Doctor Who_ The Adventures Of Henrietta Street Part 6

The Doctor warned emondeur that such creatures couldn't be trained, which made Sabbath smile wryly although he said nothing. But the Doctor was much more interested in knowing exactly how how the old man had called the beast into the world. Not surprisingly for a man whose religion was such a mixture of Catholic fury and terrorist zeal, emondeur claimed he'd performed the summoning with nothing more than a prayer. Even Sabbath had to raise an eyebrow at that. the old man had called the beast into the world. Not surprisingly for a man whose religion was such a mixture of Catholic fury and terrorist zeal, emondeur claimed he'd performed the summoning with nothing more than a prayer. Even Sabbath had to raise an eyebrow at that.

emondeur went on to say that it had happened on a Sunday, when the men in his charge would regularly hold a form of Church at the camp, during which they'd commune with the Saints and consume a charming delicacy called the 'wafer of chair du Francais chair du Francais'. On this particular night emondeur had conducted the service, and while his men had bowed their heads he'd felt particularly inspired. He'd told them that if enough French blood were shed, then the Mackandal-Christ himself might be brought forth to walk the dark places of the island and tear the heads of the slavemasters from their shoulders. Then, in a moment of clarity, he'd gone further. He'd said that indeed, it might be this bloodshed which removed Mackandal from the stake at the moment of his death and brought him into the present removed Mackandal from the stake at the moment of his death and brought him into the present.

This was a remarkable statement for emondeur to have made. That kind of complex thought, implying a kind of structure structure inside time itself, was virtually unknown even to the great scientific minds of Europe. But it was at this point that the ape had suddenly come screaming out of the forest. The men had panicked at first, as the ape had leaped over the backs of those kneeling to pray under the night sky, scratching at anyone in its path. Only under emondeur's leaders.h.i.+p (said emondeur) had the Maroons recovered their wits and brought down the beast. inside time itself, was virtually unknown even to the great scientific minds of Europe. But it was at this point that the ape had suddenly come screaming out of the forest. The men had panicked at first, as the ape had leaped over the backs of those kneeling to pray under the night sky, scratching at anyone in its path. Only under emondeur's leaders.h.i.+p (said emondeur) had the Maroons recovered their wits and brought down the beast.

One imagines the Doctor and Sabbath exchanging glances. While it's true that the 'horizon' on their chart had now extended as far as the islands of the western Atlantic, the notion that even one of the apes could be called by mere casual words words rather than the complex ritual of the rather than the complex ritual of the tantra tantra was disturbing. was disturbing.

However, it was this one piece of information which allowed the Doctor, in the days that followed, to finally piece together the mystery of the babewyns babewyns, to finally establish where the creatures had come from, and how he himself was partly responsible for their existence. Sabbath had always blamed the Doctor's kind for the attacks, not because he was a reactionary (not, that is, because he believed 'there are things man was meant to leave alone') but because he felt the investigation of such areas wasn't the province of wh.o.r.es and faded elementals. Now, with the apes seeming closer than ever to the surface of the world, both men would have to adjust the way they saw things.

It's important to remember that Sabbath wasn't a reactionary, because if anything he was quite the reverse. He was a progressive: so progressive that he didn't even consider normal human concerns to be worth bothering with. His s.h.i.+p was a testament to the new industrialism, decades ahead of its time. On the other hand, in most of Europe there was a fas.h.i.+on for the philosophy known as 'sensibility'. Thanks to writers like the late Rousseau, there was an increasing desire to return to a golden, mythical age of Eden. Sabbath would have been contemptuous of such trends, but a copy of Rousseau's memoirs found its way into his library nonetheless. Sabbath must have been amused by the descriptions of the 'morally pure' author's interest in masochism, his involvement in a scandalous society menage a trois, his ma.s.sive paranoid streak and his tendency to call all his lovers 'mother'. Such was the way of the morally pure.

But there was a definite edge of Rousseau-style 'sensibility' in the beliefs of Scarlette. Perhaps it's not surprising, given her h.e.l.lfire upbringing, that she tended to look back to a golden age when courtesans were glamorous and the world rang with rumours of the Monks of Medmenham. It was a tendency that, intentionally or not, ended up being pa.s.sed on to Juliette, the 'Virgin of Spring'. Although back in London, Juliette was just starting to take steps which almost seemed deliberately planned to change that fate, or at least subvert it.

On August 21, Juliette climbed out of bed in the early hours of the morning and once again walked down into the salon. This time she was wide awake, and left her room by her own volition. This time she dressed, though only in her simplest clothes (no red or black), and quietly slipped out of the House.

She'd decided that she had business elsewhere. What she didn't realise was that she'd been seen.

Anji had been distrustful of Juliette ever since May. Her suspicions, later recorded by Lisa-Beth, were further aroused after Katya's argument with Scarlette. Anji noticed that following the argument, Juliette began to spend more and more time with Fitz: not simply talking, but communicating in a way that bordered on the flirtatious. This didn't seem at all in character for Juliette, and Anji was apparently reminded of the way in which the women of the House would banter with their clients before discussing money.

Had Juliette been trying to seduce Fitz? It's not impossible. However, it's more likely that Juliette was testing out her social skills, seeing whether she could deal with men the way her elders in the House did. Fitz seems to have been quite uncomfortable with this new, laughing, tactile version of Juliette. It's easy to get the impression that he liked the attention, but didn't know what to do with it. Anji grew resentful, so it's at least feasible she was jealous.

So Anji was awake and alert when Juliette had her 'waking dream', and followed the girl, at a discreet distance, as she left the House. And Anji later made one final significant observation about Juliette's preparations. She noted that once Juliette had slipped on her s.h.i.+ft in the moonlit bedroom, she took Scarlette's gla.s.s charm from the dressing table to hang around her neck. Then she paused, took it off again, and put it back in its place.

The suggestion is that Juliette felt it was time for her to use her own weapons.

