Gathering Storms: Varney the Vampire ... Hunter, 21 Mar 1870
Varney is in the middle of bilking 4 older ladies with a séance when a spirit actually does appear to him. It's John, the young proper Englishman ghost of Isabelle's former (-life) lover. John is convinced that she's in danger from one of her suitors, the successful Irish businessman Seamus Bourne. He must help save her!
Varney is convinced it's an illusion being projected by a competitor con man and refuses to believe John is real.
John insists he's real and begs Varney's help again.
Varney ignores the ghost and continues with his act. John gathers his strength and shakes the table, knocks on the wood loudly, and even manages to push a vase off the fireplace mantel. At which point Varney incorporates the shenanigans in the act and fakes having a communion with his client's dead husband. He's listening, he says to the room. Varney listens as John tells him what's happened.
Over the past fortnight, John has been going to one medium after another, trying hard to get them to listen to him. Somehow someone or something's shut down all the mediums, or avenues to them, and Varney is the only one still open and broadcasting that John can find. He must save Isabelle from Bourne. He's already drawn off her twice. She's in mortal danger from him, sir!
Varney (still pulling off his act) shoos the spirit away and tells his client that her husband is very angry with her. As he delivers his verdict, Varney sees John disappear right through the fireplace wall and he personally marvels over his competitor's technical abilities at smoke and mirrors. He tries not to be obvious about it but he examines the wall and can find no crack or oddity, not even the frost from the Pickering séance.
He bids his clients good day, collects his pay and goes over to the Pickerings. Mrs. P is thrilled he's come and when he asks to speak to Isabelle, she calls her daughter down. It's obvious Mrs. P thinks Varney a possible suitor for her daughter and Varney has to assure her he is nothing of the sort. Mrs. P doesn't believe him. She gives him the wink and lets him speak to Isabelle alone.
Varney tells Isabelle about his séance and she confirms that the ghost—no, competitor's apparition—was that of John, her long-dead ghost lover. And as she speaks, Varney notices that she seems paler than last he saw her. And more demure.
Isabelle? Pale and demure? Hmm.
Varney speaks to Mrs. P next, explaining that a spirit tried to talk to him during a séance but couldn't hear him. Might we schedule another séance? Mrs. P agrees and they set the time and date for the coming Saturday evening. Invitations are sent out forthwith to Thackery and the Finches.
Varney takes his leave of the Pickerings and later visits the Finches to confirm they will be at the séance. Well, yes, of course they will. What occasions the séance? Varney tells them. At which point Ariadne puts two and two together and goes off on a tangent wherein she surmises a supernatural pre-emptive strike by parties unknown against mages and mediums, that London and perhaps England might be vulnerable to an attack. Why else would he have been afflicted as he'd had at the previous Pickering séance? Why else would the spiritualist woman die horribly right in front of them in that séance they had attended in the past fortnight. These are just exploratory forays into England's defenses, a precursor to a more lethal attack.
Ariadne is quite worked up and Peter mollifies her by promising to go to the Times the next morning to look for any reports of other suspicious deaths amongst the mages and mediums. She calms down after that and Varney takes his leave.
Colonel Pickering delivers Thackery's invitation and has to bribe the Don with a fiver in order to get him to come. Thackery and Varney meet sometime afterward. Varney tells Thackery of the séance and also a little of his apprehensions of getting dragooned by Mrs. P into marrying Isabelle. He doesn't want to get married—it's practically the oldest long con in the book.
Thackery tells Varney that he should inform the main contender, Seamus Bourne, that he is not a contender for Isabelle's hand.
Meanwhile, Seamus Bourne has come calling on Isabelle and invites her out for a walk. She goes, chaperoned by the Cook. Bourne takes Isabelle's hand and strokes her arm as they walk and Isabelle falls under the spell of his considerable charm. The Cook falls under his spell as well … only her eyes are glazing over and she mutters she has a headache. As the walk progresses, the Cook starts walking slower. Finally, Bourne insists that the Cook can hear a nightingale in the trees nearby and causes the woman to look away long enough for Bourne to steal a kiss on Isabelle. Isabelle grows faint and nearly swoons. Bourne catches her up and insists he take her home. Cook follows, her headache worse now than when they'd started their walk.
The next day, Peter does spend his morning in the Times's morgue. He finds 4 reports, 3 of which were mysterious deaths by exsanguination and one by beheading. He goes home to tell his wife.
