Hysterics again.

I had scarcely gotten to sleep after our early-morning return to the Villa outside Antwerp.

Mrs Cuthbert started up with a dreadful howling well before most of us were ready to rise. She reported a horrifying nightmare, which she said had the feel of one of her clairvoyant or prophetic dreams. In her dream, Herr Bopp had defeated the League, and most of us suffered grisly, ghastly fates.

Mrs Cuthbert was not the only one to suffer bad dreams (not including my suffering from annoyance and lack of sleep). Miss Whitnell and Inspector MacGregor both had bad dreams which they wouldn’t talk about in any detail (thank goodness for that!). Miss Chigwidgeon had a curious dream, which was somewhat pleasant, but ended ominously.

These various dreams rattled some of the party at first, but thereafter had the effect of hardening our resolve to defeat Bopp. We ate our breakfast and performed our exercises.

We then undertook to plan our victory over Herr Bopp.

What can we find out about Bopp and his capabilities?

1. Miss Metzger has provided details about the Teutonic Knights’ stronghold in Konigsberg– buildings, gates, doors, etc. She cannot provide information about the Temple interior, where she was not permitted to enter.
   Further geographic information may be available via the Consulate.
2. Miss Metzger has provided some clues as to Bopp’s particular mystical and personal abilities, including some information about his artifacts and his favorite fighting strategies. Our Mystics will inquire further through the St Jerome’s Chapterhouse as to how to counter these capabilities.
3. We may be able to erode Herr Bopp’s political power within Konigsberg: can we prove that he committed the murder of the young girl which our Mystics witnessed clairvoyantly? We will, of course, have to find concrete evidence of the crime. To that end, Inspector MacGregor is making a discreet inquiry of the Berlin police, via the Gendarmerie here in Antwerp.
4. We asked Mr Hassan to contact the efreet which inhabits the Bull artifact and check as to Herr Bopp’s whereabouts and what we can learn of his activities. Bopp and the Bull artifact are in Konigsberg at the Teutonic Knights’ stronghold. There was also some concern as to the security of the other two artifacts, but Mr Hassan’s inquiries indicated that the Eagle artifact and the Fish artifact remain in the custody of our allies.
5. Since we must go to Berlin before we can go to Konigsberg, we are hoping to get some letters of introduction to ease our way. Sir Cosmo, Lt Wooster, and Inspector MacGregor will all be carrying courier packets to various persons and agencies in Berlin (this is our ostensible reason for making this journey). We are hoping to connect with additional persons who may be able to provide assistance or information.
6. I will write to Herr Bassermann in Berlin. I have been corresponding with him since his “Mimicry Markings in the Lepidoptera” was published in English three years ago. He may not be a very useful connexion for the purposes of our mission, but perhaps I can give him a copy of the Moth paper while I am there. It could be useful to find out where public sentiment lies as regards the Teutonic Knights.

So, the majority of the party are once again taking care of matters in Antwerp today. Sir Cosmo and Lt Wooster (and Mr Caine, of course) are writing reports and dispatches. So too are Inspector MacGregor and Mr Frazer. The Mystics are all closeted with the Abbott at the Chapterhouse. We have happily escorted Miss Haverson to the American consulate and we all hope that we have seen the last of her.

Miss Chigwidgeon and I are amusing ourselves here at the Consulate while our respective gentlemen complete their duties. Then I believe we four will take a pleasant stroll among the shops. I need some more ammunition.

Saturday 31 July. 1870
(late evening)

My trunks are packed and ready for departure tomorrow morning. We will spend most of the day on the train, as the railways are not entirely repaired yet, and several destroyed bridges will require us to take lengthy and roundabout routes to Berlin.

We will be taking a public train. I am somewhat concerned about this, as any attack that might be directed at us en route would endanger a number of other passengers, and we might be forced to compromise our anonymity in defending ourselves. There’s no help for it, though.

This evening was passed fairly pleasantly. I was able to eat some of the roast goose, where I could scrape away the sauce. We also had a lettuce salad, and the cook prepared a portion for me without the vinaigrette.

--The following portion of the diary is written in plain script, rather than the previous coded shorthand---

I sat with Mr Frazer in the parlour, practising German. This was disrupted by the participation of the late Sgt Frazer. He was hanging about making comments. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him perfectly clearly. Mr Frazer and his father seemed surprised that I could detect the ghost at all. I did my best to be polite–one must preserve harmonious relations with one’s future Father-in-Law, even if he is dead.