Anji was still following her, at half a street's length, when Juliette arrived at Cranbourn Street. This was a street to the west of Covent Garden, which had no real reputation but was often haunted by drunks and other 'gentlemen' in the small hours of the morning. Anji watched as Juliette made her way down the cobbled streets, in the yellow light that must have filled the pavements from the few lamps still lit. There may have been prost.i.tutes working on the street, though it was common in Covent Garden for women of the night to hunt in packs rather than alone, so they would have pa.s.sed through the street wave by wave instead of loitering in the doorways. Anji later recalled that Juliette looked 'uncertain, but not scared'.

Australian Aboriginals in p.u.b.erty perform the ritual called 'walkabout', in which they're left to wander the desert outback with nothing but their wits to help them survive, an initiation designed to put the adolescent 'in tune' with his world through painful experience. Here on the streets of London, Juliette was undergoing her own, very English, kind of walkabout. Little wonder that Anji believed this was part of some secret witchery, which the Doctor didn't couldn't know about.

Halfway along Cranbourn Street, Juliette was stopped by a man whom Anji describes as looking 's.h.i.+fty'. He seems to have been of the professional cla.s.ses, though not overly rich. Anji ducked into the doorway of what she took to be a closed shop, and was too far away to hear the conversation: a pity, because it might have revealed much about Juliette's intentions. All Anji could report was that they talked for a few moments, apparently in a civil manner. There didn't seem to be any argument between them, but after a while the man simply walked away. Juliette, Anji claimed, spent some time staring after the man once he'd left her. As if considering a lost opportunity.

As far as Anji knew, Juliette was supposed to be a model of pure and unsullied virtue... and as far as Anji was concerned, the girl was obviously trying to make extra money by putting herself on the streets, proof that something funny was going on. If she'd been more forgiving, Anji might have considered that this impulse could have come from Juliette herself rather than being part of somebody's secret training. The subtext of Katya's rant at Scarlette had been, why are you spending money on clothes for that girl when she doesn't even earn her keep? why are you spending money on clothes for that girl when she doesn't even earn her keep? For followers of Rousseau's cult of sensibility, there was no greater sin than failure to live up to the 'natural' work ethic. For followers of Rousseau's cult of sensibility, there was no greater sin than failure to live up to the 'natural' work ethic.

It's also worth noting that after her meeting with the gentleman on the street, Juliette returned home, Anji running ahead of her on the way back. But there would be other nights.

Anji couldn't report all this directly to the Doctor, because the Doctor still hadn't returned to London. Throughout August he took full advantage of his access to Sabbath's s.h.i.+p, which meant that he didn't take the direct route either to or from Hispaniola. At one point he and Sabbath even ended up in Vienna, at the Doctor's insistence, where they attended the premiere of (appropriately) Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio The Abduction from the Seraglio. The Doctor reportedly paid rapt attention throughout, while Sabbath declared that although he saw 'potential' in the work the narrative structure was diabolical. Both of them were nonetheless irritated by the hissing that was heard from several quarters during the performance. The Doctor attempted to get backstage after the premiere, and into the company of Emperor Joseph II himself, but this time even the Doctor's famous charm failed him. He later admitted he was sorry to have missed the after-opera soiree, as he wanted to know whether the Emperor really did did bluntly tell Mozart that the work had 'too many notes' as later rumours claimed... although it's not known whether the Doctor said this bluntly tell Mozart that the work had 'too many notes' as later rumours claimed... although it's not known whether the Doctor said this before before or or after after the rumours began to spread. the rumours began to spread.

So, back in London, Anji had nothing to do but keep watching. And watch she did. On another four occasions, Juliette stole out of the House and into the cold, drizzle-scented streets of London. As Anji's surveillance is only mentioned mentioned by Lisa-Beth's journals, it's never stated whether any of these later excursions resulted in Juliette being, as it were, better appreciated by the gentlemen of the city. The only one of Juliette's walkabouts that's properly described is the fourth and final one, the reappearance of the Woman in Black. by Lisa-Beth's journals, it's never stated whether any of these later excursions resulted in Juliette being, as it were, better appreciated by the gentlemen of the city. The only one of Juliette's walkabouts that's properly described is the fourth and final one, the reappearance of the Woman in Black.

On the night of August 29 the day the Royal George Royal George was lost, possibly an omen Juliette took her usual route through the half-light of Covent Garden. She pa.s.sed Charing Cross Road and headed into Cranbourn Street, Anji by now knowing the darkest and gloomiest parts of the area off by heart. At least one man apparently noticed Juliette, but despite making eye-contact failed to approach her. So it was that Juliette came to the corner of Leicester Place. was lost, possibly an omen Juliette took her usual route through the half-light of Covent Garden. She pa.s.sed Charing Cross Road and headed into Cranbourn Street, Anji by now knowing the darkest and gloomiest parts of the area off by heart. At least one man apparently noticed Juliette, but despite making eye-contact failed to approach her. So it was that Juliette came to the corner of Leicester Place.

This was where she suddenly stopped, much to Anji's surprise. Anji saw no place to take cover, and so just stood still in the middle of the cobbled thoroughfare and waited. She realised that Juliette had stopped because something had caught her eye, and moments later the girl was moving again, heading for an unlit building on the far side of the street which Anji took to be a 'dressmaker's shop' (although no such shop is known to have stood on the site at that point).

The shop was closed, naturally, but the darkness in the windows wasn't just caused by the lack of light. They were covered on the inside by black, black satin and black cord, the frame strung with black paper blossoms. Though Anji knew nothing of the dream diary, the similarity to the decorations of the 'black room' is striking.

More striking still, something had been placed in the doorway of the shop as if to deliberately catch Juliette's attention. At first, Anji took it to be a human figure, dressed all in black. Only as Juliette grew closer did Anji realise that it was a mannequin. A faceless dressmaker's doll, and on it hung what was obviously intended to be a wedding dress. But the dress was all in black as well, from its veil to its train.

It was clearly designed to fit Juliette. Anji knew, of course, that Scarlette had ordered a dress for Juliette. But that had been a red dress. Just as the accounts are littered with references to the contrasting White Hart of alchemy and the Black Hart sought by Sabbath, the dress comes across as a counterpoint to the one Juliette was scheduled to wear on her wedding day. Anji reached the obvious conclusion, that this was something to do with the secret teachings of the tantrists tantrists, a dark underbelly of which the Doctor knew nothing. The Black House had clearly been put here for the sake of Juliette, by someone who already knew her night-time habits.

