5 August 1871, Saturday
~Morning~
Note to self: Upon reviewing Lady Cowperthwaite’s day book I find that the Embassy Ball will soon be upon us. She has insisted on my attendance– if she has to suffer so must I. The event is to be held the 15th of August. I wonder if my Mistress will try to use Sir Cosmo’s injury as an excuse not to attend? On one hand, even with Mrs Cuthbert’s help he is unlikely to be up for a full evening of dancing in so short a time; on the other, it may not be wise to let on to the general public how gravely he was injured.
~Later~
I nipped round to No. 12 to chat with Mrs F. and to share with her the distressing state of my wardrobe. Of the four dresses she picked out for me, I have only two remaining– one dress suitable for daywear and one ballgown. The others have been too severely damaged or stained to be worn in public. I must submit a new invoice to Our Employer.
Ruth and Elethea offered to accompany me to the dressmaker. Mr O’Flaherty was hanging about and accepted our offer of a ride back to his flat. Ruth wanted to enlist him in her scheme to inform the criminal underworld of London that the self-styled “League of Shadows” were not safe people to work for. Mr O’Flaherty expressed doubt that the criminal class would be over-worried. They take jobs to make money the greater the risk, the more they hope to gain. Also, in my own limited experience such people frequently assume that they are more intelligent than others around them and thus feel they will be able to succeed where others have failed (and died).
During our conversation with Mr O’Flaherty we discovered that he had received a letter stating that the fight with Mr Maws was still set for tonight. He stated he felt threatened into participating but when we tried to get more details out of him, he became recalcitrant and blustered angrily at us. Ruth made the quite good point that we had all risked a great deal to free him from any such obligation. Eventually he allowed her to examine the letter he had received. The seal had broken off but the handwriting was familiar to Mrs Frazer, she later confirmed with her husband that it was likely that of the Actuary.
Mrs Cuthbert and I were permitted to keep the note to further examine it upon returning home. We left Mr O’Flaherty in the keeping of his landlady after visiting the dressmaker very briefly and returned home.
Mrs Cuthbert is setting up the spell circle now. We plan to cast a history spell to see who wrote the note and possibly where it came from.
~Tea~
I am hiding out, reading the book the entity
we suspect of being the Raven King sold to Mrs Cuthbert. There
has been quite a bit of yelling, hurt feelings, and cross-purposes
this afternoon.
I am firmly of the belief, that, while I am under the same roof
as Edward and Wilhelmina, they are not my charge. The certainly
don’t listen to me anyway. No, that is not quite fair, they
do listen, the just don’t choose to obey me.
The difficulty with Edward began after Mrs Cuthbert and I had Examined the note Mr O’Flaherty had received. We experienced a very clear vision of the Actuary writing the note. That vision included seeing the note being set on a tray next to others, including Mr Maws and Miss Moriarty. I stepped over to No.18 to ask my husband if the description of the man in our vision matched the Actuary. Ravvi was working with Miss Bertilde and Mr O’Flaherty– they were both trying an exercise I have seen Ravvi do frequently. It involves moving very slowly and observing everything around one. It is very difficult– I asked him to show me once– it is amazing how hard one must concentrate to keep one’s attention from wandering.
When I asked him about the man we had seen in the vision he was not able to say with all certainty but our description did fit what he knew of the man. Edward was in the carriage house working. I had intended to ask him about the note Wilhelmina received but did not get that far, as I found him working with the Crown.
I tried very hard to be reasonable but I was so very frightened and frustrated that I gave it up as a bad job and retreated to my Mistress. I explained the situation to her– hoping that she would be able to convince Edward to resecure the Crown in the UnSafe and leave it alone.
Unfortunately, by the time Lady Cowperthwaite arrived on the scene there was already a great deal of shouting going on as Mrs Cuthbert and Mrs Frazer had somehow discovered that Edward was working with the Crown. Mrs Cuthbert felt something was wrong with his aura. It had looked fine when I checked it but I am not as sensitive to such things as she is.
It seems that one of the functions of the Crown is to make a duplicate of each wearer’s mind. I wonder which of the two children ended up being duplicated.... Edward reported seeing snippets from various priest’s lives when he wore the Crown.
The Crown is finally back in the UnSafe. I dearly hope that Edward understands it’s danger, however, it is rare that danger will stop him from acting on his curiosity. Lady Cowperthwaite has spoken to him but I don’t know if that will have any effect– after all she is carrying the Oracle around– which may not help our cause any.
I have noticed that my lady is exhibiting similar symptoms as Sir Matthew. She is beginning to substitute nonsense words (or at least words who’s meaning I do not comprehend) at random times when she is speaking.
As part of the difficulty over the Crown, Edward was given permission to talk to the Oracle. Mrs Cuthbert monitored their auras, Mrs Frazer took detailed notes and I continued to read the "The History of the Lords of Abydos".
My Mistress has informed me that she has intends to attend Mr O’Flaherty’s fight this evening. It is now being hosted by the Kent Sporting association and will be an exhibition match again st Mr Maws. I will go make arrangements with Mr Graves for a carriage.