I do find it quite unnerving, though, to realise that I could be observed at any time without knowing it. I should hate to always worry that someone might be reading over my shoulder without my knowledge. It could put a bit of a damper on the future private lives of Mr and Mrs Benton Frazer. It could even jeopardise the potential for grandchildren.

However, I’m sure I won’t even have to mention such a delicate subject. I am sure that Sgt Frazer is an honourable and kind man ghost man, and will not do anything to make me uncomfortable.

--coded shorthand resumes--

I still have not heard anything from Mr Frazer about his preferences for our future together– where shall we live? What changes should I expect? I am mystified, but I am determined not to ask him to explain himself. I have learned from my previous experience not to press him, because then I cannot be sure that his answers are freely given.

But what could he be waiting for? Does he think I will just do whatever he suggests without discussion? Is he too shy to even bring up the topic? Is he waiting on my Father’s approval? Or...I have heard that Police Constables are not permitted to marry without dispensation...could that apply to apparent clerks as well? What if Sir Anthony objects? As well he might, since Mr Frazer is a valuable operative, and if he is married, well, some things are bound to change, even though I hope for both of us to continue in service to the Crown. Oh, Dear. Well, no sense in dwelling on this, I must let it be for the present.

This could be my last opportunity to record my thoughts in private for some days, so perhaps I shall make note of another matter which I am pondering– Miss Metzger.

I continue to feel an inexplicable connexion to her. I have come to like her rather well, for all that she is a closed book. I feel certain that there is a very fierce current of feeling just beneath a rather icy demeanour.

I have taken care to extend as much friendship as her reserve and my own will allow. I want to be sure she knows that I do not feel enmity toward her on account of her past association with Benton. She was as quick as anyone to wish us joy when we announced our engagement. I believe it was sincere.

She has not said anything to me about her plans for the child she is carrying. She has not responded to my note regarding this subject. I cannot tell what her feelings are in this matter.

I admire the way she seems to bide her time until she will wreak havoc upon the man who enslaved her. I very much prefer to have her as an ally than as an enemy.

I have considered the possibility that she is still Bopp’s agent, and that she is perpetuating a very elaborate plot against us, but her grievance against Bopp seems genuine. The Mystics’ earlier effort to free her soul seems to have convinced them of the truth of her story.

My other concern is that Bopp may be able to use some past hold on her to reclaim her to his service at some critical moment. Of course I know nothing of these magical matters. I am inclined to think that he must have caught her unawares the first time, and her strength of will and her anger toward him will prevent him from catching her again.

On the whole, the benefits of having her among us far outweigh the risks. But I wonder if we can find some additional ways to safeguard her without compromising her ability to fight.

Sunday, 1 August, 1870
(evening)

We have spent a long and tiring day on the train. We have settled in to our Hotel here in Berlin, and I am hoping for a decent night’s sleep. I have hardly eaten all day. The food here is not only inedible, but aromatic. Just the smell of the pickled cabbage is making me feel ill.

Although the train journey was long, it was mostly uneventful. We did have a little difficulty with Edward.

Our party was divided more-or-less in half. A number of us were riding in a first-class compartment– Mrs Cuthbert, Mr Cuthbert, Sir Cosmo, Miss Chigwidgeon, Miss Metzger, Tattvick, Dr Wilson, Miss Whitnell, Mr Fraser and myself.

We were required to stow the trunk containing the Lion artifact in one of the luggage cars. Naturally, we couldn’t leave it unguarded, so a large contingent of capable persons rode in the luggage car with it. Frankly, many seemed relieved to be in a more private and more spacious, if less comfortable, place than our public compartment.
Those persons used their time to good purposes–defence practise and exercise chief among them.

At one point, Miss Whitnell took Miss Chigwidgeon and Mrs Cuthbert to the freight car to attempt some sort of magical experiment. They were gone for some time, and when they returned Miss Whitnell seemed not entirely satisfied with the results of whatever they had been doing. Miss Chigwidgeon, of course, was ebullient as ever.

I spent most of the journey quietly, enjoying the scenery with Mr Frazer. He told me the German names for many of the trees and animals along the way. Now that there are two engaged couples in the group, we spend a lot of our free time as a quartet, chaperoning one another.

