The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl
Page 41
MARY: Instead, you’re where you belong—home.
CHAPTER XVIII
A Meeting of the Athena Club
The Athena Club was meeting, with all members present.
Mary was sitting in an armchair under the portrait of her mother. Ernestine Jekyll looked down with cornflower-blue eyes, which was appropriate, since it was spring. A warm spring at that! The roses were already starting to bloom in Regent’s Park. Miraculously for London, it was not even raining.
Catherine was sitting on the sofa. Alice and Diana were sharing the sofa with her, both cross-legged, both with cats on their laps: Diana had Alpha while Alice had Omega. Bast was curled up next to Catherine, whom she had adopted as her particular human. She looked like a small puma next to the Puma Woman. Beatrice and Lucinda were perched next to each other on the window seat. Beatrice was drinking a cup of green goo. Lucinda was drinking a cup of something red. The rest of us were drinking tea, like ordinary women who are not monsters. And yet we were monstrous, each in our own way. Justine sat on the floor with her knees drawn up and her long, slender hand wrapped around a mug.
It had been six months since we had defeated Queen Tera, Margaret Trelawny, and Mrs. Raymond. Those six months had been relatively calm, all things considered. There had been the affair of Prince Rupert and the Oldenburg jewels, which had necessitated a short trip to Schleswig-Holstein; Countess Olenska’s haunted castle (not haunted at all, except by her drunken brother, who had escaped from an Australian penal colony); the naval treaty stolen from Colonel Protheroe’s study, which we had intercepted before it could be sold to the Russian Ambassador; and Miss Lettie Pruitt’s missing King Charles Spaniel, Ivanhoe, who had been found in one of the lowest dens in Bethnal Green, with a bitch of the most disreputable sort. But life at 11 Park Terrace had been quiet, which was a relief to most of us and agony to Diana, who complained of being so bored.
However, such adventures did not pay the bills, particularly when certain princes paid in diamonds that turned out to be paste.
“Weekly accounts,” said Mary. “Five pounds from my work with Mr. Holmes now that I’m a partner of sorts, plus a one-pound bonus for solving ‘The Case of the Pentonville Vampire,’ who of course was nothing of the sort. Dr. Watson says he’s going to include me in that one, when he writes it up for The Strand.”
“Nothing,” said Diana. “Why won’t you let me go up for the part of Hebe, cupbearer to the gods? It’s a respectable play—based on Greek mythology and all that.”
“Because I’ve seen the costume and she’s barely dressed. Be grateful that I’m letting you work in the theater at all!” said Mary in an end of conversation tone.
“One pound even from the show I helped Marvelous Martin put on,” said Alice. “He has a new show at the Tivoli, and he wants to make me his regular assistant!”
“Nothing this week,” said Justine. “But Sunset over the Matterhorn and A Field of Swiss Wildflowers are both hanging in the Grosvenor, and I hope one of them will find a buyer. Mr. Gray has been very helpful in introducing me to art patrons from the continent.”
“Eight pounds, ten shillings,” said Beatrice. “St. Bartholomew’s has become one of my regular customers, but I’ve decided to give charity hospitals a discount on my medicines. That is the correct word, is it not—discount?”
“One pound two shillings from my first week of piano lessons,” said Lucinda. “And I wish to thank all of you for purchasing the piano,” which now stood against the far wall of the parlor. “I know it was a significant expense.”
Catherine just looked smug.
“Well?” said Mary. “Out with it. I know you want to tell us.”
“Sixty pounds!” she said, as though she could not believe it herself. “For three more books. I’m going to call them Rick Chambers and Astarte, Something Something on Venus (I’m not sure about that one yet), and Invasion of the Cat Women. Also, Longman, Green, and Co. says the first two novels have sold well enough that there will be authorized American editions, although they pirate books terribly there.”
“Sixty pounds!” said Mary. “Well, I think this calls for a celebration.”
“It’s too early in the day for spirits,” said Mrs. Poole from the doorway. She had a tray in her hand. “How about treacle tart? Catherine told me the good news earlier this afternoon. Alice, Diana, if you could put those dratted cats down and move the table…” The tray contained the aforementioned tart, as well as an assortment of small plates and dessert forks.
“And you sit too, Mrs. Poole,” said Mary. “Let’s all celebrate together.”
Just then, we heard what none of us had expected on a quiet Saturday afternoon: the doorbell.
“Perhaps it’s Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson coming to join us,” said Justine.
“More likely the rag-and-bones man,” said Mrs. Poole. “I’ll go send him packing.”