That evening, Varney calls on Seamus Bourne to formally announce he is not vying for Isabelle's hand. He's let in and is met by Bourne's sister. She informs him that her brother is out for the evening. Varney looks at everything as he's led inside. He notes that it is a very nice house. He also notes that Bourne's sister is very alluring and despite her professed relationship, she has brown eyes and not Irish accent to her brother's Irish fairness and brogue. Odd.
She's also rather forward. She practically attempts to seduce him right there in the parlour. The butler comes in and interrupts, hustling the sister out of the room and Varney out the front door. Varney is only too happy to leave. That woman was kinda creepy and he wonders what her angle was.
Later, Varney is woken up near midnight out of a sound sleep by John shaking his bed. Varney is indignant that his unknown competitor would invade his privacy to play yet another projection trick on him. John is desperate by now—Varney must go, now! Isabelle is in grave danger from Bourne. Bourne is even now on his way to the Pickerings' to take Isabelle away with him. If he succeeds, her immortal soul will be in peril. Hurry up man! Go save her!
Why? Why should he get in the way of two people in love? Varney asks.
Because Seamus Bourne is a VAMPIRE!
At which point Varney remarks to his unseen competitor—who is clearly round the bend—that this is just too ridiculous!
John counters that it's the truth, that Bourne is a vampire and that there's been a rise in vampire activity. There has been since that business in Charleston, in the United States. Apparently there have been some vampires from there that have come over to England. Please save Isabelle. John has waited for Isabelle to live and die a natural death so they could be together again. But if Bourne damns her soul with his vampire curse, then there will be no natural death, no passing beyond for Isabelle, and no joyous reunion for John. Bourne is already on his way to the Pickerings' home. He'll be there soon and after that, it will be too late. Please save Isabelle!
Groaning, Varney hauls out of bed and makes ready to leave. At least he could make sure that Isabelle doesn't climb out her window, dashitall.
At the Pickerings' Isabelle is already awake and dressed. Whispers in her dreams have woken her and she waits for Bourne to appear. She opens her window.
On Old Burlington Street, Peter Finch is in the front of the shop fixing the bi-metal thermometer strip he'd promised a client and Ariadne Finch is in the back of the shop going over her scientific notes of the day. A wheeled carriage or vehicle passes by their shop, the horses' hooves and wheels strangely muffled. The Finches both look up at the sound but return to their tasks. However, in the back of the shop all the instruments go wild with readings. Ariadne calls Peter over to look and they both catch the clue—they run outside to look for the carriage. They see it's a Hansom cab. It's reached the far end of their street and if they don't hurry, they'll lose the source of the emanations. They hurriedly get their equipment in a wheelbarrow and follow the cab on foot. Their equipment continues to give them readings, reassuring them that they are on the right track.
Thackery, meanwhile, is in a gambling establishment and while he's gaming, one of the staff goes to him to inform him that his debts are paid up. How? There is a gentleman who would like to see him about that, sir.
Thackery meets the gentleman. The man is from Seamus Bourne and he informs Thackery that Seamus Bourne wants Isabelle. Bourne knows that there is a séance scheduled for the morrow at the Pickerings'. Two thousand pounds will be his if he would be absent from the séance. Thackery agrees. He is given the money and he sells a book in his possession to cover for the transaction. The gentleman leaves and Thackery resolves to ruin Bourne.
Isabelle waits at her window and a small pebble raps against the glass. Bourne is below and softly calls Isabelle to come away with him for a moonlight ride. Varney arrives at this point and Bourne pulls a fade.
Varney calls up to Isabelle: You're not going out the window, are you?
Back at the gambling establishment, Thackery actually wins (for once) at the tables and comes away with 250 pounds. A good night for him. He quits the tables and leaves.
Back at the Pickerings', Varney successfully convinces Isabelle to stay. Bourne emerges from the shadows and tries to intimidate Varney to back off and let him take Isabelle. They face off. Varney realizes that Bourne doesn't want to be discovered and he starts yelling loud enough to rouse the household. Bourne escapes before he can be seen.
