Page 76 of Affair

She felt him hesitate. She took his hand and guided it to the doorknob behind her.

“Bloody hell.”

But she could feel him wavering. She wondered if Baxter considered her a bad influence. After a few seconds’ pause, he apparently reached a decision. He stepped around her and slowly, carefully opened the connecting door.

Another wave of stale, long-closed-in air wafted out of the adjoining chamber. Charlotte leaned forward to peer around the corner. There was just enough light from a partially draped window to see something of the interior. A sagging bed, the looming shape of a wardrobe, and a washstand stood on the threadbare carpet. A framed picture hung askew on the wall.

Baxter touched his fingertips to Charlotte’s lips. She did not need the warning to remain silent. Only a single wall separated them from Hamilton and his friends.

There was another burst of laughter from the next chamber. Then it faded. Voices, less raucous now, could be heard through the wall.

Charlotte watched, mystified, as Baxter crossed the room to the wardrobe. He opened it cautiously and quickly examined the interior as though he expected to discover something of interest inside.

Plainly dissatisfied, he stepped back, gently closed the wardrobe door, and went to stand in front of the framed picture. After a moment’s close study, he lifted it down from the wall.

A small circle of light appeared. Charlotte stared in astonishment at the hole in the wall. It would, she realized, provide a view into the chamber where Hamilton and his friends were gathered. She made a note to ask Baxter how he had known to look for the peephole.

He put his eye to the opening. She went forward, eager for a peek, and caught a faint whiff of a sweet, smoky, herbal vapor. It reminded her a bit of the incense Juliana Post used. But this was stronger, more intense. She saw Baxter pull back far enough to take a deep breath of the stale air in the room before he turned back to the peephole.

The voices of the club members could be heard more clearly now but they sounded blurred and subdued, as if the men were not only intoxicated, but a bit drowsy.

“Begone, man,” someone said to the servant.

The door opened and closed. Footsteps sounded in the hall.

“It’s time to summon our magician,” one of the men announced in a dreamy voice. “Let us see what demonstrations of the powers of the metaphysical plane he has prepared for us tonight.”

“A test,” another man said in singsong tone. “He promised us a test. Let the great magician show us his skills tonight.”

“Excellent notion,” someone chortled weakly. “Let’s see how clever our mage is. Let him put Norris, here, in a real trance. You’ll volunteer, won’t you, Norrie?”

“Why not?” Norris sounded languid but willing. “Always glad to conduct an experiment on the metaphysical plane. Summon the bloody sorcerer.”

There was a shuffling sound next door, as though the furnishings were being shifted. Baxter took a step back from the peephole to get another breath of air. Charlotte saw the light coming through the small opening abruptly dim to a weak glow. Someone had turned down the lamp in the next chamber. The club members began to chant in an eerie, dreamlike cadence.

“Lead and silver, electrum and gold,

Degrees of power, ancient and old.

When the emerald laws reveal the sign,

Mercury, sulphur, and salt combine.

Pure knowledge exists for all to see

But few will ever know the key …”

The men repeated the chant, their voices thickening. Tongues got tangled. Someone giggled.

Charlotte tugged on Baxter’s sleeve. He hesitated. She gave him a small push and he moved reluctantly aside to allow her a peek.

She took a breath, stood on tiptoe, and put her eye to the hole. She found herself gazing into a dimly lit chamber that was clouded with smoky incense. There was a large wardrobe against the far wall. She recognized Hamilton and Norris. They and the other club members lounged on large Turkish pillows around a brazier. Each had a glass of claret in one hand, but they all seemed more interested in the fragrance of the burning herbs than in the wine.

“That which the heirs of Hermes desire

Is revealed to the laborers in the fire.”

The words were almost unintelligible now. The men nodded over their glasses. The incense that drifted through the tiny peephole was irksome. It made Charlotte’s eyes water and blurred her vision. She turned her head away to take a breath of fresher air.

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