Jan. 29 Jan. 30
Lya sent a telegram to Mickey Mahoney at the Scoop in London, informing him that they would be arriving next week. She also asked Alisa to telephone Erica Carlyle and set up one last meeting. Erica was in a meeting but the secretary took the message.
Alisa asked Lya if she would travel with her in 1st class as her personal assistant but Lya refused, stating that there was nothing to learn by going in disguise on the Mauretania. Alisa tried to find someone else to accompany her (since she had already paid for a 1st class servant's ticket) but could not find anyone on such short notice.
While Alisa attended to her business duties, Lya, Dan'l, and Nell went to the Federal Building and picked up their passports.
After returning to the Waldorf, Lya prevailed upon Alisa to telephone Erica again. This time Erica was in, and Alisa told her that she and her associates were planning to depart for Europe on Saturday and asked if they could discuss travel over lunch. Erica instead invited Alisa and her friends to dinner at her Westchester estate for that evening.
Meanwhile, at 12:55 P.M., Scott Theobald departed Atlanta aboard The Peach Queen, a Southern Railroad express from Atlanta to Washington. Dinner was purchased from a vendor during a brief stop in Greenville, S.C. Since he lacked the money for a Pullman berth, he slept in his seat that night, as the train raced through the Carolinas.
After a quick lunch at a nearby deli, Dan'l, Lya, and Nell met Rupert and took a taxi back to Harlem. They found the burned-out ruins of the Ju-Ju House fenced off behind a fire dept. barrier with the warning, "Danger - Keep Out!" While Rupert went to make a phone call, the others began to explore the ruins. They quickly backed away when three men came over from a craps game and threatened them with switchblades. Given the precarious state of Dan'ls health, they decided to abandon this line of inquiry and return to the Waldorf.
Lya and Nell then went shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch. Lya bought a baseball bat and glove, soap chips, hiking boots, canvas shoes, luggage, and rope. Nell bought insect repellent, a handgun, more ammunition, a canteen, film, developing supplies, and a large steamer trunk. The clerk asked if they were going somewhere exotic and dangerous, or even worse, New Orleans. Nell also bought several travel books: A Satchel Guide to Europe (containing an excellent railway map of Britain and Central Europe), Baedecker's Guide to Egypt, In the Levant, Murray's Guide to the Mediterranean, and Africa - The Dark Continent.
Dan'l went back to his business office and told his foreman that he would be gone for about three months. He would send a letter every week - if two weeks passed without any communication, he should contact some of Dan'l's old army buddies who would come looking for him.
The tickets for the Mauretania arrived at the Waldorf, delivered by Thomas Cook. Alisa noted the wide range of shipboard activities available to 1st class passengers. Alisa then visited her firm's offices on Wall Street to pick up her last minute instructions, along with the latest edition of The Adams Cable Codex.
Rupert went back to his newspaper office and was told by his "ace" reporter that the police officer who had led the raid (Lt. Evans) on the Ju-Ju House last week had been checked into Bellevue after some kind of mental breakdown. Rupert went to Bellevue but could get no further information.
After a bath and change of clothing, Nell, Niles, Lya, and Alisa took the 5:15 train from Grand Central Station to Westchester, where they took a taxi to Carlyle House. Along the way they noticed the grim walls of Sing-Sing prison.
The Carlyle estate consisted of an elegant Renaissance-revival three-story mansion on five acres of manicured lawns and formal gardens, surrounded by a twelve-foot-high steel fence topped with sharpened finials. Upon arrival at the gates, they were stopped until the guard could determine that they were expected, then allowed to proceed.
After being ushered into the salon by Withers the butler, Alisa was welcomed by Erica Carlyle. She remembered Niles from a yachting event at Newport. Alisa introduced Lya as a writer working on a travel guide for women, with Nell as the photographer. Erica's offer of refreshments was readily accepted - martini for Alisa, white wine for Lya, a manhattan for Niles, and a gin fizz for Nell. The conversation touched on Africa, with Erica describing the accommodations in Kenya as primitive. She advised leaving Mombasa as soon as possible for Nairobi. She also suggested contacting a Colonel James Endicott if they wanted to go on safari. Regarding Egypt, she strongly suggested they hire a reputable guide, unless they spoke fluent Arabic. Lya asked if any of the photographs taken by Hypatia Masters in Egypt had been recovered, and noticed that Erica seemed visibly affected. Erica described Hypatia as "a dear friend who should never have gone on that expedition. The whole thing was Dr. Huston's idea." The conversation then turned to the topic of alienists (psychiatrists), with Erica stating that regular consultations did wonders for improving mental health and vitality and asked if Alisa and Lya had considered therapy?
At that point Withers announced that dinner was served, and everyone went to the dining room. An elegant repast followed. Niles carried most of the conversation, discussing the latest Broadway shows and events in high society.
