Gathering Storms: A Real Possession, 05 Apr 1870
Tuesday, 05 Apr 1870
Thackery and Isabelle
Thackery and Isabelle are residing quite nicely at the Pickerings' townhouse in London while Isabelle's parents are on holiday. Isabelle's education under Thackery continues quite nicely, too. Thackery also picks up a translation job from a well-to-do Egyptian. There is a manuscript, the Egyptian says, that he wishes to have translated. How soon can it be completed? Thackery feigns insult and gets a substantial increase in his translation fees. He takes the visitors card and shoos him out with the promise that he will deliver the translation as soon as it is finished.
He starts right away on it while Isabelle goes out for a night on the town disguised as a man. Meanwhile, Thackery spends 6 hours poring over the ancient manuscript. The letters seem to dance in the corner of his vision. He manages to translate some words. They seem to be "dead", "spirit", "containment", "freedom". After 6 hours, he's aged and fatigued but does not understand that the manuscript is magic and is sapping his strength.
When Isabelle comes back from her night on the town, she catches Thackery on the stairs. She sees he's aged and inquires about his well-being. He insists he's merely tired. She goes to investigate the ancient manuscript in the library and when she touches it, she falls into a sort of trance. She doesn't divine the words but instead sees visions of clay jars and people in a mist …
She gets a pounding headache and feels too weak to turn the page. She pulls away, exceedingly tired, and goes to bed.
The Finches
A well-dressed young man delivers a heavy cream colored envelope addressed to Pieter Finch. Inside is a formal invitation to the Royal Society. Ariadne is not included, of course, but it's a great honor for Pieter. He scrambles to arrange a demonstration of his newest invention—mechanical silkworms with butterfly wings, that can fly to the wounded on the battlefield so as to bind up their wounds.
Nicholas Varney
A stage magician, Cyrus Thomas, pays Varney a visit. They are old acquaintances from their stage magician days and Thomas believes he's the better of the two. Such is his belief that he feels entitled to get a share in Varney's fortunes as spiritualist-faker of rich old women. Cut him in on the take, says Thomas, or he'll expose Varney as a fraud.
Varney refuses. Thomas slams out.
Wednesday, 06 Apr 1870
Thackery and Isabelle
Thackery recovers during the night and wakes refreshed. Isabelle's maid knocks on his door requesting assistance in waking Isabelle. The young woman is impossible to rouse. Thackery goes to his niece and admits she does look a touch pale. He leans over and says her parents have come home.The words sink through the lassitude gripping Isabelle and she groggily rises.
Thackery caustically opines that he has better things to do than pursue the duties of a ladies' maid and goes back to the translation job. In a blink, another 6 hours have flown by and Thakery is aged and fatigued again. Cook notices and they wrangle over which sort of meal would revitalize him best. Thackery gets his meal as ordered but Cook manages to mother-hen him anyway, much to his annoyance. He also has to fork over a 100 pounds to the butler to replenish the liquor stock. It seems Thackery is going through it an an accelerated rate.
Varney
Midmorning a message from Mrs. L—, one of Varney's dowager clients, arrives. Can he see her as soon as he is able? Varney hires a carriage as soon as possible and goes to see her. When he arrives, he finds Cyrus Thomas has preceded him and Mrs. L— is quite flustered by what the man has told her. Is it true that Varney is a fraud? That Mr. Thomas is the true medium of the two. Varney realizes that Thomas has set upon a smear campaign to steal his clients and his livelihood. Varney arranges for a séance on the spot, with Thomas, to let Mrs. L— judge for herself who is the true spiritualist.
Thomas puts on a good show for Mrs. L—and her lady friends, using all the standard mummery of the trade. Varney keeps up a running commentary, deflating Thomas's efforts until it becomes clear to Mrs. L— that Varney is the genuine article. Thomas departs, defeated.
A carriage is called for Varney to take him home. He gets in and blinks in surprise—somehow a very attractive woman in outdated dress has managed to climb into the carriage ahead of him. She sits in the seat opposite him and she seems agitated.
You can see me? she asks him.
Why yes, he can.
I need you to take a message to William, she says.
Is William your … husband? Varney asks, all the while marveling the agility and stealth of the woman getting into the carriage ahead of him unseen.
Yes, she says.
How do I find him?
The woman seems unable to recall. Her memory is scrambled. It takes her a few moments and some questions from Varney to focus her before she can tell him.
Birmingham, she says. Please tell him to move the grandchildren. It's so hard to remember. Fleming. William Fleming. It's so hard to materialize, she says, when Varney doesn't believe in her.
Oh, he believes her, Varney assures her. She's too beautiful not believe her.