As his cab pulls away from the curb, the Finches arrive at the other end of the street, with their wheelbarrow. Their instruments liven up as they near the cab and sighting their quarry they hasten their steps. They chase the cab as far as they are able but the cab gets a lead on them and finally it pulls away. The Finches' instruments quiet down as the distance increases and they are no longer able to read the emanations coming off the cab. The Finches return home, tired but excited by the amount of data they've been able to gather.
Their passing isn't unnoticed and the Colonel is convinced that the world has gone katty-wonkers. His daughter is climbing out of windows, Spiritualists are climbing out of the trees to visit unannounced, and scientists are bedeviling his neighborhood with infernal contraptions in the middle of the night!
Together Isabelle and Varney sort things out with a plausible story. The Colonel goes upstairs to tell his daughter that he is taking the entire family to Brighton for the weekend. Perhaps a change in scene will settle Isabelle's flighty behavior. Isabelle doesn't want to go to Brighton. It's boring there, she pouts at him. Nothing ever happens at Brighton. That is precisely the point! insists the Colonel. They are going to Brighton and that's final.
Thackery arrives and pulls the Colonel aside. He convinces the Colonel to let Isabelle visit Thackery's sister's estate in Kent for a fortnight while the Colonel takes Mrs. P to Brighton. Isabelle is all for this plan. She's never met Thackery's sister and the estate sounds so much more interesting than boring old Brighton. Exasperated by the whole business, the Colonel finally agrees. Isabelle will go to Kent with Thackery, where his sister should be a suitable chaperone.
The next day, Thackery goes to visit the Finches and confirms they will be at the seance that night. Also, he convinces them to go to Kent with their equipment and any weapons they've got. Peter balks but wrangles 100 pounds to offset any loss of revenue as a consequence, anticipating a hit on their reputation as a reliable business.
Thackery goes next to Varney and pays him 40 pounds to spend the fortnight in Kent. Varney demands 250 pounds from Thackery to offset the loss of work that would impose. Thackery counteroffers by raising the 40 pounds to 50—with another 50 promised upon return. Varney agrees.
Thackery goes to St. Paul's and starts filling several empty whiskey bottles with Holy Water from the font. The priest initially protests but is won over by Thackery's insistence that he's using for a good cause—to dispel a Papist Irish Vampire preying on England's fair ladies. And as he's about to do battle, might the priest bless him? Please?
Go with God, my son. The priest blesses Thackery.
Thackery makes a side trip to an Italian grocery and buys several strings of garlic before going home.
Back at the Pickerings', John visits Isabelle and warns her to be careful, to avoid Bourne.
That night the Finches arrive before the séance to set up their equipment. Pieter has made 4 more pieces to set outside, to detect any emanations originating outside. There was that mysterious muffled cab from the evening before, after all. Perhaps they could catch wind of it again.
Thackery arrives and puts garlic strings on the Pickerings, citing it a folk cure for what ails them. After all, they are all looking a bit peaked and in need of a rest. Here, put these little bags of salt in your shoes as well. They should improve things. Mrs. P protests they make her feet hurt. How is that supposed to be helping? Thackery distracts her by telling her of the lovely fortnight he's arranged with his sister in Kent for Isabelle and how she and the Colonel will be free to enjoy their respite in Brighton. Doesn't that sound nice?
Well, since he put it that way ….
Varney arrives and the séance gets underway. John appears and Varney, ever the sceptic but willing to roll with it, tells John to relax, that Isabelle is safe. Before he can do much more than that, John fiddles with the instruments to give a wild reading as a warning. A moment later Bourne crashes the party and demands that they turn over Isabelle.
Everyone rushes to Isabelle's defense but Bourne uses his vampiric powers to immobilize everyone. Everyone freezes in place except Varney. Varney stands up to Bourne and grabs the Holy Water that Thackery's brought. He splashes it on Bourne and the vampire hisses mightily. Encouraged that Bourne is convinced the water is deadly—wow, talk about never breaking character—Varney splashes Bourne again. Bourne leaves before it can destroy him and the spell immobilizing the others evaporates.
The Pickerings rush to their daughter. The Finches rush to their instruments. Thackery congratulates Varney for his actions. Varney still insists that he isn't a medium, that Bourne is a mortal scum bag putting the moves on Isabelle and not a vampire, though the bounder certainly seems convinced he is. Really, it's all fakery and explainable.
Nevertheless, everyone else in the room breathes a little easier now that Bourne is dispatched, and make plans to leave on the morrow for Kent and Brighton.
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