The truth of this became evident when, moments later, the door of the shop opened behind the dressmaker's doll. Juliette stood frozen on the spot, while Anji did her best to shuffle back into the shadows. But the figure on the threshold wasn't what either of them might have expected. Because standing there, surrounded by the black of the drapes, was a bright-eyed and auburn-haired individual whom Anji already knew by sight. Her name was Emily.

7.

The World The Blackest of Hearts and the Coldest of Feet America. In just two short years, the word had come to mean so much. In just two short years, the word had come to mean so much.

As has already been mentioned, the Marquis de Sade was the first to describe America as some great amoral colossus, with its guns booming out to the world like thunder. But after 1780 the whole of the western hemisphere was beginning to feel uneasy. To the ritualists and the witch-courtesans of England, America was a gigantic black stain on the world map, a no-go area that might as well have had 'here be tygers' scrawled across its landma.s.s. The very name made them think of the purges of Matthew Crane; of the witch-hunts of Salem, still influencing the country after all these years; of Paul Revere riding his famous horse (metaphorically, of course) over the bodies of marked Englishwomen; of blackened and bloodied trees, hung with the corpses of those sacrificed to the new world of Was.h.i.+ngton, Jefferson and Adams.

Yet anyone visiting Virginia in 1782, as summer turned to autumn, would have found quite a different scene. By this point the War of the Revolution was over in all but name. The skies over Virginia were as blue as they had been in the days of Columbus, and the only thing disturbing the earth was the rhythm of the slaves in the tobacco fields. The houses had been repainted, in purest Protestant white, as if each one were a prototype of the big pale house which would one day stand in Was.h.i.+ngton. The wind would blow through the white oaks, and the gentlemen of the state, with their backs as upright as their reputations, were still old-fas.h.i.+oned enough to greet every pa.s.ser-by as they strolled about their business. Yes, the word for Virginia was straightforward straightforward.

But when news of world events reached America, when sailors brought tales of the horrors in Saint-Domingue and London, it was in Virginia that most notice was taken. Because it was in Virginia that Matthew Crane himself had set up his chambers, after the end of the struggle with the British there. General Was.h.i.+ngton himself had set Crane the task of ensuring that the Shaktyanda Shaktyanda of America was defended, just as Was.h.i.+ngton himself intended to defend the country's physical borders: as Jefferson once said, the Americans had no wish to see themselves 'going to eat each other, as they do in Europe', thus beginning an absolute rejection of foreign culture which would become the central policy of American society in the years to come. When the American lodges took notice of the rumours from abroad, they must have discussed things over scotch in their drawing rooms as if it were any other business matter. It was in such a drawing room that the red envelope from England would have eventually arrived. of America was defended, just as Was.h.i.+ngton himself intended to defend the country's physical borders: as Jefferson once said, the Americans had no wish to see themselves 'going to eat each other, as they do in Europe', thus beginning an absolute rejection of foreign culture which would become the central policy of American society in the years to come. When the American lodges took notice of the rumours from abroad, they must have discussed things over scotch in their drawing rooms as if it were any other business matter. It was in such a drawing room that the red envelope from England would have eventually arrived.

It seems likely that the Americans began taking an interest in the Doctor after his visit to Hispaniola. After all, anyone connected with a negro revolt had to be considered a threat. According to Lucien Malpertuis's later memoirs, the 's.h.i.+p with no sails' was last seen at dock in Hispaniola on the first day of September, its captain/s having delivered a red envelope to the children of Mackandal. Yet Scarlette's journal makes it clear that the s.h.i.+p had returned to England by the second. Even given the inaccuracy of dating in this period, any s.h.i.+p that could cover such a distance in under a day must have been remarkable indeed. But although it was rumoured in the House that the Jonah Jonah could simply vanish from the world at will, even Sabbath seems to have had his limits. In a rare letter to one of his own agents, he notes: could simply vanish from the world at will, even Sabbath seems to have had his limits. In a rare letter to one of his own agents, he notes: There remains no place on the Earth that is out of bounds to me. But I have to admit that the more freedom I have over the globe, the less the globe interests me... my purpose is to protect protect, and knowing the things I have to protect this territory from I am aware that the globe is not enough. The Jonah Jonah must be able to explore the further realms, in much the same way as the vehicles of the extinct elementals. Only the corrupted realm of the apes is currently open to me. Yet to go further without loss of my own integrity will require great work... must be able to explore the further realms, in much the same way as the vehicles of the extinct elementals. Only the corrupted realm of the apes is currently open to me. Yet to go further without loss of my own integrity will require great work...

Interesting to note that he openly describes his mission as one of protection protection, and by 'this territory' he presumably means the world itself.

On September 2 the Jonah Jonah arrived back in England, coining to a halt a short distance off the coast of Brighthelmstone, a spa town which under the more convenient name 'Brighton' was rapidly becoming fas.h.i.+onable as a place of health and healing: so fas.h.i.+onable, in fact, that in the following years the Prince of Wales would allegedly be getting women pregnant there on a regular basis. Despite the late season, the grey skies, the drizzle and the painfully hard pebbles on Brighton beach, when Scarlette arrived in the town it was full of bathers. The bathers had come to follow the advice of the famous Dr Russell, who'd recommended the site just as keenly as he'd recommended blood-letting and the ingestion of viper's flesh. Some of those paddling in the waters on that rocky sh.o.r.e must surely have noticed the woman in red who often stood on the beach, staring out to sea with an unreadable expression... not to mention her young Indian companion. arrived back in England, coining to a halt a short distance off the coast of Brighthelmstone, a spa town which under the more convenient name 'Brighton' was rapidly becoming fas.h.i.+onable as a place of health and healing: so fas.h.i.+onable, in fact, that in the following years the Prince of Wales would allegedly be getting women pregnant there on a regular basis. Despite the late season, the grey skies, the drizzle and the painfully hard pebbles on Brighton beach, when Scarlette arrived in the town it was full of bathers. The bathers had come to follow the advice of the famous Dr Russell, who'd recommended the site just as keenly as he'd recommended blood-letting and the ingestion of viper's flesh. Some of those paddling in the waters on that rocky sh.o.r.e must surely have noticed the woman in red who often stood on the beach, staring out to sea with an unreadable expression... not to mention her young Indian companion.

