Anno Dracula

by Kim Newman

Chapter 54

 

  CONNECTIVE TISSUE

  On November the 9th, 1888, Genevieve Dieudonne and Charles Beauregard left Toynbee Hall at almost precisely four ante meridiem. Dawn was still hours off, the moon clouded over. The fog, although slightly thinned, was sufficient to impair even a vampire's night-sight. Nevertheless, their journey was accomplished swiftly.

  Genevieve and Beauregard proceeded along Commercial Street, turned west into Dorset Street by the Britannia, a public house, and sought out the address they had for Mary Jane Kelly. Miller's Court was accessible through a narrow brick archway on the north side of Dorset Street, between Number 26 and a chandler's shop.

  Neither took much note of a rag-wrapped personage huddled just inside the court, assuming him to be a tramp. Dorset Street was referred to locally as 'Dosset Street', because of the number of vagrants attracted to the temporary lodgings, or 'doss houses', offered there. It was common for those who lacked the fourpence for a bed to sleep rough. In actuality, the personage was Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming, and he was not sleeping.

  Genevieve and Beauregard expended a few moments on determining which doorway gave entrance to Number 13, a single-room dwelling at the ground-floor back of 26 Dorset Street. They were drawn by a line of thin red firelight spilling on to the doorstep.

  The quarter-hour had not yet sounded. By the time of their arrival, Dr John Seward had been at his work for more than two hours. The door of 13 Miller's Court was not locked.