Additions to the households
Monday, 2 August
Received a note in today's mail from Mrs Cake, confirming that she will
call upon Lady Cowperthwaite at Edenfield this coming Wednesday. Mr
Graham had also mentioned that the salamanders would not be pining for
her ladyship much longer. Mr Graham's prognostitory talents may not be
the equal of Mrs Cake's, but I have learned to take neither lightly.
Given the date of the last telegram from the master of the house as
they left Bombay, it is certainly possible that Selene will pull into
port in Liverpool this week. Therefore, I wired Edenfield that I was
arriving to finish preparations for the return.
Mr Chadwick is accompanying me on the train to Edenfield, as he has a
rather lot of correspondence to share with the master and mistress.
Before leaving, I warned the London staff, as well as the household
staff for both Sir Spencer and the Wooster's town homes, of the
possible arrival. Reginald, the new footman for the London household,
feels a bit too keenly his inexperience, and was quite relieved when I
informed him Patsy would be acting as Housekeeper in my absence.
I am bringing a collection of recent London papers with me to
supplement the supply that have already been gathered at Edenfield. Mrs
Cuthbert will wish to save a clipping about her great-uncle's new
colonial appointment, I'm sure. I wonder what Miss Wilhelmina will make
of recent developments in North Surrey.
Mr Graham's play is doing quite well. There has been much talk of
moving to a larger venue, though he says this late in the London season
it is unlikely.
Tuesday, 3 August
Selene and Foxglove docked this
evening. The households are remaining in Liverpool this evening, so
that the remainder of their luggage can be unloaded in the light of day.
It was good to see the household. The children, especially, are all so
tan! Miss Wilhelmina is not feeling as robust as one would expect, but
given how severely she was wounded just over a month ago, she is
looking quite well, indeed.
I am quite pleased that David's suit was accepted by Tattvick's
parents. Patsy will be so pleased. We can look forward to many more
additions to the households, it seems.
The Salmalins have hired a nursery maid, a solemn young girl named
Chih. I am given to understand that her particular culture does not
ordinarily subscribe to surnames, and Mrs Salmalin does not appear
inclined to follow the practice she and Tattvick used many years ago,
of the latter adopting an English-sounding first name and allowing
uneducated English ears to assume that Tattvick was her surname. It
will all sort out eventually.
Her ladyship's recently discovered relatives chose not to accompany
them back to London. It sounds as if Her ladyship's new brother would
fit into the household quite well--or at least make himself at home in
the libraries if he took the notion. Perhaps they will come visit in
the future.
Wednesday, 4 August
We were all quite busy moving people, luggage, and cargo from Liverpool
to Edenfield. Mrs Wooster seems especially relieved to be settled in at
Monk's Hill Cottage.
Miss Wilhelmina's substitute for a walking stick--a clockwork enhanced
pair of leg braces--has caused a few raised eyebrows. The master and
mistress seem to think it is a better way to get the exercise necessary
to speed her recovery. I wonder if the fact that the sound makes it
more difficult for her to leave a room unnoticed has not figured into
that evaluation.
Mrs MacGregor's father and aunts were exceedingly pleased to welcome
the couple home from their long journey. The entire parish seems to be
lining up to call on all the households. Fortunately the Misses
Shorrocks and Mrs Cake have organized the callers into managable groups.
Lord Greyminster will be joining us tomorrow. Many of the gentlemen
have spoken of returning to London tomorrow, though I suspect some of
them will not depart until later in the week. Everyone seems to be more
exhausted from their journeys than they are quite willing to admit.
Thursday, 5 August
Lord Greyminster arrived today. In anticipation, I had obtained
contrastingly coloured buttonholes for myself and my brother, so that
members of the household would not confuse us.
His lordship brought along a dispatch case from Sir A's office for the
master. Of more interested to the younger master of the house was a
belated birthday present: a saddle so that Master Galen may learn to
ride. The young master is quite excited at the prospect.
Mrs Cuthbert and Sir Spencer returned to London, coincidentally
carrying the full reports of their activities for Sir A's office.