Scarlette and Sabbath still had yet to meet face-to*face. It was for her sake that the Doctor had asked Sabbath not to harbour his s.h.i.+p, and Sabbath had complied. In that time at Brighton, once Anji had reported the latest news from London, the two men would stand on the rain-spattered deck and talk. The Doctor would watch the beach from a position sixty yards out to sea, perhaps seeing Scarlette staring back at him, a red speck in the distance. The Doctor wished to head back to London, but by now they'd pieced together the truth about the apes and had begun to devise a method of recovering the TARDIS. There were still certain tests to be performed in the bowels of the Jonah Jonah, though there's no way of even guessing what they might have been.

It was later said that the Doctor once asked Sabbath, in a quiet moment on that deck, how he felt about Scarlette. Meaning, perhaps, whether Sabbath had any regrets about his attempted 'seduction' of 1780. The story-goes that a grave look appeared on Sabbath's face before he replied: 'I did what was necessary.'

If all this is true, then it can hardly have made the Doctor feel comfortable. It mirrored his own philosophy so well. Anji had only volunteered to meet the Doctor in Brighton because she wanted to tell him the real real news about events at the House, involving Juliette and Emily, and the dressmaker's shop off Leicester Place. news about events at the House, involving Juliette and Emily, and the dressmaker's shop off Leicester Place.

Anji was reportedly 'distressed' that the Doctor had greeted this news so calmly. She later told Lisa-Beth that she felt 'he was so obsessed with the hunt for his TARDIS that he failed to focus on the matter at hand'. When Lisa-Beth suggested that Anji's concern about Juliette may have been fuelled by jealousy, Anji snapped back at her with such force that Lisa-Beth immediately concluded she'd been right.

More questions present themselves. Anji believed that Juliette was being taught things the Doctor knew nothing about, that Scarlette was trying to initiate the Doctor's bride-to*be in 'black magic' as well as 'red magic', possibly using Emily as a cat's paw. This is undoubtedly what she told the Doctor. Did the Doctor confront Scarlette, then? They spent at least one afternoon together, visiting the markets in the narrow, wind-blown streets of Brighton. Or did they understand each other so well by now, the fallen demiG.o.d and the courtesan, that he thought no words were necessary?

Perhaps the Doctor believed that Juliette was capable of making her own decisions. Scarlette and Anji left Brighton a day before the Doctor and Sabbath, but when Anji departed for London the Doctor gave her a letter. The letter was addressed to Juliette, sealed with a wax emblem of a bee, and the Doctor made Anji promise not to open it herself.

It's not known whether Juliette ever read the letter. Given later events, it's possible Anji never found the right time to hand it over. The contents prove that the Doctor was not only distracted by the thought of his TARDIS, he was also having 'second thoughts' about the wedding itself. The English is decidedly modern: ...I know it's never easy, making a decision that might affect the rest of your life. Especially not when you feel the whole world's waiting to see what's going to happen. And I know I might not have told you everything at once... [but] you can never be sure whether people are going to understand you properly (I'm sure you know that by now).I'm telling you this because I think it's only fair for us all to have a choice. I know you understand what I'm trying to tell you. My only worry is that you might understand me too well too well.

A last chance to back out of the wedding? A final, thinly-disguised, request for Juliette to share any doubts she might have? If so, then it was hardly necessary. As her dream diary records, by the time the letter was written she already felt she'd reached the point of no return.

Anji was right in thinking that the Doctor was becoming distracted. He wanted to recover his TARDIS because it was his 'lodestone', and perhaps because he felt it was the only possible cure to the sickness which had increasingly been affecting him. But Sabbath knew, and would constantly remind him, that the TARDIS was a weapon. By September they'd worked out how its summoning might be performed, but they still needed a venue where they could feel safe from the attentions of the enemy.

Fortunately, as the Doctor had already learned from Scarlette, there was one man in London who could help them. And he went by the truly unlikely name of Dr Who.

No Return The last entry in Juliette's dream diary was made on September 4, 1782. Aside from some of the more lurid s.e.xual dreams of late August, it's the most intense of the entries, partly because the reader gets the impression that Juliette isn't describing a dream at all.

In this final dream, she returns to the House on Henrietta Street after visiting 'the home of a friend' (Emily?) to find the House empty. It's evening, but there are no other women in the salon. Most of the salon's furnis.h.i.+ngs have also vanished: there are s.p.a.ces where the pianoforte and the chaise-longues used to be, pale squares on the walls where many of Scarlette's paintings have been taken down. The House feels empty, a hollow sh.e.l.l. But there's the ever-present smell of smoke, light from both the burning candles and the oil lamps. Juliette thinks nothing of the emptiness. She simply heads up the stairs towards her room.

It's while she's in her room that things start to change. The chamber makes her feel uneasy, and at first Juliette isn't sure why. None of her own effects are missing, though the room's in half-darkness. Scarlette's gla.s.s totem rests on a chair. A single lamp burns above the looking gla.s.s. In fact, Juliette feels as though there are too many too many effects in the room. The furnis.h.i.+ngs are so familiar to her, though, that she has difficulty noticing what's supposed to be there and what isn't. effects in the room. The furnis.h.i.+ngs are so familiar to her, though, that she has difficulty noticing what's supposed to be there and what isn't.

It's then with amazingly little surprise that she realises. The room is full of apes. What she took to be furnis.h.i.+ngs are living creatures, but the apes seem so familiar to her that she simply didn't spot them until now. They were just part part of the room, a part which she never normally notices and which seems to hover at the edge of her vision. The apes tell her, though not with language, that she willed them here simply by her understanding. As a result, they're now part of that understanding. of the room, a part which she never normally notices and which seems to hover at the edge of her vision. The apes tell her, though not with language, that she willed them here simply by her understanding. As a result, they're now part of that understanding.

It's the description of the apes that makes the entry so intense. She doesn't describe them as horrors here, but as ordinary elements of her life, and in the later paragraphs there's a sense of almost shocking intimacy as she goes about her daily routine (brus.h.i.+ng her hair, undressing, examining herself in the looking gla.s.s) while the apes surround her. She's come to accept them, as if her experiences in the Black House have inured her to their presence.

