I stepped in, thinking perhaps I would find the master there. The study was empty, save for the harp, playing itself, following the same song as the harpsichord. I continued upstairs. When I reached the attic, I could hear the bells of Big Ben chiming in a strange tune. Not only that, I could hear church bells in several directions joining. There was a brilliant flash of light which quite startled me. I learned later, from Edward, that a bolt of lightning struck the lightning rod at that moment.
By the time I opened the window, all the strange music had ceased, Edward was climbing down the wall. Mrs. Cuthbert and Miss Sinclair stood in the drive. I clearly heard Miss Sinclair declare that she had been possessed by some sort of enchantment, and forced to sing along with Edward's song and wave her hands in the air. I closed the window and made haste to reach the ground level.
I arrived just in time to hear music coming from the laboratory. I saw Miss Chigwidgeon standing in the doorway, the door only open a crack, listening in slightly confused embarassment as Nigel and Salmalin sang a song which seemed to lament their unrequited feelings for Miss Chigwidgeon. I stopped in my tracks. I could see Mrs. Murphy and the maids in the kitchen, talking in excited whispers about Edward's singing and how they had seen Miss Sinclair, through the kitchen window, singing "tick-tock tick-tock" along with all the strange music.
I was beginning to wonder if, perhaps, I was in some sort of nightmare.
The singing in the laboratory stopped. Miss Chigwidgeon started to open the door, then saw the master across the room, just inside the chemical pantry. It was clear he had overheard the strange song from the laboratory too. They exchanged confused shrugs, then proceeded into the lab.
Miss Whitnell hurried past me at that moment. I decided that the master would clearly take things in hand in the laboratory, and so stepped into the kitchen to put the staff back to their regular duties and remind them about the evils of gossip. I overheard enough of the conversation in the laboratory to learn that all of those who had been singing had done so over what appears to be an enchantment. The sorcerers decided they should consult the spirits. Miss Whitnell said something about "Before anyone else bursts into song" and we heard music once more.
I could hear the master singing about responsibility. And the others in the laboratory were joinging in.
It was worse than that. Mrs. Murphy and I, quite unable to control ourselves, also began singing the echo lines in the ditty which the others were singing. Then we began singing the chorus and all the other staff joined in and danced around the kitchen with us. While it is true that I place a very strong premium on my duty, I never before felt the slightest urge to sing about it.
I decided, at that moment, that if this were not some sort of horrible curse upon us all, then I was definitely trapped in a madman's nightmare!
When the strange responsibility song ended, Miss Whitnell, Mrs. Cuthbert, and Miss Chigwidgeon hurried upstairs to Mrs. Cuthbert's room to have a seance. Or perhaps a nice lie-down. I certainly could have used the latter. The master went to his study, to compose messages to A and others. Edward wandered into the servants hall, singing something and "tick-tock tick-tock," then asked me if he could installed the player piano mechanism he has salvaged into the harpsichord. I suggested we should discuss it with the master, first.
Edward wanted one of his sketchbooks to work on his design, and Miss Sinclair suggested that they could do that upstairs, at the same time standing guard over the others.
Mr. O'Flaherty arrived to accompany Dr. Wilson and Lt. Wooster to the rocket laboratory. They left without another song taking place.
Messages were were sent to all the usual suspects. The staff settled in to our usual duties without too much untoward singing. There was the washing and scrubbing song that broke out in the cleaning room. Then the spice song in the kitchen, but I was attributing everything to the curse, which I fervantly hoped the ladies would remove in due time. When the sounds of a pipe organ drifted down from Mrs. Cuthbert's room, and I heard her strong voice singing a rather humorous ode to the spirits, I began to fear there would be no escape for any of us.
Lt. Lochsley arrived some time after the organ incident. He was whistling and commented about how everyone in the city seemed to be in an umcommonly cheerful mood. "They're singing in the streets!" he said.
Miss Chigwidgeon, her brother, and Miss Whitnell were coming down the stairs at the moment. Lt. Lochsley appeared to recognize Mr. Chigwidgeon, who blushed, blurted out something about not speaking English, then fled to the parlor. Miss Chigwidgeon followed him. Mrs. Cuthbert was also coming down the stairs, though a distance behind Miss Whitnell. Lt. Lochsley greeted Mrs. Cuthbert warmly, and she returned the greeting. Miss Whitnell stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and I proceeded back to the dining room. I heard the harpsichord begin to play in the parlor, and I hoped the Mr. Chigwidgeon, being a musical performer, had just decided to sing an ordinary song.
Lt. Lochsley, and the entire crew of the Griffin, have been ordered to India, so he had come to take his leave of Mrs. Cuthbert and leave her with a token of his admiration. She asked him to wait for a few moments in the music room, where I served him tea, while she went to find an appropriate token to give him in return. Shortly after Lochsley left, Inspector McGregor arrived. He wished to consult with the league, because of an unusual murder he was investigating, and because of all the singing and dancing which seemed to be infecting everyone in the city.
