9 April 1872, Tuesday
I fell asleep on the train, not long after updating this record. I very much enjoy sleeping on trains, the sway of the cars is very restful.
We arrived in London around 9:00 a.m. Graves had turned out both Sir Cosmo and Sir Cuthbert’s household carriages to meet us, which very well thought, as we immediately scattered to the four winds on various assignments. Mr Salmalin and I took a carriage and the still unconscious form of Major Powell to the office of the Lord High Warlock.
I had a rather difficult interview with Mr Moody and was quite envious of my husband’s option to blend in to the background as a footman. Mr Moody wanted to know as much as possible about the events at Doverton Abbey. I wanted to express my displeasure at having Major Powell’s disruptive presence imposed upon us. I don’t know how effective I was at conveying my dismay. Mr Moody was rather too good at steering the conversation back in to safer waters.
I did share what we had learned about the two opposing forces and mentioned Mrs Cuthbert’s theory that Major Powell may not have been acting fully under his own control (and, though I do think, based on his arrogant behaviour, that he was quite capable of taking the cross for his own reasons, we did have the experience of battling Mr Oliphant and his minions when he was clearly under the influence of the a “Shadow”).
After that unnecessarily tiring interview (and handing the Major over to the Lord High Warlock’s office for care) Ravvi and I returned home. It was very nice to be in his company without the others all about– even for so short a time.
There were remains of breakfast available and from the looks of things, various members of the League had come and gone once more. I ate as much as my Condition would permit before retiring for a bit of sleep in my own bed.
The rest of the day passed in what seemed a whirlwind of trivia and administrative details. I spent much of it at home. I made a charm for Mr O’Flaherty. It is only a curse mirror but should provide a small measure of protection when things spin out of control, as they invariably do.
I did leave the house to pay a brief call on Lady Ottoline. I gave her an update on what had happened at Doverton Abbey. Mrs Wooster had enlisted her aid earlier in the search for Miss Botley, but so far, her contacts have turned up nothing.
Most of my compatriots were out searching the city in various ways. Since I can’t use magik to locate the girl for fear of drawing unwanted attention to her, I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking and napping– or rather, trying to think and finding myself waking up from naps.
One of my thoughts was about the connexion between Miss Botley and the missing part of our Kahash “Semkhet”. This is my theory– mostly supported by various arguments and conversations overheard in the past 24 hours.
Miss Botley had previously been diagnosed as an idiot in her home parish. Sir Robert had nominal custody of both her and Rimbaldi’s “Vessel”. I’m guessing that Sir Robert caused or the Semkhet on Earth chose to transfer into the girl recently. Sir Robert then called in Dr Kenyon to examine the girl (who was suddenly speaking in much different mode than she had previously? I’m not sure about this part) and Colonel Dunbar to examine some parts of the Vessel (the Colonel had a drawing of the peridot cross in his papers when we found him). Colonel Dunbar likely knows the family through the fiancee connexion (his fiancee is Aunt to Mr John Plank’s fiancee).
Given the order of attacks (Dr Kenyon, Colonel Dunbar, and then Sir Robert) I am not sure that my speculation holds any water, but it does have the virtue of simplicity.
I woke from my latest nap to find a cooling cup of tea at my elbow and Mrs Cuthbert stirring up the household. She had attempted to scry on the location of the parts of “Kahash” that are looking for the girl and received a strong sense of where they might be. We were just beginning to bundle ourselves into carriages when we received a message from the DFT saying that Sir Cosmo and his group had spotted something suspicious in the same area we were setting out to search.
We arrived at Bunhill Fields just in time to see the Kahash rise up in the air and fly away. We briefly considering letting our own Kahash reveal himself and try to draw their attention, but then someone pointed out that our Kahash had been imprisoned on its own platform, supposedly for its own good and so it was unlikely the other part of Kahash would listen to it.
A search of the grounds revealed several magikal cantrips that acted as labyrinths– sending any searcher who stepped on one on a wild path around the park. It was very vexing. Once we knew what to look for things went marginally better.
Edward found a small straw doll at the centre of the park, near where we had seen the “Kahash” take flight. The doll was remarkable in that someone had managed to create the illusion that part of a “Kahash” was embedded within.
Mrs Cuthbert, Mrs Chigwidgeon, Mrs Cake, the Comtesse, and I cast a history spell on it and were able to determine that the decoy had been placed by a local witch-beggar by the name of Mad Hettie. She had I have met previously but since her soubriquet is not unearned, she is rather difficult to get hold of. We also saw that the decoy had been successful, not only in drawing one of the Kahash and its assistant, but also in attracting Shadows– in the form of Mr Oliphant. It was disturbing, to say the least, to see the man up and walking about when the last time I had seen him was with a large hole in his chest, courtesy of Sir Spencer’s elephant gun.
This makes the search for Miss Botley even more urgent. We are hoping that Mad Hettie might have some idea where the girl might be. It is known Mad Hettie spends much of her time dockside getting people to pay her to go away and selling odd charms. After much discussion, it was decided that Sir Spencer, Lieutenant and Mrs Wooster, Mr O’Flaherty, and Edward and would search for Mad Hettie while the rest of us retired from the field for the night.
I joined Sir Cosmo in his carriage for the ride home. However, the news that Mr Oliphant was up and about changed our plans. Earlier in the day, Sir Cosmo and his party had visited Mr Oliphant’s lodgings. There they found a newspaper article mentioning artifacts on display at Bishop Observatory. One of the objects described in the article sounded like a match for the Plate that Sir Cosmo used to control the platform back at Doverton Abbey. Sir Cosmo wanted to visit the Observatory and confirm this.
Mrs Cuthbert, George, and I joined him. A most disheartening sight greeted us upon our arrival– Inspector Lestrade and a bevy of constables were bustling about. A theft had already occurred. The viewing room was closed to the public, however, that did not stop Sir Cosmo and he soon found an ingress. As we had feared the display case had been shattered and its contents riffled. The second Plate was missing.
As we were surveying the ruin, we heard a noise at the back. We made to hide, however, soon realized concealment was unnecessary. The new arrivals were the Comte and Comtesse des Brabant. About the only thing we could do was cast a history spell on the display case to see what had occurred. It was as we had feared, Mr Oliphant and his minions had broken in to the Observatory and stolen the Plate. The only information of note we were able to gather was that there were two different kinds of Plates. Mr Oliphant commented that the Plate at the Observatory was not an original and he was not certain if it would be able to control the Platform. I am not certain I understood what he was talking about, but I relayed what I heard to Sir Cosmo. Hopefully it will make a species of sense to him.
After that, there was nothing for it, but to
return home, check on the babies and mothers, and await news of
our scouting party.
Proceed to Incandescently angry
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