There are certain noteworthy features to this story. For one thing, the description of the 'empty House' may be literally true. The pianoforte had been taken by debt collectors by September, and when some of the House's women left Scarlette's employ they took with them a number of small furnis.h.i.+ngs which may or may not have actually belonged to them. Business was so lacking by this time that many of the women weren't even bothering to stay there in the evenings. In many ways Juliette's account could be factual, although the suggestion of the apes being in her room without harming her...

Perhaps more importantly, the suggestion of the apes being at the threshold of her consciousness, of them being as much a psychological psychological phenomenon as a biological one, was very much in line with the Doctor's own discoveries. Had Juliette really understood the truth? phenomenon as a biological one, was very much in line with the Doctor's own discoveries. Had Juliette really understood the truth?

The Doctor and Scarlette were still absent at this time, so n.o.body would have been present at the House to oversee the other women. The consequences of this became clear on the afternoon of September 5, when those women who'd remained behind six of them, the journals record, although only Rebecca, Lisa-Beth and Katya are named all met in the spa.r.s.e, half-stripped salon to make a final decision on the future of the seraglio. It was a meeting they probably wouldn't have dared to hold if Scarlette had been in London.

The question posed at the meeting was simply this: should the House continue to do business? should the House continue to do business? It was no good carrying on this way, some of the women argued, if Scarlette was going to spend all her time helping the Doctor with his experiments. The House should make a decision as a whole. They could give up now, and seek work in the other seraglios while they still had at least It was no good carrying on this way, some of the women argued, if Scarlette was going to spend all her time helping the Doctor with his experiments. The House should make a decision as a whole. They could give up now, and seek work in the other seraglios while they still had at least some some reputation left. Or, they could stick with Scarlette and risk starving to death. reputation left. Or, they could stick with Scarlette and risk starving to death.

Unusually for the age, it was decided to settle the matter democratically. There might have been some stigma attached to being 'disloyal' to the House, so a secret ballot was to be held. At Lisa-Beth's suggestion, each of the women was given two feathers (taken, one has to a.s.sume, from Scarlette's wardrobe), one red and one black. Each woman in turn was to put one of the feathers Inside a black oriental vase which was one of the few decorations remaining in the salon. If at the end of the process there were more black feathers than red, then all the women would agree to close the House and (if necessary) depart. If the vote said red, all would agree to stay. Not being a 'working woman' of the House, Juliette had no vote in fact, she was in her room at the time and didn't even know what was happening but Lisa-Beth suggested that if the vote were a tie then Juliette should have the deciding voice, something which made a few of the women uneasy as it seemed to favour the Doctor.

It was at this point that things became somewhat complicated.

All the votes had been taken, and Lisa-Beth was preparing to tip out the contents of the vase, when the door of the House opened. The women hadn't been expecting Scarlette to return, and so Lisa-Beth describes them as looking like 'thieves discovered'. But it was Anji, on her own, who walked into the salon.

It transpired that although she and Scarlette had returned to London, Scarlette had immediately headed towards Soho on an errand she refused to discuss. As a result, Anji was thoroughly peeved by the time she arrived back at Henrietta Street. She'd gone all the way to Brighton to warn the Doctor about Juliette; the Doctor had failed to take any notice; Scarlette was, as ever, keeping her in the dark; and to make matters worse, when Anji asked where Fitz had got to she was told that he was out, and that he'd recently been spending time with a certain tobacconist of St James's who was also notorious for doing a sideline in laudanum.

It was all too much for Anji, who stormed upstairs to Juliette's room, determined to have it out with the girl. As the women watched her go, none of them had the nerve to call out to her and tell her about the vote. An angry, exotic elemental was the last thing they needed.

Anji's confrontation with Juliette was recorded, and one look at the text reveals who recorded it. The witness was in Juliette's room at the time.

My friend was telling me how the aipes had come to her the previus evening. I listened for her story was most thrilling tho it made me feel a shudder for the safety of my friend... I did as I was told to do in her company and said what I had been instructed to, which was that if she could axept [accept] the aipes as part of her then she understood much indeed. I asked her if that ment she was in the mode of [i.e. in tune with] the world around her. She open'd her mouth and I think she was about to give the anser but then there was someone at the door...It was the woman who they call an elymental elymental and she was in a grate rage, so that I was afraid of what she mite do. She shouted that my friend had been a and she was in a grate rage, so that I was afraid of what she mite do. She shouted that my friend had been a witch witch and other things that I scarce like to write down. She said that my friend had been poisoned in the mind by Scarlette, which I did not understand, and that she had begiled her frend Mr. K [Fitz]. Juliette tryed to be most civil but the Indean woman said as soon as the Doctor got back there would be a reckoning. After that she slammed the door and I heard her in a great distemper on the stairs. and other things that I scarce like to write down. She said that my friend had been poisoned in the mind by Scarlette, which I did not understand, and that she had begiled her frend Mr. K [Fitz]. Juliette tryed to be most civil but the Indean woman said as soon as the Doctor got back there would be a reckoning. After that she slammed the door and I heard her in a great distemper on the stairs.My friend looked at me and thought for moments, then she got up from the bed where she sat and went to follow. I did not know wether I should go too.

The story is taken up by Lisa-Beth. The women, distracted by the shouting, still hadn't tallied up the feathers in the vase. Lisa-Beth was among those who watched as Anji stormed downstairs and left the House altogether. Juliette followed her, though Lisa-Beth noted that the girl seemed unusually composed and calm.

What's most striking about Emily's account of the fight, though apart from the fact that Emily states, for the first time, that she's following orders orders is the suggestion that Juliette was 'in the mode of the world around her. Emily's mission seems to have been to complete Juliette's understanding of this strange connection. Perhaps Juliette's vision of herself, surrounded by the apes, was a symbolic representation of the way the creatures were crowding around the edges of the planet's 'consciousness'. Perhaps she believed that she herself was becoming a is the suggestion that Juliette was 'in the mode of the world around her. Emily's mission seems to have been to complete Juliette's understanding of this strange connection. Perhaps Juliette's vision of herself, surrounded by the apes, was a symbolic representation of the way the creatures were crowding around the edges of the planet's 'consciousness'. Perhaps she believed that she herself was becoming a place of power place of power, like the Doctor's legendary TARDIS.