This allows more freedom for Miss Whitnell and for Mrs Cuthbert, but I definitely have to keep an eye on Miss Chigwidgeon. I have occasionally had to quietly urge her to better discretion. Her ideas of what sort of intimacies are acceptable in public places could use a little refinement.

The trouble I had with Edward was relatively minor, on the Edward scale of misbehaviour. I was sitting and conversing with Mr Frazer when Edward’s face appeared outside the window–he was hanging down from the roof of the train! He would not come in, however firm my insistence.

I went outside and climbed partway up the ladder which allows railroad personnel (and wild children) access to the roof. Mr Frazer came along, and offered to go up after Edward to bring him down when he wouldn’t obey my summons.

I declined the offer– If Edward was choosing to disobey, then pursuing him would most likely only result in a dangerous chase. It would be unlikely that any of us would catch him, and we would all look foolish in the effort. Edward finally agreed to return to the luggage car, where Emily was supposed to have been keeping an eye on him. He returned the way he had come–by running back along the train across the roofs of the cars. I went back the more conventional way to chastise him. He wouldn’t tell me why he had been capering around up there. I can only presume it was his usual high spirits.

When we arrived in Berlin, we were met at the train station by a Captain Wymms, who is in command of the Berlin Police. He and a few of his men greeted us cordially. He went aside with Inspector MacGregor and they spoke at some length about the incident our Mystics “witnessed” in Konigsberg. The Captain was very anxious to discover what had led the Inspector to inquire. I do not think he was satisfied with the Inspector’s evasive answers, but he has let it be, at least for now.

Tomorrow, we plan to visit a University, the “Unsichtbare Hochschule,” where Berlin’s chief operative of the Order of St Jerome is the Chancellor. The Mystics hope he will be able to provide current information about Bopp and his capabilities.

Monday, 2 August, 1870

Our visit to Berlin has been almost as short as our visit to Florin was.

We have been run out of town by Captain Wymms. How embarrassing!

The day started well enough...

I sent my manuscript with a note to Herr Bassermann, mentioning that I would like to see him tomorrow if possible.

Then, the majority of the party set out to visit Unsichtbare Hochschule and Professor Kemp.
Not wanting to annoy the Chancellor with my supposed peculiar aura, I decided to pass the time in the University library while the rest of the party had their interview.

My colleagues spoke with Professor Kemp, receiving some information and some further letters of introduction. Edward could talk of nothing but the Professor’s hat, which was evidently quite singular.

Our party then re-convened in the Library. We spoke briefly with the Librarian and at greater length with one of his assistants.

Here is a summary of facts learned from Miss Metzger, Baron von Raalik, and the Librarians at the University.

1. Bopp is the de-facto leader of the Teutonic Knights, but the titular head of the order, Archduke Wilhelm, still possesses several significant artifacts. Mrs Cuthbert’s dream suggested that Bopp would have this other leader killed in order to assume the leadership and gain the use of the artifacts. If we could warn this older leader that he is in danger, it could put a crimp in Bopp’s plan.
2. One of Bopp’s magical implements is a dagger which apparently allows him to use magic without the lengthy chanting that our Mystics have to perform. We learned more of its nature and history, but nothing solid to allow us to counter it.
3. We have confirmed that the Konigsberg Chapterhouse of St Jerome collapsed into a mysterious sinkhole fairly recently. We can imagine who was responsible.
4. We have a further annotated map of the Teutonic Knights compound in Konigsberg.

Our next step was to act on item 1 above. We used the letter of introduction we had received from Professor Kemp to gain an interview with Archduke Wilhelm, Grandmaster of the Teutonic Knights. We had the assurance of Professor Kemp that he was a “decent fellow”, which seems very strange given the enmity between the Teutonic Knights and the Order of St Jerome.

We did not expect that the Archduke would be so feeble. We had come with the intent to warn him of the betrayal plotted by Herr Bopp.

It quickly became clear to us that he had no power to defend himself, and so our warnings could not help him or our cause. Indeed, it was obvious that his own household and his honor guard had been thoroughly infiltrated by Bopp’s partisans. The only reason that he hadn’t already been removed was probably because he was too feeble to pose a threat to Bopp’s plan, and Bopp is biding his time.

We spent quite some time with the Archduke, trying to learn about the hierarchy and succession of the Teutonic Knights, asking him all sorts of peculiar questions.

We were certainly observed by one or more of the servants.