The members of the league who were home assembled in the music room and shared information. Mrs. Cuthbert's seance had revealed that the entire city was cursed by some sort of song and dance demon. Inspector McGregor had witnessed a horrible side effect of the singing. A young man who was singing fervantly in the street about the love of his life and suddenly burst into flames and fallen dead. Edward piped up with a comment about "demonic flambe" at which point Miss Whitnell explained that during the seance the spirits had also told them that some of the singers would become "demonic flambe" -- apparently a reference to this bursting into flames.
The burnt man was not the murder that McGregor had begun investigating in the morning. Another man altogether, one Matthew Sinclair, a cousin of our own Miss Sinclair, and an accomplished violinist whose most recent show is playing at the Royal Gallery of Illustration, was killed late last night. There were several things about the death which had McGregor suspicious that it was related to all the singing.
Miss Whitnell and Miss Sinclair seemed more inclined to believe that it was due to Matthew's relationship to both our Miss Sinclair and another cousin of hers, whom they have learned in a vampire. McGregor had to admit that it seems that Matthew Sinclair's body was drained all all blood, though there was no sign of any wounds on his body.
It was decided that more investigation was needed. Miss Whitnell, Miss Sinclair, Mrs. Cuthbert, Mr. Cuthbert, and Edward accompanied Inspector McGregor to the scene of the murder. Miss Chigwidgeon, George, and Emily, would accompany Mr. Chigwidgeon home. The master and Salmalin went to the library, as Mr. Ramsay had answered none of the messages as yet, and would see what information could be found there.
Many messages came back to the house. The master was the first to return. He had failed to find Mr. Ramsay, having apparently missed him at the museum, and then at the St. Jerome Chapterhouse. But he had a conversation with Mr. Willoughby at A's office, and had learned that while they were aware of the problem, they knew no more than our ladies had already learned through their seance.
Miss Chigwidgeon and Emily returned next, followed very closely by Dr. Wilson, Lt. Wooster, Mr. O'Flaherty and Mr. Caine. Dr. Wilson indicated he had received a message form Miss Whitnell suggesting he close down the rocket works while there remained a danger that people might unexpectedly burst into flame. Last to arrive was Miss Whitnell's group.
Emily was strangely quiet and seemed more than usually embarassed in my presence, fleeing back to her room for several minutes while the others refreshed themselves and gathered in the music room for tea. As they began talking, it was clear that everyone had learned something of interest.
Miss Chigwidgeon and her party had encountered "Miss Mitzi" -- the gentleman entertainer and entreprenuer who oversees a femmes faux review at a Southwark cabaret. Miss Mitzi had closed her clubs for a week, was giving all of her employees two weeks pay, and ordering them to leave the city for a week. She told Miss Chigwidgeon that she had lived through a curse like this once before. She claimed that the previous time resulted in the Great London Fire (which was in 1666). Miss Chigwidgeon seemed to believe this unusual claim.
Miss Mitzi suggested that all would be safest if they simply fled the city and waited for the curse to run it's course. Which was why he was sending all his employees out of town for a week. Of course, she also indicated she was remaining in the city, searching for the demon connected with the curse and attempted to put a stop to it. It seems she also gave Miss Chigwidgeon, Miss Bertild, and George neck chains made of silver.
Mrs. Cuthbert and Miss Whitnell pronounced the jewelry "faery silver" which they said offered some slight protection from demonic forces.
Miss Whitnell and company had divined that Mr. Matthew Sinclair, the murdered violinist, was killed by the three "vampires" that the league encountered on Saturday evening. One of these creatures is another of Miss Sinclair's cousins, Mr. Peter Sinclair. They had further determined that these creatures had made an acquaintance with Mr. Matthew Sinclair before killing him--they found letters from one fo the "vampires" in Sinclair's flat. With the letters, they were able to positively identify a location where the three murderers were holed up, apparently waiting for nightfall (since, according to most legends, vampires cannot venture out in the daytime).
Inspector McGregor reported that there had been, thus far, seven deaths in the City as a result of persons bursting into flame while singing. That seemed to lend some credence to the idea that this curse could result in another Great Fire.
Dr. Wilson reported that he and several of his workman had found themselves to sing several times during the day, though no one spontaneously combusted.
Miss Chigwidgeon was reminded of some more details Miss Mitzi had provided about the demon associated with the curse. The incantation that summons the demon is worded in such a way that the person who recites it may believe they are bringing a blessing or other good fortune into the world. The person who summed the creature in 1666 thought he was going to stop the plague that was raging through the city at the time. Also, most for the vampires and similar "low creatures" fled the city while the curse was in effect, not wanting to fall victim to it. And finally, that the singing and dancing would go on until the payment that had been promised the demon was delivered.
