Manhattan, New York City, Oct 11, 1909
To J. L. Harrison; in Princeton:
MR. HARRISON, – I saw Gail at church this past Sunday and I
conveyed your sympathies. Her reaction was polite but strained and
her brief smile never managed to reach her eyes. I must say that
Gail looks younger, some of the wrinkles seemed to have gone from
her face and though she wasn’t happy, her eyes became bright and
unclouded as if hearing some joke moments before. Her expression
caught me off guard since I did not believe that she had the
capacity for such a morbid streak of humor. I wonder if, now that
the strain of taking care of Charles has been lifted, the stresses
of her daily life have receded bringing her a youthful appearance
and upsetting her usual emotional moderation. I am not diminishing
her grief or mean to insinuate that she has ceased her mourning
prematurely for she still wears the black veil and thick fabrics
of a newly made widow.
Mr. Price paid me a visit yesterday, and he indeed, presented me
with a package. I had tried to talk Price up while he was in my
foyer but he seemed reluctant when I questioned him about the
package and his relationship with Webster. I don’t believe his
reticence has anything to do with Taxil, but because he fears
whomever or whatever is watching him. It was strange, but I felt
the air become noticeably heavier when he crossed the threshold of
my front door, as if something larger had come through with him. I
know it must have been the wet air rushing in from the rain storm
outside, but the ominous feeling it caused did not go unnoticed.
The parcel contained five well-worn pages that, like yours, were
mostly in Egyptian and Greek, and all of which I have the very
mind to cast into my study fireplace. From what I can tell without
delving into my library, a few of the pages deal with embalming
and the formulation of the liquids used in its process. To be
honest I have not heard of half of the ingredients. The final page
had four familiar diagrams on it. They described the points on the
hand, back and front, where blood should be drawn during the
rituals of conjuration. Our hands have felt the sharp edge of a
knife many times, though in these diagrams there were many more
such places described, with hieroglyphs that hint at how and for
what the blood should be spent.
When we spoke he had the delivery list in his hand and I was able
to catch two of the names on it. The first name was Samuel
Wesselhoeft, of whom I have never heard. The second name will
chill your bones – Elizabeth De Quedville. I had truly hoped
that we had seen the last of her in university. She was one of
those people we associated with because we were young and did not
know how to properly choose our company. I never understood how
you could have such an attraction to that girl. When she looked at
us her cold stare and drawn frown measured us bit by bit weighing
our worth against whatever damnable currency in which she traded.
She held herself above us and never degraded herself by performing
any of the work that we executed; she never sliced her hands but
was the first to hand over the knife and point to where we should
cut. My hands are still slow to heal.
Why have out the list of names? I do not believe that a man of Mr.
Price’s intellect would be unable to keep one name and address
in his memory long enough to deliver a small parcel. I will tell
you why – because we were meant to see the names. This is bald
and brazen manipulation and conspiracy, Harrison! He or they mean
to pique our curiosity, have us seek each other out, and continue
the work they could not, or do not want to, finish themselves. I
say to you, without any equivocation, that I will not cooperate
with any part of this plot. I have many things to be happy for and
I tire quickly of this connivance.
Reginald has been spending quite a lot of time with a young lady
and, you will be happy to hear, has finally proposed marriage! I
have only met her once briefly, but she will be coming to dinner
this Saturday. I am looking forward to getting to know this lovely
woman and see all the smiles and joy of youth in love.
For the past two weeks the city has been lit up for the
Hudson-Fulton celebration and the local pubs clogged with sailors.
It has been quite fun despite the few spots of fisticuffs in the
streets. I was able to get out and see the flotillas and
fireworks, and try some of the food the vendors are selling at the
fairground as well as witness the Wright Brother’s flying
machine. It was magnificent, Harrison. Its flight a low, buzzing
swan passing just above the bow of the new liner Lusitania, then
in a drive south it circled the great Statue of Liberty. I can't
think of a greater blessing for a ship than to be christened by a
marvel of our age. The captain must be so pleased at such a fine
and profound portent, not to mention the capitalists waiting for
their purses to fatten. In fact, I will inquire upon any investing
opportunity with the owning corporation.
Watch yourself, if we were shown the list of parcel recipients
then the others will have seen our names as well.