Miss Whitnell persuaded the Archduke to plan a holiday to visit his cousin, the Emperor of Austria, immediately. She cajoled him into writing a note to the Emperor, which we took away to deliver to the Embassy to be passed through consular channels. We hope that this will give him some chance at safety.

We finally took our leave and returned to the hotel. It quickly became clear that we were followed from the Archduke’s residence.

We had arrived in our rooms and were debating whether to take any action when Mr O’Flaherty came into the room with the follower slung, unconscious, over his shoulder. Mr O’Flaherty had remained here at the Hotel to help guard the Artifact, and had observed the agent following us and had independently decided to capture him.

No sooner had we got that agent secured to a chair than a disturbance in the adjoining room drew our attention. This room was where we were keeping the Lion Artifact, so naturally we were concerned.

George subdued that additional interloper immediately, and he too was secured to a chair.

Now there ensued a great deal of wrangling among ourselves as to how to handle these two.
Ultimately, our attempts to question them resulted in far too much being said of our own mission and purpose here. This occurred partly because one of the two captives indicated that he was an Anarchist, and that he thought that we were partisans of Herr Bopp’s cause. I felt compelled to convince him that we were Bopp’s enemies, thinking we could make an ally of him.

Unfortunately, he remained unconvinced, and I had revealed far too much of our agenda in attempting to win him over to us. I was very angry that he did not believe me. I suppose poor sleep and poor food have made me weak-minded. I shall have to guard myself better.

Alas, the damage was done. Not only had we told too much to the unintelligent Anarchist, but Captain Wymms had been lurking right outside the door and had overheard much of our discussion.

Wymms indicated a perfect willingness to arrest us, and indeed he had the building quite surrounded. We could not have fought our way out without unacceptable losses, and a very serious international incident.

Fortunately, Captain Wymms’ main interest was to interview the “witnesses” to the murder that Inspector MacGregor had inquired about. Wymms had forwarded the Inspector’s inquiry to Konigsberg police, who had replied that no unexplained deaths matched the report given. Wymms does not seem to find that adequate. I believe he is suspicious of corruption among the Konigsberg Police.

He would not be satisfied until he had interviewed Miss Chigwidgeon and Miss Whitnell. Sir Cosmo insisted that I be present, along with himself, at the interviews, to safeguard the ladies’ virtue.

He seemed willing to believe their stories, magic and all, and seems disinclined to protect Herr Bopp from our efforts to expose his crimes.

In addition to his inquiry about the murder, the Captain had come to investigate a charge of theft against us. After we left the Archduke’s residence, the captain of the Archduke’s honor guard (one of the Bopp partisans) had reported that we had stolen a large artifact made of Amber–the Lion.

Fortunately, Wymms made some inquiries and discovered that the Lion had been in our possession when we came into Berlin–this was corroborated by:
-the housekeeping staff here at the Hotel,
-his own constable, who had lifted the trunk carrying the Lion at our arrival at the train station (this somehow allowed him to identify the contents accurately).

The cheek of that Prussian guard! Wouldn’t it be handy for Bopp to get the local Police to confiscate our artifact and turn it over to his partisans. We can thank Wymms for being diligent. I believe he intends to question the Prussian guard captain about the false report of theft. He has also taken the unintelligent Anarchist and the follower from the Archduke’s residence into his own custody.

Wymms is not entirely sympathetic to us, however. He was adamant that he did not want us hanging around his city, and I can’t say I blame him. But this did work to our advantage in that we have not been detained.

We are on the train en route to Konigsberg. We have taken the first train we could get, which is an indirect route with many stops. We are not really ready to confront Bopp, but I can only hope that he is likewise not ready for us.

We are divided up similarly to our last train trip, though Miss Whitnell is traveling in the luggage car, struggling to find some plan or spell or something that might help our cause.

Edward is here with us, I am not likely to let him go roaming about the train after what happened on our last trip! We will no doubt convene shortly to discuss our plans.

Alas, I will not be able to keep my appointment with Herr Bassermann. Perhaps I will see him on the way back.

Sir Cosmo, on the other hand, seems to be having a scientific conference right here, with some Professor of Mathematics who has happened to recognise him.

I am sitting here by Mr Frazer, with Turgenov settled at our feet. How very cosy. One would never imagine that we are about to

–account trails off–

Proceed to Almost according to plan

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