MRS. POOLE: Well, I did raise and train you, my dear, after you came to us from the orphanage. I think you can consider me family.
ALICE: Thank you, Mrs. Poole. You don’t know how much that means to me.
DIANA: We’re family too! Don’t forget about us. I mean, you’re annoying and insipid, but then so is Mary, and she’s my sister.
“If we could have a small demonstration of her powers…,” said Dr. Raymond, looking at Alice in a way she did not like. Gleefully? Avariciously? Catherine would have known the right word.
“This is neither the time nor the place,” said Mrs. Raymond with a frown. Her voice was contemptuous. “You will have plenty of opportunity to observe the results of your experiment. This is a business meeting.”
“But what sort of business?” asked Jonathan Harker. “I’m grateful, of course, that Lord Godalming has included me in this enterprise, but thus far I have only the vaguest notion of what we are aiming for, or how we are to achieve it. If you would enlighten me—”
“Of course, Mr. Harker,” said Moriarty. “That is precisely why we are holding this meeting today. Lord Godalming and I want to make certain you gentlemen understand and are in agreement with our goals. We have given you an inkling of them—now we shall explain ourselves fully. Allow me to—ah, here is Mandelbaum.”
Alice had not noticed the butler standing just outside the circle of armchairs with a tea tray in his hand, but of course that was the defining characteristic of good butlers—one did not notice them. Ah yes, Margaret Trelawny had said there would be food. In her fear and consternation, Alice had almost forgotten.
“If someone would move the tables—” said Moriarty.
“Here, if you please,” said Miss Trelawny. “I shall do the pouring out.”
Mr. Harker placed one of the small tables beside Miss Trelawny’s chair, where she could reach it easily. The butler proceeded to put the tea tray on it, then went to the place in the wall that opened onto a dumbwaiter and took out what had been raised from the kitchen below—teacups and saucers, and two trays: one with pastries, the other with a selection of small sandwiches. Alice looked at them hungrily. How long had it been since she’d had a proper meal?
The others did not seem particularly interested in the pastries or sandwiches. Once the butler had left and most of the men, as well as Mrs. Raymond, had teacups in their hands—Mr. Morris declined and was drinking something out of a flask he had produced out of an inside pocket—Miss Trelawny loaded a plate for her. Alice tried not to eat too quickly, worried about making herself sick after the meager diet of the last few days, but it was difficult not to gulp down the sandwiches, which were very good. Shrimp paste! She had always liked shrimp paste. And some sort of cream cheese with cucumber. She did not recognize the pastries, which were quite different from the kinds made by Mrs. Poole. Some of them were filled with chocolate, some with apricot jam.
“Now,” said Moriarty. “Where were we? Ah yes, why I have brought us here together. The nine of us come from different worlds. Mrs. Raymond and Colonel Moran have been in my organization for many years. It is, shall we say, a commercial enterprise of sorts. We import and export various goods that fetch a high price on private markets. We provide services of the kind more, shall we say, conservative businesses are unable to provide. The good doctors”—here he nodded at Raymond and Seward, who were seated next to each other—“are members of the Alchemical Society, who have very kindly rented us their former London headquarters. Lord Godalming was at one time a member, until the English branch was disbanded and he resigned in protest. Mr. Harker is his solicitor and trusted representative. Mr. Morris is the famous explorer—we have all heard of his travels up the Amazon, his hunting expeditions in Africa. And Miss Trelawny represents her late father, whose discovery of the tomb of Queen Tera at Philae has brought us what we need to effect our central purpose.”
“Which is?” asked Harker. He looked as though he still did not understand what was going on. Well, Alice didn’t either.
Moriarty smiled. She did not like his smile—it reminded her too much of how Mrs. Raymond smiled. Whatever jollity their mouths expressed did not reach their eyes. “Mr. Harker, I invite you, Dr. Raymond, and Mr. Morris to join the Order of the Golden Dawn. The rest of us here are already members. The German branch of the order has repudiated us—indeed, I received a letter just this morning asking us not to use that name for our organization. But no matter. Golden Dawn we are and shall remain, because that is what we propose to bring to England. A glorious new dawn for this country, and the true English men and women in it.”
He put his teacup on the mantel, clasped his hands behind him, and leaned forward a little—it was the stance of a man in front of a lecture hall.
“As we meet here in the magnificent city of London, the greatest city in the world, a modern rival to the glory of ancient Rome, we might assume that we stand at the heart of a powerful empire. But you know, gentlemen—each of you knows—that we have been invaded. Look at our docks! They team with the outcasts of Europe and beyond. Why, there are places in this city where no English is spoken! Our markets are a cacophony of languages, of nationalities. Where, anymore, but in the highest halls of polite society can we find the pure, the Anglo-Saxon, strain that made this country great? At the same time, we send our young men off to India and Africa, to water foreign lands with their blood. And what does this get us? An empire, to be sure, but at the cost of the purity of our race, the stability of our nation. At the cost of our traditions—the cost, I tell you, of our very souls! What we propose—the purpose of our Order—is no less than the restoration of England, for Englishmen—and women, of course.” He bowed to Mrs. Raymond. “You all know of Galton’s Hereditary Genius and his later writings on what he has called ‘eugenics’—the good, pure, noble birth. English society is headed in the opposite direction, that of ‘dysgenics.’ ” The poor give birth like rats, immigrants fill our cities with the refuse of a hundred shores, and the flowers of English manhood and maidenhood are swamped in the tide. We must regulate our borders so that we no longer accept immigrants and refugees, regulate births so that only the best, the highest intellects, are allowed to perpetuate the race—although we must of course allow a certain number of the lower classes to continue breeding, or we shall have a servant problem indeed!” Here he smiled as though he had said something amusing. “What we need is a group of men, true Englishmen, who are not afraid to fight for their vision of what this country could be. A small group of dedicated men, with the proper resources at their disposal, can do what mobs cannot. As the Spartans held off the Persians at Thermopylae, so too must we stop the tide that is threatening to overwhelm us. And we have resources—Godalming brings to us his position in the House of Lords and considerable fortune. Raymond and Seward bring scientific knowledge. Moran has connections in what is sometimes called the underworld of London that have already served us well. Together with Morris, he also brings us, shall we say, a certain amount of firepower. And you, Mr. Harker—your knowledge of the law will add to our arsenal. We shall form the central core of the Order. As for the ladies, they too have much to contribute. Helen, my dear, perhaps this is the time for a demonstration?”