After dessert, Lya decided to take a chance that they would all be thrown out and asked a potentially impertinent question about Roger Carlyle and some of his wild antics, including that party at the Waldorf with "the black woman". Fortunately, Erica was willing to speak quite candidly about her brother's eccentricities.
"At one party he brought in a woman, naked except for a fur coat. Thank God for Jack Brady - he always tempered Roger's wilder inclinations. Roger had bailed Brady out of trouble in Los Angeles while flunking out of USC (see Chapter 3, Jan. 19 ) and Brady had protected Roger ever since. I don't know where Roger met the black woman. I never learned her name. Roger told me that she was some kind of mystic priestess or poetess. I was convinced she was a fraud, out for money - like everyone else around Roger, always with their hand out. Brady was the only good guy in that crowd."
"The whole idea for the expedition to Egypt had arisen from Roger Carlyle's visits to Dr. Huston. After Roger had begun suffering from strange dreams about Egypt, Erica suggested he consult Dr. Huston. Huston suggested that the best way to deal with these dreams was to confront them directly, by visiting Egypt. Roger, Hypatia, and I had recently been to a lecture by Sir Aubrey Penhew - he was over here on some kind of British propaganda tour - Anglo-American solidarity and all that nonsense - and we heard him talk about the need for new archeological expeditions to Egypt and Mesopotamia, now that the Armistice had been declared. Roger called him up and offered to finance the entire thing. Penhew must have been desperate for funding, because he immediately accepted and began organizing it. Huston went along to continue Roger's therapy. Hypatia, poor girl, should never have gone, but Roger thought it would cheer her up to come along. And Hypatia was a wonderful photographer. I thought it was a good idea to have Jack and Hypatia along - two sensible people."
"Roger frittered away quite a lot of money on extravagances but those books he purchased - that was a sound investment. In his last year he began buying rare books, of all things. He amassed quite a collection, which can only appreciate in value."
Alisa asked if she could look at the books, and the group adjourned to the library. Withers followed with a tray of brandies, cordials, chocolates, and Havana cigars. Alisa and Erica each lit up a cigar, while Lya puffed on her slim cigarette holder.
Erica asked everyone to wait outside the library door for a few minutes, then called them inside. The library was furnished with easy chairs, tables and reading lamps, ashtrays and spitoons, an elaborate High Victorian iron fireplace, a magnificent teak and slate billiards table, and several thousand volumes protected within glass cases along the walls. Atop one of the tables was a stack of four books.
Nell examined the bookcases and found the complete editions, bound in leather, of Anthony Trollope , Charles Dickens , Mrs. Radcliffe , William Ashbless , Samuel Coleridge , William Wordsworth , Robert Browning , Francis Parkman , Washington Irving , Ralph Waldo Emerson , and George Washington Cable . It was the complete edition of Edward Bulwer-Lytton that transfixed her, though, in a state somewhere between awe and horror. None of the books appeared to have been read.
Lya examined the titles of the books on the table: The Pnakotic Manuscripts, Selections de Livre D'Ivon, People of the Monolith, and Life as a God. Quickly glancing through them, she determined the following information:
The Pnakotic Manuscripts - printed in English, appeared to be about ritual magic.
Selections de Livre D'Ivon - printed in French, appeared to be commentary on an older occult work by Gaspard du Nord.
People of the Monolith - printed in English, by Justin Geoffrey, a collection of poetry. One stanza caught Lya's eye and she furtively scribbled it down. The frontispiece was a map of Hungary in the mid-1800s, which Nell committed to memory.
Life as a God - handwritten in English, unusual binding, appeared to be a diary by Montgomery Crompton, an English artist who traveled to Egypt in 1805. The diary chronicled ritual murders, sacrifices, and unspeakable obscenities. One passage in particular etched itself in Lya's memory.
Meanwhile, Alisa, Erica, and Niles discussed business. Erica asked Alisa to visit her new joint-venture automobile factory in Turin. Alisa offered to have the books appraised, but Erica asked the group not to reveal their existence, because a few months after Roger's disappearance someone tried to break into the library and steal them.
Lya asked if Erica was willing to sell Life as a God. Erica suggested a price of $2000, which even Alisa found excessive.
Noticing Lya's fascination with Life as a God, Erica Carlyle remarked that Roger told her that it was bound in human skin. Lya put the book down in horror and seemed visibly disturbed. She excused herself and went to the washroom, where she spent five minutes scrubbing her hands.
Nell, meanwhile, had found a section of the library devoted to occult works, with volumes by Aleister Crowley, A.E. Waite, Madame Blavatsky, Eliphas Levi, and others.
At that point Niles suggested that they call it an evening, as tomorrow would need to be spent preparing for the trip to Europe.
On the way back to the station, Niles remarked that he felt that they had been under surveillance the entire time they were in the Carlyle Mansion.
The group then returned to the Waldorf.