After she had gone to answer the bell, Beatrice said, “Mary, there’s a carriage out in the street, with a coachman, two footmen, and four horses. Who would drive such an elaborate equipage in this part of London?”
“Maybe some sort of dowager Duchess coming to hire us, to find her long-lost heir or Pekingese,” said Catherine. “Does the carriage have a device on it?”
Beatrice looked out the window again. “No, it’s—well, it’s just black.”
“Mary,” said Mrs. Poole from the doorway. “Girls. Please stand up.”
Her voice was so sharp and commanding that we all immediately stood up, as though at school.
Mrs. Poole stepped into the room and moved to one side. “We have a distinguished visitor, who wishes to remain incognito.”
The woman who walked into the room after her was small, plump, and altogether ordinary looking. She was dressed in black crepe, with a black bonnet on her head. Her black veil was folded back over it. She could have been any widow driving around London, perhaps to stop for some shopping on Tottenham Court Road or a walk in Hyde Park, except that in profile, she resembled the image on a gold sovereign.
“Holy—” said Diana, but luckily did not finish the exclamation.
Mary immediately curtseyed, and saw to her relief that the other members of the Athena Club were following her example.
“Miss Mary Jekyll,” said the woman. Even after all these years, she still had a slight German accent. “It has come to our attention that you and your fellow members of a certain club were instrumental in warning us of danger this past autumn. If we had been apprised of this sooner, we would have come to visit you at an earlier date. However, we would like to thank you now, in person, for services to ourselves as well as to our Commonwealth. To that end, we would like to present you with these—Rochester?”
A dour-looking woman in an afternoon dress of brown and green tartan stepped into the room—a lady-in-waiting of some sort? She was carrying a large wooden box. She opened it and tilted the box so they could all see what lay inside on the black velvet: seven gold medals on seven crimson ribbons.
“The Order of St. Hilda is given for personal and confidential service to the monarch. Come forward, each of you.”
Of course, Diana was first in line. One by one, we each came forward, while the woman in black presented each of us with one of the medals from the box. Mary was last.
“Thank you, ma’am,” she said, curtseying again.
“We are grateful for your brave and loyal service,” said the woman. “Now, Mrs. Poole, I see a treacle tart. Could you cut us a slice, and one for Rochester as well? We have developed a sweet tooth in old age.”
After they heard the front door shut again, the “Gee-up!” of the coachman, and the rumble of carriage wheels driving away along Park Terrace, Mary said, “Well. That was—” But she did not finish her sentence.
“Does anyone else want the last slice of treacle tart?” asked Diana. “Because I do.”
“Diana just asked if anyone else wants the last slice before taking it,” said Catherine. “This is a day of miracl
es indeed.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Justine burst out laughing. We were all startled—Justine so seldom laughed! Then Mary started laughing, and the rest of us joined in, until Mrs. Poole, who had just come in with another pot of tea, said, “What in the world has gotten into you girls?” Which prompted a fresh round of laughter.
Nothing, thought Mary, looking around the room. Nothing in particular has gotten into us. This is just another ordinary evening with monsters.
Nowadays, if you came to 11 Park Terrace from wherever you are, whether Bethnal Green or Brazil or Abyssinia, and rang the bell below a brass plaque on which is engraved THE ATHENA CLUB, you could ask to see the leather-bound record book of the club, which is kept in what was once Dr. Jekyll’s office and is now the library as well as Catherine’s writing room. If Mrs. Poole invited you in and showed you the first page, you would see the following signatures in varying states of legibility, with ink spatters beside Diana’s:
MEMBERS:
Miss Mary Jekyll
Miss Diana Hyde
Miss Beatrice Rappaccini
Miss Catherine Moreau
Miss Justine Frankenstein
Miss Lucinda Van Helsing
Miss Lydia Raymond
SUPPORTERS:
Mrs. Irene Norton
Miss Laura Jennings
Carmilla, Countess Karnstein
Wilhelmina, Countess Dracula
Victoria Regina
Dear Reader:
I hope you have enjoyed this history of how we came together, we monsters. If you have begun with this book, I advise you to purchase volumes I and II of the Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club—only thus can you learn how Mary, Diana, Beatrice, Catherine, Justine, Lucinda, and Alice came to live together as a family of sorts. And if you have read all these volumes, you may also wish to purchase one of my other books published by Longmans, Green, and Co., only two shillings each, available at all reputable booksellers and also in train stations throughout England:
The Mysteries of Astarte
The Adventures of Rick Chambers
Rick Chambers and Astarte
Rick Chambers on Venus
Invasion of the Cat Women
The Death of Astarte
The Resurrection of Astarte
Rick Chambers, Jr. in the Caverns of Doom
My latest novel, Astarte and the Idol of Gold, will be available this spring for the same very reasonable price. American readers are urged to purchase authorized copies from Scribner’s Sons.