Inspector MacGregor and Mr Frazer plan to return to London tomorrow.
Mrs Salmalin is still working her way through her ladyship's
correspondence. Mr Chadwick and I have tried to sort the missives by
urgency, though I know our definition of urgency does not always meet
with
Mrs Salmalin's approval.
At the master's suggestion, Miss Wilhelmina called on the Shorrock
household today to speak with the Inspector about some unfortunate news
found in her correspondence. An old acquaintance may or may not have
been the victim of a horrific crime--there is some question about the
identity of the corpse. I hope the the Inspector can sort it all out.
The accompanied her on the visit, then proceeded to Liverpool to
complete arrangements for a transfer of a prisoner to London. There has
been a rather large amount of correspondence with Mr Robards, the
barrister, as well.
Chih is still becoming familiar with the house and grounds. Mr Salmalin
has been doing most of the training, though I have also overheard Miss
Octavia giving "corrections" when she believes her parents are out of
earshot.
Friday, 6 August
Miss Pinker joined us today. She brought additional news which the
master felt compelled to share with her ladyship in private, before
telling the rest of the household. Arthur had made some comments about
the event yesterday, though he was not aware at the time that it would
involve our household, as well.
Lord Greyminster, Miss Pinker, the master and her ladyship have all
been invited to a wedding in the Kingdom of Carpania. Specifically, the
Princess Arabella of Carpania is to marry His Highness Rupert, Duke of
Florin.
The household has been invited because of a distance relationship with
the royal family: the Earl's great-great-great-great grandmother was
the daughter of a previous ruler of the region who is, in turn, a
direct ancestor of the current king. Miss Pinker has been corresponding
with her eighth-cousin, Archduchess Edeline of Galicia (the sister of
the current king), since the two met as young ladies in Vienna.
Sir A's office would like the household to accept the invitation. Due
to its geographic location, bordered by the Russian Empire, Prussia,
and the Austrian Empire, the tiny kingdom plays a disproportionate part
in the balance of power in Europe, and there is something which Sir A's
office wishes the master to look into while attending the wedding.
This would not be so extraordinary if the groom were anyone other than
the Duke of Florin. While the Duke's younger
brother,
Prince Lukas, is well-liked by everyone in the
League, the Duke is
another matter altogether. The household has had previous encounters with the
Duke which were less than exemplary.
Though her ladyship seemed less upset about the news that the Duke was
soon to be her in-law than the master had anticipated.
We have nearly a month to prepare before departing for the continent.
Letters have been sent off to the ladies' dressmakers.
The Inspector, Mr Frazer, and Lt Wooster had already departed for
London before we received the news. It is not yet clear whether the
entire League will be required.
Saturday, 7 August
The household continues to settle in. Travel arrangements to Carpania
will be easier than I had feared: Sir Spencer owns a hunting lodge
outside of Potsdorf, the capital city of Carpania. While the lodge is
modest by the standards of continental royalty, it should be large
enough to accomodate the League and the traveling staff.
Sir Spencer has been invited to attend the nuptuals owing to an old
acquaintance with the King. Though at the time he and Sir Spencer were
hunting together in Africa, I understand that Prince Franz Kristoff was
the youngest son of the youngest son of the then-King, and was not
expected to ascend to the throne.
For several days the outside staff has been trying to help Miss
Wilhelmina fit all of her current projects into the old Mill. There
aren't actually any more projects than usual, but many more of them are
larger than the young lady herself than is usual.
The master convinced her that some of the projects should be
transported to London, and she will just have to limit which ones she
pursues. Lady Ottoline and Miss Pinker have made appointments for her
in the City this week, and I think she'll find she has less time to
work on the mechanical projects than she anticipates.
Sunday, 8 August
The master returned to London on the evening train, accompanied by
myself, Miss Wilhelmina, Mrs Frazer, Mr O'Flaherty, the young Frazers,
George, myself, and Violet.
Having obtained a Sunday Times
on the platform, Miss Wilhelmina spent a
large portion of the trip reading and commenting upon stories contained
therein, particularly the tale of how the League rescued an American
passenger ship from some pirates.