Emily's writings are so chaotic that it's easy to think of her as being ignorant and witless. Nothing could be further from the truth. She was flighty and melodramatic, but then again she was still an adolescent (although she wouldn't change much as she grew older, as the whole world would learn on her ascension to celebrity in 1798). She was charming, charismatic and certainly attractive. Still some years away from being regarded as a great beauty, she already knew enough about the world to avoid being naive. So if she had indeed been 'primed' to lead Juliette in a certain direction, she was undoubtedly up to the job.

It was raining that afternoon, and raining heavily. When it rained in central London, the dirt would froth up on the streets and the smell of mud would be everywhere, unlocked from the cracks between the cobbles. Where Anji was intending to go, she never said possibly to find Fitz and his new tobacconist friend but she must have been wet and irritable as she stomped through the grey streets and tried to avoid being splashed by the pa.s.sing horses. All that can be said, from the story pa.s.sed down in the folklore of the London tantrists tantrists, is that she headed down a street alongside the Thames towards the part of London called the Temple (named, incidentally, after the occult temple once constructed there by the Knights Templar).

The tale records that there was no moment of horror, no great flash of light. No indication that anything had changed. Anji simply turned a corner, expecting to find herself in another damp, filthy London street. She probably had her eyes turned to the ground, so she may not even have noticed what was happening at first. At some point, though, she must have looked up. Perhaps it took her a while to notice: to spot the difference between the bleak, grey buildings of the capital and the bleak, grey buildings of somewhere else entirely. Some versions of the story even claim that other pa.s.sers-by were quite happily wandering up and down the road, not noticing anything strange around them, as if two worlds had quietly been laid on top of each other. Only Anji, say these tales, could see the way the black sun stared down at the city from the shockingly blue sky behind the rainclouds.

What all the stories agree on is that when Anji had taken the scene in, when she'd smelled the way the rain mixed with the ape-dung in the gutters and seen the way the buildings of the Temple were crumbling into the street, she slowly turned to look behind her. What she saw, not twenty paces away, was Juliette. Juliette, soaked to the skin but unbowed, some say wearing the black wedding dress from the Shop. Juliette only stared when Anji noticed her, the two women facing each other in the ruins of London without saying a word.

There are so many stories of this kind in the history, so many accounts of individuals turning a corner and either finding apes in their path or simply dropping out of the world altogether, that it's easy to start thinking of them as either hallucinations or random incidents. In fact, all the stories have something in common. Note: The first ape attacks occurred when ritualists/tantrists, Lisa-Beth among them, actively explored the limits of the horizon and therefore went beyond normal human experience explored the limits of the horizon and therefore went beyond normal human experience.

The captured ape in Hispaniola was 'summoned' by emondeur when he suggested a conceptual version of time unfamiliar in the period was 'summoned' by emondeur when he suggested a conceptual version of time unfamiliar in the period.

Anji and Juliette only slipped into the city of the apes after Juliette had somehow attained a specific level of understanding after Juliette had somehow attained a specific level of understanding, possibly thanks to Emily's coaching.

The pattern is clear. Understanding summons the monsters: and it's interesting to see how this fits in with the cultural climate of the era. After all, the late eighteenth century was when the western world began to put aside supernatural horrors and create its own new, scientific, myths. The years that followed would see the publication of Frankenstein Frankenstein, a tale of terror for a new age, in which mankind would be haunted not by ancient demons but by the consequences of its own curiosity. And to the eighteenth-century mind, the ape was a symbol of the unknown. It represented the exotic, the undiscovered, the horror from the heart of the jungle. One (later) commentator even pointed out that although ancient mapmakers marked unknown territories with the words 'here be tygers', it would have been more appropriate for them to have said 'here be gybbons'. Some of the more religious lodges are known to have believed that the ape attacks were a judgement from G.o.d, but from the accounts surrounding the Doctor in 1782 it seems more as if the apes were the human race's punishment on itself. Whenever man or woman explored the darkness, the apes would be waiting there.

Juliette, on seeing the realm of the beasts so close to home, must have wondered whether the decisions she'd made had been responsible for summoning the ruined city to the Temple. But at the time, the cause can hardly have mattered much to either her or Anji.

The House of Who It was felt all across the world. It would probably be going too far to say that it was either the Doctor or Juliette who'd caused the problem, but nonetheless witch-cults as far apart as Africa and Australia (newly-settled, and therefore still under the 'spiritual protection' of the aboriginal wirrunen wirrunen) must have sensed that something was afoot. Furthermore, any counter-ritual was guaranteed to make the problem worse. It's tempting to imagine the proud, stately, straightforward straightforward Mr Crane in America, congenially discussing the troubles with his peers while those (white) men who'd resurrected the old Anasazi ways performed cannibalistic rites in their cellars and clubhouses. Mr Crane in America, congenially discussing the troubles with his peers while those (white) men who'd resurrected the old Anasazi ways performed cannibalistic rites in their cellars and clubhouses.

It's not wise to overstate the problem. The world wasn't falling apart: the vast majority of the population could hardly have noticed anything happening. There were no reports of carnivorous apes running amok on the streets of the cities, there were no unexplained ma.s.sacres in urban areas. But those who kept secrets, those who dressed as politicians by day and indulged in the carnality of the tantra tantra by night, suddenly found themselves terrified to make any move that might bring down the wrath of the ape-G.o.d on their heads. by night, suddenly found themselves terrified to make any move that might bring down the wrath of the ape-G.o.d on their heads.

Curiously, the one major country which recorded no disturbance at all, not even amongst its archons and its conjurers, was China. A critic might say that this was because the ape-elementals only seemed to punish progressive thought, and China had seemed incapable of that during the eighteenth century. But there could be another reason, and to understand it it's best to return to the pursuits of the Doctor and Sabbath.