Respectfully,
Catherine Moreau
Dear Reader:
I hope you have enjoyed this history of how we came together, we monsters. If you have begun with this book, I advise you to purchase volumes I and II of the Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club—only thus can you learn how Mary, Diana, Beatrice, Catherine, Justine, Lucinda, and Alice came to live together as a family of sorts. And if you have read all these volumes, you may also wish to purchase one of my other books published by Longmans, Green, and Co., only two shillings each, available at all reputable booksellers and also in train stations throughout England:
The Mysteries of Astarte
The Adventures of Rick Chambers
Rick Chambers and Astarte
Rick Chambers on Venus
Invasion of the Cat Women
The Death of Astarte
The Resurrection of Astarte
Rick Chambers, Jr. in the Caverns of Doom
My latest novel, Astarte and the Idol of Gold, will be available this spring for the same very reasonable price. American readers are urged to purchase authorized copies from Scribner’s Sons.
Respectfully,
Catherine Moreau
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
One of the great pleasures of following the members of the Athena Club on their adventures has been visiting all sorts of magical places, such as St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall. I would like to thank all the guides who work on the island and in the castle for so patiently answering my questions when I went on the tour three times in a row and wandered around plotting fight scenes in those elegant rooms. A general thanks to everyone who helped me in London, Cornwall, and Budapest, whether they knew they were helping or not, and a special thanks to Bernhard Stäber and Aleksandra Kasztalska for helping with German and Polish translations, respectively. Any mistakes in translations or historical details are of course my own. Thank you once again to everyone at Barry Goldblatt Literary, especially my agent Barry Goldblatt, who encouraged me to write this series in the first place, and Patricia Ready, who always answers my panicked questions with humor and patience. An enormous thanks goes to my editor, Navah Wolfe, who believed in this group of unusual young women and guided me with endless patience and insight as I tried to write their stories to the best of my ability. Thanks also to the whole crew at Saga Press, including Bridget Madsen, Krista Vossen, Elizabeth Blake-Linn, Alysha Bullock, Caroline Pallotta, Mike Kwan, and Madison Penico without whom this book would not be one, and LJ Jackson, who coordinated publicity, bringing it to the attention of readers like you. Artist Lisa Perrin captured the spirit of the Athena Club so perfectly on its cover, and I’m most grateful. My biggest thanks goes, as always, to my daughter, Ophelia, who read the books first. Her laughter and attention were the best compliment I could receive. And finally, thank you, yes you, who have made it this far. I hope you enjoyed spending time with Mary, Diana, Beatrice, Catherine, Justine, Lucinda, and little Alice—who learned, in the end, that even a kitchen maid can be a heroine. I know they all enjoyed spending time with you and would love to have you over for tea at 11 Park Terrace the next time you’re in the vicinity. Mrs. Poole is already baking a treacle tart…
More from this Series
The Strange Case of the…
Book 1
European Travel for the…
Book 2
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
THEODORA GOSS is the World Fantasy and Locus Award–winning author of the short story and poetry collections In the Forest of Forgetting, Songs for Ophelia, and Snow White Learns Witchcraft, as well as the novella The Thorn and the Blossom and the novels The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter and European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman. She has been a finalist for the Nebula, Crawford, Seiun, and Mythopoeic Awards, as well as on the Tiptree Award Honor List. Her work has been translated into twelve languages. She teaches literature and writing at Boston University and in the Stonecoast MFA Program. Visit her at TheodoraGoss.com.
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ALSO BY THEODORA GOSS
THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF THE ATHENA CLUB
Book 1: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter
Book 2: European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2019 by Theodora Goss
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Interior design by Brad Mead
Jacket illustration © Lisa Perrin
Author photograph © Matthew Stein Photography
First Saga Press trade paperback edition October 2019
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Goss, Theodora, author.
Title: The sinister mystery of the mesmerizing girl / Theodora Goss.|
Description: First Edition. | New York : Saga Press, [2019] |
Series: The Extraordinary adventures of the Athena Club ; book 3
Identifiers: LCCN 2018047694 | ISBN 9781534427877 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534427891 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Holmes, Sherlock—Fiction. | Missing persons—Investigation—Fiction. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3607.O8544 S56 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047694
ISBN 978-1-5344-2787-7
ISBN 978-1-5344-2789-1 (ebook)