We are having a light early supper to allow us to leave in time. I should go up soon. I’m afraid I will be forced to wear one of my mourning dresses to the fight. I only have this one good day dress and really don’t want to ruin it. If I brush it out carefully it should do for church tomorrow.
It worries me that the note sent to Miss Wilhelmina asked if the fight arrangements met with her satisfaction. I hope she will not get dragged back into her Grandfather’s criminal affairs. I want her to take hold of the opportunity Sir Cosmo’s patronage gives her and her own Father’s example.
She is so infuriatingly intelligent– I fear for her.
~Nearly Midnight~
We are home from the fight. It was uneventful for all but the participants. I was half expecting a ninja attack or some other form of disruption but it was not to be. The fight went to the 91st round. Mr O’Flaherty won by being the only man to stand after the final punches.
6 August 1871, Sunday
I was up in time to work out with Mr Salmalin before the staff breakfast. It is astonishing how quickly I have healed from the Lieutenant’s bullet of four days past. I still do not have full strength in my right arm and some of the exercises pain me. However, I suspect that this is not the normal experience of being hit with a bullet. I am immensely grateful to God and Mrs Cuthbert– I saw men who had been similarly injured during my time in India. Some lost entire use of the affected limb, some later died from blood poisoning. I have gotten of lightly indeed.
I have a long list of people in my life who I am thankful for and today is a good day to be reminded of that fact. It is sometimes hard to comprehend the changes my life has undergone for the better since the difficult journey home at the end of 1869. The oddest thing is that I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to attempt the life I have now if not for my experiences with Mr Forrester in India. For that I will be forever grateful to him.
I do wish wonder what it would have
been like if father could have lived to meet Mr Salmalin.
Though if he had lived I would probably still be living at home getting underfoot and having to put up with the neighbours unabashed critique of my divorced state. I wonder if I would have ever learned of Father and James’s involvement with Our Employer? Likely not, both of them were and are so very careful not to let anything show. I wonder if James figured out that I had been shot? We have much to talk about he and I, though I do not know what limits we should place on our conversations– I should speak to Mr Willoughby and find out what the rules are in such a situation.
~Lunch~
The service today was very nice. The sermon was a bit long for such a warm day but the text was Matthew chapter 14: “When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they said unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.”
This reading and the Psalm gave me something to reflect upon. Miracles happen, but even the smallest seems to require work in addition to faith. Without the disciples to distribute the loaves and fishes, could the miracle have happened? It is something to remember the next time I am kneeling on the floor trying to keep someone I greatly esteem from bleeding to death. I pray that we continue to be watched over and protected.
~Tea~
I must to remember to draft my reimbursement request. If all goes as planned at least one of my new dresses will be ready Wednesday. While at the dressmaker, I also purchased some new trims for my old blacks. I prefer to look newly married rather than recently widowed.
I am making slow progress through the book Mrs Cuthbert was given. Like many of the texts I have encountered in this work it does not seem to be organized in any sensible fashion. I had hoped it would contain very clear directions for removing the Oracle from a host. Instead it is more a history of Wapawet and his priesthood.
It's the author's belief that, even though the legends say that Wapawet ruled for centuries, it was probably a series of men who each claimed to be Wapawet incarnate. One or two of the legends make reference to Wapawet's ‘current’ body, that sort of thing. Unfortunately there are no specifics on how a host is chosen.
I suspect that the Compte Montelimar may be trying to tap into Wapawet’s power– for what end I do not know. I do not know enough of the man to guess if he would risk taking on the role of host himself or if he has someone waiting in the wings for that. I am vexed that we have not had time to follow up on Wapawet’s manifestation– since the Glove was stolen from my pocket, I fear he is active in some way that we cannot protect against.
According to the book, the breakdown of the relationship between Wapawet and Ra apparently happened over a long period of time. The legends in the ‘early years’ Wapawet was the local deity, lord of Abydos, answering to no one. Then the legends shifted and began to refer to Wapawet as ruling in Ra's name. Over time the relationship between Ra and Wapawet changed. Some legends seem to indicate Wapawet thought Ra had become too harsh or perhaps insane. Others indicate Wapawet simply wished to be the supreme ruler in heaven.
It is a very confusing book to read. If I had time I would transcribe my own version with the information organized in a more useable fashion.
~Supper~
Our quiet day is turning into a busy evening. We had all just finished supper when we received word that the Comte has been sighted in Gravesend. We have decided to leave on the next train and rent carriages and horses upon arrival. Mrs Frazer and Edward will be staying behind with Miss Bertilde, Miss Puddifoote, David, and Stuart to guard them. Mr O’Flaherty insists on coming with us even though he is barely well enough to be out of bed afer last nights drubbing.
I hope... I scarcely know what to hope. I want Mrs Frazer and the babies to be safe. I want the Comte and his accomplice in custody. I want Edward to stay out of trouble. I want to be brave and competent.
I rarely get what I want in these situations.
Proceed to Not Edward's fault
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