Miss Whitnell, Inspector McGregor, and their cohorts, had also been checking up on the gentleman who composed the comic opera which Mr. Matthew Sinclair had been providing music for before his untimely death. It was Mr. Francis Burnand, the man who penned the script for the opera in which Mr. Rupert Pryce (who accompanied the League on their ocean adventure to rescue his brother) is starring. There were several troubling coincidents involving him and his musical company. For one thing, Miss Whitnell recalled that Mr. Burnand had studied certain "dangerous" mystical books while researching his other play. It seemed possible that during his research he might have found the incantation which would start this singing curse.
They had met with Mr. Rupert Pryce, who is known to have a gift of precognitive dreams, and has had some training from the Order of St. Jerome. He had seen nothing strange or untoward among the cast of his show. However, he did indicate that he had had a dream about a dancer on a stage wearing a necklace which was made out of on old roman coin. Mrs. Cuthbert had previously had a vision in which involved the demon giving a very old bronze coin to someone, so she believed that the necklace in Mr. Pyce's dream was connected to the demon.
A discussion ensued as to what would be best to do. Some thought that the League should attempt to destroy the "vampires." Others felt that finding whoever had summoned the demon and undoing the curse would be best. There was also more than a little sympathy for the idea of trying to find the token which Mrs. Cuthbert's seance spirits had mentioned. Yet others felt that the Royal Gallery of Illustration, where Mr. Matthew Sinclair was murdered and which seemed to have some other connections to the nefarious goings-on, bore closer inspection. This went along more or less as it usually does. Right up until the point when Lt. Wooster, Inspector McGregor, and the master we refilling their cups. I couldn't help but overhear their conversation, as I was standing right there. Lt. Wooster murmured, "They're arguing again."
Inspector McGregor responded with a quiet, "They are quite strong-willed women."
The master agreed, saying, "That's why we love them, though."
At which point, music seemed to spring out of the walls. Inspector McGregor spun around and began singing a rather jolly tune about how shy and quiet girls ("shrinking violets" was one term used in the song) were not the sort he crave, but rather more strong willed and thoughtful women. Mid-way through this ditty, it seemed, for just a moment, as if he made walk over to Miss Whitnell to address the song to her. Perhaps he thought better of it. Lt. Wooster and the master joined in on the chorus, in harmony, then the master began singing the second verse. When he got to a line that went, "A girl with dreams just takes my breath away," he took Miss Chigwidgeon's hands, she sprang to her feet, and the danced around the room for the rest of his first. Then, Lt. Wooster began singing about how girls he were frightened by gunfire and easily fainted ("weeping willows" I believe was the term) weren't to his liking either. That he preferred a woman of strong will and firm purpose.
The performance quite stunned everyone. Miss Whitnell had to leave the room for a few minutes to compose herself.
At about this time a note arrived from the Marquis de Montmerial du Dragagulan. He had taken it upon himself to purchase tickets for the entire League to attend the musical play at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. There was also another note for Miss Whitnell from Mrs. Godwin and Mr. Ramsay, indicating that they had identified the leader of the "vampires." He was known in Carpathians as Count Severin, and he was quite a dangerous being, nearly succeeding in killing "the Slayer." The Order of St. Jerome considered them a threat to be approached with extreme caution, though they intended to expend most of the resources trying to undo the curse before turning to the "vampires."
This new information seemed to tilt the scales in favor of trying to lift the curse, first. The League divided into groups, each to follow-up a lead on the demon or the summoner, then all would meet at the Royal Gallery of Illustration in time to see the show (on the assumption that either one of the players or the composer was involved in the curse).
Miss Chigwidgeon, Miss Whitnell, Salmalin, Lt. Wooster, and the master went to Southwark and Lambeth to search of Miss Mitzi, to see if she had succeeded in learning anything new about the demon.
Mr. Cuthbert, Edward, and Miss Bertilde went in search of dancers, since Mr. Pryce's dream indicated the payment to the demon might be a dancer.
Mrs. Cuthbert, Dr. Wilson, Mr. O'Flaherty, and George proceeded to the Orpheum Theatre, where they hoped to catch up to Mr. Burnand, and then follow him.
Inspector McGregor and Miss Sinclair went to the Detective Department, where they were going to look up more details of the seven people victims of the curse thus far, and see if there was a pattern that might lead to the demon's location.
They have all left, now. The staff and I have tidied up, and I have taken time to record the events of the day thus far. Just a moment ago my writing was interrupted by some rather said music, it seemed to be a waltz. The music seemed to just come out of the air, though the harpsichord was playing along for part of it. I suddenly felt compelled to stand up and sing a few lines of verse about "standing at a crossroad."
I could hear, elsewhere in the house, others joining in.
I sincerely hope the League is successful at undoing this curse. All this singing is quite disturbing.
Proceed to Foreign noble seeks potential mate
This page copyright 2002 by Gene Breshears. All Rights Reserved.