Mr O'Flaherty seemed particularly displeased with the coverage.
Monday, 9 August
It has been a busy day. The master spent most of the day in the City,
meeting with barristers, Sir A, and handling other business.
Miss Wilhelmina had her appointment at the dressmakers, then she and
Mrs Frazer called upon McTeague & Sons Printing, to meet with Mr
Walsh. Then they met with the Inspector to discuss the incident of the
misidentified corpse.
Meanwhile, we received some urgent wires from Edenfield. Mrs Salmalin's
mystical warning system had indicated that the crazed
half-dragon-half-fae, V, was in close proximity to Miss Wilhelmina.
Miss Wilhelmina, Mrs Frazer, and George returned home unharmed, and had
not been aware of V's presence.
Mr Walsh joined us for tea, though he could not stay long. He has
enrolled in night classes. It has long been evident that Mr Walsh is
quite fond of Miss Wilhelmina. Mrs Frazer has often worried about the
appropriateness of the friendship between them. Until now, however, it
was equally evident that Miss Wilhelmina, while enjoying Mr Walsh's
company, did not return his feelings in kind.
That no longer seems to be the case.
Mrs Cuthbert was away most of the day, and unable to shed any further
light on the subject of V or how he may be spying upon Miss Wilhelmina.
Mrs Salmalin arrived on the evening train to consult and determine what
action to take, next.
Tuesday, 10 August
Must get the master to Blackthorn Meadow Manor before noon. No time to
record the extraordinary events of the day.
Wednesday, 11 August
The master has sorted that all out, then. I can't say how relieved I am.
The tale is a rather involved one, but I shall attempt to summarize. V
has been obsessed with Miss Wilhelmina since the League of Shadows
Affair, and we have endured various interruptions and frights over the
years ranging from unwanted gifts to physical altercations to faery
visitations.
The League encountered V yet again during their recent travels in the
China Sea, and he was sent packing yet again. He returned to London
with a new notion in his deranged imagination: he needed to learn how
to be a human in order to "deserve" to court Miss Wilhelmina. To this
end, he ambushed and murdered Edward's friend, Brandon Sweeney,
transforming himself into a mostly-mortal replica of Mr Sweeney.
Sweeney was chosen, in part, because he shared a workplace with Mr
Walsh, whom V perceived to be someone Miss Wilhelmina already admired.
Over the course of the last few months V-as-Sweeney had paritipated in
various activities of the Southwerk Radicals, coming to odds several
times with Edward's old nemesis, Cleit Molloy.
The altercations between V-as-Sweeney and Molloy became increasingly
accrimonious, until finally V decided to kill young Mr Molloy. He
confronted him in the street late one night and beat the young man
severely. Then left him to die. The young man was found before
expiring, and was taken to the home of his grandmother (nearby), where
he lingered for two days before dying.
After Molloy's death, the police (in the form of Sgt Strawberry), took
an interest in Sweeney as the culprit. V, not wanting to get caught,
masqueraded as Molloy and made an appearance at Molloy's wake. This
caused a great deal of confusion, of course. Molloy's grandmother, in
particular, became quite angry because she believed she had paid for
the burial of a stranger. The faux Molloy was last seen fleeing the pub
in a drunken stupor.
V-as-Molloy got himself arrested for causing a public disturbance in
another district, then escaped from the jail. This created the
plausible explanation for Molloy's continued absence as hiding from the
police.
V resumed his masquerade of Sweeney, now believing himself safe from
prosecution, since Sweeney had no motive to kill a stranger who
happened to be walking down a street near Molloy's grandmother's home.
Miss Wilhelmina had, from information in Mr Walsh's letters, already
put Inspector MacGregor and Mr Frazer looking into the death of Molloy,
though none of them had made a connection to V. Mrs Salmalin's mystic
ward was broken while Wilhelmina was visiting McTeague & Sons.