Can he take her hand as proof of his belief? she asks.
Yes. Varney holds her hand and he's alarmed. Madame, you are cold as ice. You must be ill. You—
He knocks on the carriage roof to alert the driver and in a blink, the woman vanishes. This throws Varney for a loop. How the devil did she get out of the carriage? Where did she go? The driver says he did not see anyone get in or out besides Varney, despite Varney's insistence that a woman had been present.
How very odd.
Ariadne Finch
She is in the government's Lambethside Labs, helping Selene Dashwood, when Col. Fleming walks in and interrupts them. He nails Ariadne with a stern look and quizzes her on the Finches's Aetheric measuring apparatus.
There has been an uptick in Aetheric activity, he says, here and on the Continent. Can she go with her husband to Scotland to take readings with their apparatus?
Yes, Ariadne affirms. They can.
She goes back to Finch & Son with the news.
Selene is rather put out at losing her ablest assistant and friend, but she does have a second dragon's egg to watch over. She will not lack for work to do.
Thackery and Isabelle
Thackery is slaving away at the translation work. Isabelle goes for a horse ride. When her carriage returns in the evening, there is a policeman on the front steps with his hand raised to knock on the door. Isabelle intercepts him and invites him in.
Is Professor Samuel Thackery in?
Isabelle asks him to please wait while she inquires. She goes straight to Thackery to tell him the police are asking for him. Thackery thinks the worst and shoves the book in her hands with instructions to hide it while he eels out the window. Obviously they are here to drag him off to debtor's prison over his gambling debts.
Thackery makes it out the window and lands noisily in the bushes below. Isabelle calls down to him that he needs to be more careful. Thankfully, the policeman does not hear the racket. Isabelle hides the book in her room and goes below to tell the Policeman that she does not know where Thackery is. The policeman tells her that Constable Peters would like to see him, gives her the Constable's card, and leaves.
Thackery hides in the carriage shed for half an hour until the coast is clear, then reenters the house. Cook finds him sneaking in and they argue over his state of health. Thackery wins the upper hand and gets back to the library. Isabelle retrieves the book for him and even she thinks he's looking unwell. Thackery acidly opines that he'd feel a lot better if the women in this household would cease mother-henning him. Why the devil were the police here?
Isabelle give him the Constable's card and the message. Thackery blows it off and burns the card to light a cigar.
Varney
He visits Cyrus Thomas at the man's hotel. Thomas was not expecting him but lets Varney into his room so they can talk.
You may have been the better magician, Varney affirms, but I am still the better spiritualist.
Thomas scoffs. Varney promises to shut Thomas out if the man continues to smear him. Thomas is unfazed. He'll break into Varney's circle, he insists, and leave Varney with nothing. Varney tells Thomas he'll fail. He'll give Thomas a week before he has to leave London.
After trading a few more barbs, Varney leaves.
He decides to track down the William Fleming that the lady in the carriage told him about. She was ill, wearing clothing 30 years out of date, and going on about grandchildren being moved and Birmingham and so forth.
Hmmm….
He thinks on the problem as he calls on his clients, warning them individually of the charlatan Thomas and his designs to defraud them of their money. Do not be taken in by this man, he warns them. A third of Varney's clients have already been contacted by Thomas, however, so the news is no surprise. They are glad to see Varney, even so, and it seems that most of his clients will not be swayed by Thomas.
Varney asks his clients of they know of a William Fleming, by any chance?
Oh, you mean the Colonel? one of his clients asks. The poor man retired to the country after the heartbreak, so sad.
Why, yes. A young woman needed to send him a message that—
Oh! Was there a manifestation, Mr. Varney?
Yes, I—
He has a house in town. Would you like a letter of introduction?
Thank you.
It's good to have a circle of clients in the highest levels of society. Varney thanks his client for the letter and leaves, making plans to see the Colonel the very next day.
Pieter Finch
Pieter has finished the work on the flying medical silkworms. He's also completed more work on the chain drive for a portable version of the Aetheric measuring device, but it is still not complete. He loads everything up in a wagon and has it carted to Lambeth on the Colonel's orders.
The Colonel is waiting for him there. He orders baseline readings to compare to his own. The magic in the world is rising, coming easier. The Aether would surely reflect this, would it not? Find him the proof. Get him those readings!
Pieter is given lab space at Lambeth to set up his apparatus there to take baseline measurements. The Finches' prior readings with the apparatus are a good help in devising the database. While Pieter sets things up, the Colonel orders Ariadne to take samples of water from a list of locations on the Thames and as far away as Stonehenge. While Pieter works on the baseline readings, she goes out for the water samples.
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