Since 1762, Soho in London had been home to a certain Chinese 'quack' who practised under the name of Dr Nie Who. The name seems to have been chosen for its dramatic impact, as although 'Who' was his true surname (or at least an anglicisation of it: a more common version might be 'Woo' or 'Wu), there's no evidence that he was actually a doctor. The obsession of eighteenth-century high society with eastern exotica stretched as far as medicine, and if India was considered outre outre then China was positively enigmatic. The teeth of big cats, the embryos of unspecified creatures from the bamboo fields, roots which would not simply scream on being pulled from the ground but howl out an entire black opera... all of them were found, pickled and preserved and prescribed, on the wooden shelves of Who's emporium. And as the labels were in Chinese, a language virtually n.o.body in England could read, customers had to take Who's word for the contents of each jar. This was one of the early populist occult shops, which would change very little over the following centuries... indeed, nearly two hundred years later one would occupy the very site of Scarlette's House on Henrietta Street. then China was positively enigmatic. The teeth of big cats, the embryos of unspecified creatures from the bamboo fields, roots which would not simply scream on being pulled from the ground but howl out an entire black opera... all of them were found, pickled and preserved and prescribed, on the wooden shelves of Who's emporium. And as the labels were in Chinese, a language virtually n.o.body in England could read, customers had to take Who's word for the contents of each jar. This was one of the early populist occult shops, which would change very little over the following centuries... indeed, nearly two hundred years later one would occupy the very site of Scarlette's House on Henrietta Street.

But Who was most notable for his philosophical philosophical services. Contrary to the usual stereotype of the Chinese, he rejected the teachings of as he put it 'the cow-dung merchant' Confucius. Though he may have been a charlatan in terms of medicine, he used his curatives simply as props, part of a system of psychological well-being in which his clients would genuinely discover new (or at least services. Contrary to the usual stereotype of the Chinese, he rejected the teachings of as he put it 'the cow-dung merchant' Confucius. Though he may have been a charlatan in terms of medicine, he used his curatives simply as props, part of a system of psychological well-being in which his clients would genuinely discover new (or at least forgotten forgotten) states of consciousness. It's debatable, in today's world, whether this was genuinely helpful or just a parlour-trick. But those who paid and paid well for Who's methods maintained that during their 'sessions', they experienced... well, it wasn't so much that time slowed down, they said. It was that they found themselves in a blissful, serene environment of no-time*at-all.

It's possible, but by no means certain, that marijuana was involved in this practice.

The Doctor believed, from all he'd heard, that Who could help him in his quest to recover the TARDIS. He and Sabbath returned to England on September 5. The next day the Doctor risked the streets of Soho to find Who's emporium, a tall-but*narrow black-brickwork shop tucked away in a sidestreet, with Rebecca at his side once again.

When they arrived at the shop they found Sabbath already there, his bulk taking up much of the s.p.a.ce as he perused the shelves in the cramped, smelly, damp-aired s.p.a.ces of the shop (legend had it that Who would spray the place with tiger's urine every morning, though his reasons were foggy at best). From Rebecca's later accounts to her friends, the Doctor was a little put out that Sabbath and Who had already struck up a professional relations.h.i.+p, with Sabbath inquiring about the properties of some of the concoctions and Who giving him technical descriptions in flawless English. This bothered the Doctor chiefly because when he and Rebecca entered, Who immediately went into character and asked them how their ever-so*humble servant could possibly help them on this fine morning, perhaps by selling them a genuine vial of tears of the dragon, yes?

Sabbath soon explained that the Doctor wasn't to be toyed with, however. The Doctor made quite a lot of notes in early-to*mid September, perhaps intending to write a follow-up to his Ruminations Ruminations at some stage, but (perhaps mercifully) giving up the idea only weeks later. His brief note on meeting Who: at some stage, but (perhaps mercifully) giving up the idea only weeks later. His brief note on meeting Who: I imagine the Dr. [Who] likes to be thought of as old, but his wrinkles look like the wrinkles of someone who's spent too many weeks in a cellar with nothing but fumes for company... I sympathise. Don't be put off by his robes, he wears a silk dressing-gown in his shop just to see if anyone will mention the fact. He knows a great deal... I asked him whether he was afraid that his meditations would incur the anger of the 'b.l.o.o.d.y apes', but he thinks otherwise. 'The beast will attack those who understand the shape of the future,' he told me. 'But my meditations are the meditations of no-time*at-all.' They have little interest in clocks in China, so that might explain his lack of concern.

Rebecca never spoke at length about the discussions made in the shop, or the deal that the Doctor struck. All she seems to have gathered was that Who agreed to make preparations for a certain procedure, the suggestion being that the Chinese quack's 'no-time*at-all' methods could recover the TARDIS without the risk of summoning the beasts.

But Rebecca would have had other things on her mind. The vote of the women in the House being chief amongst them.

When the Doctor had returned to the House the previous day, he'd come alone. Scarlette hadn't been there, and hadn't been seen since her return to England. The women had been getting edgy, especially as they'd had n.o.body to tell about their decision. When the Doctor had retired to his bas.e.m.e.nt laboratory, he'd hardly noticed the lack of furniture in the salon. After he'd descended the stairs there'd been grim mutterings amongst the women, who'd pointed out that while the debt collectors had taken the pianoforte they hadn't even touched the bizarre (but obviously expensive) equipment in the cellar.

Nonetheless, n.o.body had wanted to tell the Doctor the news.

It goes without saying that the vote hadn't gone in Scarlette's favour. But what's surprising is the degree degree by which she'd lost. The three 'non* by which she'd lost. The three 'non*tantrist' women had expected both Lisa-Beth and Rebecca to vote with a red feather: the vote really hung on Katya, who'd done her best to remain loyal to the House despite trying circ.u.mstances. Yet when the feathers had been tipped out on to the salon's one remaining table, five of the feathers had been black and only one had been red.

Who, then, had stayed loyal? Or rather, who'd been dis disloyal? It was in the nature of the secret ballot that n.o.body asked, although uneasy glances were thrown. Had Lisa-Beth voted black? She'd appeared angry when the votes had been revealed, but then, it could have been a bluff (her journal fails to make the matter clear). Had Katya? Had one of those who'd been expected to stick with Scarlette Lisa-Beth and Rebecca voted black in the belief that Katya would vote red, hoping to escape the House and let everyone think Katya had been to blame?