Meanwhile, that same evening, Rupert decided to visit the Russian coffeehouse
and see if he could find out anything. After an evening of espressos
and speeches about Trotsky, he learned that Hypatia Masters had been a
frequent visitor here, along with Raoul Piñera and an African poetess
named Nichonka Bunay.
Scott Theobald woke up around 6:15 A.M., as The Peach Queen pulled into Charlottesville, Virginia. Breakfast consisted of a sandwich and coffee, purchased from a vendor, along with a copy of the Richmond morning newspaper. At 8:45 A.M., he arrived at Union Station in Washington, D.C., where he changed trains and boarded a Pennsylvania Railroad train that departed for Philadelphia at 9:30 A.M.
At 11:47 A.M., Scott Theobald arrived in Philadelphia. He spent the day touring the city, visiting Independence Hall. During his walk, he came across an antiquarian book store, where he discovered a real treasure - an old crumbling leather bound tome written in Latin on vellum, with strange hand-drawn sketches of fantastical creatures and buildings. Intrigued, he purchased the book with his remaining cash. He then went to the offices of the U.S. Steamship company and downgraded his ticket to 3rd class, so that he would have enough cash to get him to London. He got a room at a cheap hotel nearby, with dinner consisting of canned sardines and water. Sleep was somewhat difficult, as the paper-thin walls let him hear everything going on in the neighboring rooms.
Meanwhile, Nell, Lya, and Alisa spent the morning packing and had their baggage sent to the Mauretania., along with instructions to send it on to Brown's Hotel in London. Nell and Lya called Rupert's office about being paid for their work at the Opera Gala but were told by a receptionist that "the check's in the mail".
The three women then checked out of the Waldorf late that afternoon and met up with Dan'l. They decided to have one last "New York" meal - sausage and sauerkraut for Nell, and a coney island dog and an egg creme for Lya.
Nell visited a rare book dealer and asked about People of the Monolith. She was told that it was a hard-to-find collection of mystical poetry by a young Englishman, Justin Geoffrey, who had died in an insane asylum after traveling through Hungary, Serbia, and the Ottoman Empire in the 1860s. Dan'l purchased an Arabic phrase book.
That evening, the group assembled at the docks and made their way through crowds of travelers, onlookers, and well-wishers. Here baggage was separated into two categories: to be sent immediately to the hold, or to be sent to the cabin. Weapons were checked separately, to be locked up by the purser. Dan'l attempted to check six sticks of dynamite but was initially refused. However, after showing his license as a civil engineer and that the explosives were carefully packed away, the dangerous cargo was accepted. The sight of this arsenal of weapons and the thought of traveling on a ship with dynamite in the hold made Lya uneasy.
Alisa, Fairwether, and Rupert were directed to the 1st class boarding area, where a polite young man in a Cunard uniform stood at the bottom of the gangway to collect tickets. Ahead of them strolled a superbly-dressed gentleman, guarded by a half-dozen large, brutish fellows in tight-fitting suits who kept everyone at arm's length from this dignitary. One of the bodyguards scurried ahead and produced a handful of 1st class passes, and the entourage swept past the ticket-taker without breaking stride.
While waiting to board, Professor Fairwether noticed a small, pear-shaped man with thick eyeglasses carrying a stack of books and loose papers in line ahead of him. While fumbling in his pocket for his ticket, he dropped the load of books. Boarding ceased while the ticket-taker helped the man retrieve his belongings. The man then produced his ticket and boarded.
Finally, Alisa, Rupert, and Fairwether reached the checkpoint. Alisa gave the ticket-taker her own 1st class ticket as well as the 1st class servant's ticket and explained that her secretary would be along in a few minutes with more luggage. A steward then escorted them to their luxurious staterooms, where a fruit basket and bottle of sparkling cider awaited them. Next to the bottle was a note stating that once the ship was beyond the three-mile limit a complimentary bottle of champagne would be delivered upon request. After unpacking and sending the luggage to the hold, they consulted the list of shipboard activities and considered how they would spend the next five days. Alisa also found a box of Havana cigars, with a note from Erica Carlyle wishing her "Bon Voyage!". She also noted that there were three separate call buttons: one to summon a steward, one to summon a stewardess, and one to summon her personal servant, whose room adjoined hers.
Nell, Lya, Dan'l, and Niles were directed to the less-convenient and slower-boarding 2nd class gangway. While waiting to board, Lya noticed a group of well-dressed young men talking with an older man, gray-haired man who appeared to be the leader of the group. She also noticed a Jesuit priest, head bowed, who boarded ahead of them. After boarding, a steward took them to their adequate accomodations, with Lya and Nell sharing one cabin and Dan'l and Niles sharing the adjoining one.
At midnight the Mauretania
left New York. At 12:20 A.M. Alisa called the steward for her bottle
of champagne and lit up a cigar.