Much of this was pieced together by Wilhelmina, the Inspector, Mrs
Cuthbert, Mrs Salmalin, and the others over the course of Tuesday. By
evening they had determined that Sweeney was actually V. While most of
them were discussing what Mrs Cuthbert's scrying and visions had
revealed, the master left the house with George and one of the
clockwork carriages.
The others followed in the carriage, perturbed at the master for
leaving without them.
He confronted Sweeney, demanding an apology for his inappropriate
attentions to Miss Wilhelmina and a promise (sworn three times in a
manner that would bind his faery nature) to leave Miss Wilhelmina and
the rest of the household alone. V refused, so the master challenged
him to swords at dawn at Blackthorn Meadow Manor.
We so seldom use the property, I'm not certain that Lady Cowperthwaite
was aware it belonged to the master. Lord Greyminster keeps horses
there, just as Lady Constance used to. Sir Cosmo instructed me years
ago to maintain it for the horses, and otherwise leave it as his mother
used to keep it. I've defered to Arthur in staff hiring decisions, and
we keep the minimum staff necessary to maintain the house and the
stables.
I understand why the master chose the location. The property sits on
Hampstead Heath and includes large, unoccupied meadows. If the duel
with the dragon-creature enlarged, innocent people would be less likely
to get caught in the cross fire.
Mr O'Flaherty agreed to be the second. Matched swords which the master
had obtained for this purpose in India was used. A number of beings
acquainted with the household with varying connections to the faery
kingdoms arrived to watch or possible interfere. The bounty-hunting fae
we have seen more than once at Edenfield clearly stated his intention
to take V into custody should he survive the duel.
Mrs Frazer seemed far more perturbed at the master's chosen solution
than any of the others. Her ladyship repeated his confidence that her
husband would prevail many times before the dual began, but she also
twisted a scarf and a reticule to shreds with her fretting.
Monsieur Barri was one of the exotic spectators who arrived on the
heath this morning, and was chosen as the marshall. One of the other
"guests" was one Count von Freiheff who bears an uncanny resemblance to
the master. The League met him in India. Mrs Cuthbert says he is a
mortal agent of the King of the Unseelie Court of faerie. Her ladyship
has a more disparaging way of describing him. Miss Mitzi was also
present, though more subdued than usual.
Throughout the duel, V never abandoned his mortal guise, and never
seemed to employ any of his extraordinary powers. He taunted the master
about this, how he would defeat him using only the strength of a
mortal. Of course, he showed no signs of tiring, and boasted of this.
The way he kept glancing at Miss Wilhelmina gave one the impression he
thought this boasting would impress her.
Which shows that living as a mortal for a few months did absolutely
nothing to teach him about how human feelings work.
He looked more surprised than hurt when the master finally struck the
finishing blow. Then he seemed to explode, thought it was all ephemeral
light that quickly evaporated, leaving a dead shadow behind.
Mrs Cuthbert said that it was the combination. V had tied himself so
tightly to the heart that he had literally cut from young Mr Sweeney's
chest, that the heart became a vulnerability. The swords were made of
cold steel (deadly to faeries), but not just any cold steel. The steel
was forged with some sort of meteoric glass embedded in the blade. The
swords had been blessed, which makes them somewhat more dangerous to
dragons (though the lore apparently varies on how effective this really
is). Mrs Cuthbert further theorized that what may have been most
decisive was that V had bound himself by swearing to meet the master in
a "traditional mortal duel."
The binding had left him more vulnerable than he realized.
The agent of the Seelie King took the shadow into custody. The other
spectators all returned to their various points of origin.
The master had been wounded, twice, though not deeply. We retired to
the manor to bind his wounds and settle everyone's nerves with some
breakfast.
The Inspector and Mr Frazer have taken what evidence they have to
Malloy's grandmother. I'm not sure how many details they'll tell her,
but everyone agrees she deserves to know that it was her grandson she
buried, and that his murderer has since been killed.
Mrs Cuthbert and the master say they wish to go speak to Sweeney's
family. I believe the Inspector will be accompanying them, as well. It
is a bit unclear at the moment how things will proceed on that front....
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