There's no way of knowing the truth. But in the days that followed, Rebecca seemed deeply uncomfortable with the events that unfolded. It wasn't that she had any problem with Scarlette, or with the Doctor she was too much the visionary to think that they were wasting their time in their battle it was just that Rebecca was a demi-rep demi-rep, and had been all her adult life. She'd been in America right up until the b.l.o.o.d.y purge. She can hardly have wanted to see it all happen again, here in England. So despite the result of the vote, she stuck around as long as she could, saying nothing but (presumably) wis.h.i.+ng it were all over.

The truth about the ballot didn't begin to emerge until the afternoon of September 6. On leaving Sabbath and returning to the House from Dr Who's, the Doctor ordered a meeting of all the House's 'personnel' in the salon. The numbers were thin. Lisa-Beth was there. Katya was there, although Lisa-Beth noted that she looked anxious, as if ready to take flight at a moment's notice. Fitz was also there, looking tired and ill-shaven after having reappeared on Henrietta Street at four o'clock that morning. n.o.body bothered asking him what he'd been doing.

And that was it. n.o.body had seen Anji or Juliette since the previous day. The same went for Scarlette. The Doctor was concerned by this, but despite some nervous looks the three remaining 'working women' failed to tell him the reasons. Nonetheless, the Doctor began to brief them. The good Chinese doctor, he explained, was preparing a ritual which would ostensibly make everything all right again. They were to gather together at midnight, on the banks of the Thames near St Paul's Cathedral. Once they were there...

It was during this briefing that Scarlette arrived. Although Lisa-Beth maintains that Scarlette appeared appeared her usual self, in her costume of red with her boots clacking on the boards, Lisa-Beth also mentions that there was a 'terrible atmosphere' when the Mistress of the House walked in. She's said to have nodded, quite curtly, to the Doctor: to have virtually ignored everyone else. Her face was frozen, without any expression. Lisa-Beth believed this was because she'd heard news of the vote, perhaps from one of the three women who'd already departed. her usual self, in her costume of red with her boots clacking on the boards, Lisa-Beth also mentions that there was a 'terrible atmosphere' when the Mistress of the House walked in. She's said to have nodded, quite curtly, to the Doctor: to have virtually ignored everyone else. Her face was frozen, without any expression. Lisa-Beth believed this was because she'd heard news of the vote, perhaps from one of the three women who'd already departed.

In fact, it was because Scarlette knew what was going to happen next and knew just what kind of devil the Doctor would have to deal with. Because she'd visited Dr Who in Soho nearly a whole day before the Doctor had, and five minutes after Sabbath had left the shop she'd received a full report from the proprietor. Who was not a discreet discreet man. man.

When the Doctor concluded his briefing, and announced that they were to meet the Jonah Jonah at the Thames, Scarlette reportedly didn't even flinch. There was an awkward pause once the Doctor had finished, in which 'many glances were stolen', but the silence was ended when the Doctor clapped his hands and announced that it was time they found out what had happened to Anji and Juliette. at the Thames, Scarlette reportedly didn't even flinch. There was an awkward pause once the Doctor had finished, in which 'many glances were stolen', but the silence was ended when the Doctor clapped his hands and announced that it was time they found out what had happened to Anji and Juliette.

Lisa-Beth adds a postscript to the scene. According to her, as those a.s.sembled began to disperse she saw Scarlette reach out her hand for the Doctor's, while still keeping her expression neutral. As Lisa-Beth describes it, it sounds like a small act of affection. Perhaps it's true to say, then, that although Scarlette knew they were going to have to walk into the middle of Sabbath's empire and although she in no way liked the path the Doctor was taking she was willing to stand by his side when his battle began.

She just wasn't prepared to let it show.

Nature It's the preserve of the upper cla.s.ses, the English upper cla.s.ses particularly, to turn everything into a sport. The aristocracy was as bored in 1782 as it ever was, and it didn't take the youngbloods of English society long to see the potential in the carnivorous apes.

Ape-hunting as a pastime of the rich was most probably invented by the three brothers and one sister of the Barrymore family, four sociopathic siblings who in later years would cause a scandal by a.s.sociating with the Prince of Wales in Brighton, and who throughout their 'reign of terror' would turn physical abuse into something of an art form (their victims were almost always of the lower cla.s.ses, obviously). Reckless, bad-tempered, childish and irredeemably violent, the Barrymores moved in the same circles as such crypto-occultists as the Countess of Jersey, so it's not surprising that they should have heard about the ape attacks. It's not known which of the four might have hatched the scheme of culling the animals for fun, but by August at least one of the four was in London, scouring the streets whenever word would reach him (via the younger, less discreet; Masonic orders) that there might be exotic animals at large in the city. The 'sport' would largely involve the Barrymores' phaeton phaeton speeding drunkenly through the streets in the early hours of the morning. Pa.s.sers-by might have been unnerved to see a figure leaning out of the window of the carriage, usually armed with a crossbow, loudly threatening to shoot anyone who didn't tell him where he could find a baboon to kill. speeding drunkenly through the streets in the early hours of the morning. Pa.s.sers-by might have been unnerved to see a figure leaning out of the window of the carriage, usually armed with a crossbow, loudly threatening to shoot anyone who didn't tell him where he could find a baboon to kill.

The Masonic archive records that the Lodges had a great disdain for this sort of activity, although many did feel a certain sense of satisfaction when 'h.e.l.lgate' Barrymore did actually succeed in slaughtering one of the wild animals. He later boasted that he'd chased the huge, grey-pelted ape through the narrow working-cla.s.s warrens of the city, eventually cornering it in a dead-end alley and 'as the brute turned to face [Barrymore] with a loud and b.l.o.o.d.y hiss' piercing its heart with a crossbow bolt. The ape was said to have thrashed wildly on the cobbles for some minutes before dying. 'h.e.l.lgate' had the creature skinned, and for weeks afterward carried the pelt around with him as a trophy, until one night he left it in a tavern while inebriated and it disappeared forever. Later commentators claimed that Barrymore had never faced such a beast at all, and certainly there were stories that some months after this first killing the Barrymore clan broke into a private menagerie and stole a terrified barbary ape so that they could pursue it through the streets as a re-enactment of the glorious hunt.