Altar Page #5

you wanted to buy it

in the first place.

I didn't buy it.

I inherited it.

- You inherited it?

- Yeah. I thought you knew that.

No, I...

Yeah. The will showed

up after 150 years

buried in some trust somewhere.

The original owner has a

sister who turns out to be

my great-great-aunt.

And you just discovered that?

Yep. I guess Victorian

paperwork was just not all

it was cracked up to be.

I see.

The only condition is that

the house is maintained

in its original state.

Listen, I gotta jump

on another call.

When you're done,

all I need to do

is get the executors

to check over your work.

Then they'll officially

sign over the deed.

What will you do with it?

Sell it. Oh, and

keep up the good work.

Hello?

Hello?

I believe you've found some

artwork of historical interest

in the house.

I'm sorry. You are...

Charles Kendrick Walker.

I've always wondered

about this place.

You've been

talking to Donnelly?

I'd love to take a peek.

I'm sorry, we're not

open to the public.

You misunderstand, Mrs.

Hamilton.

I'm somewhat of an

expert on the era.

I may be able to help.

I don't need any

help, thank you.

Word spreads pretty

fast round Malton,

good as well as bad.

If we can dispel superstition,

encourage people

to regard Radcliffe with

fascination rather than fear,

you may be able to restore

it to the status it deserves.

I'm a historian, Mrs. Hamilton.

Believe me, you

need my expertise.

Good heavens.

The glass is 1860,

but I think the design

is a lot earlier.

It goes back to the ancients.

You know what it is?

A map of the human soul.

Rosicrucians call it the

Emerald Tablet of Hermes.

Radcliffe was an alchemist?

Oh, yes. A very good one.

What happened here?

I guess somebody didn't

like the mermaid's face.

The glass was

completely shattered.

It must have been hit

with something very hard.

Will you be able

to restore it?

If I can find out what

she looked like, yes.

There's a painting at the

Victorian Museum of Art

in Leeds.

Radcliffe was a landscape

artist but he left one portrait

of his wife, Isabella.

This amazing illumati

features in the background.

Great. I'll check it out.

There would have been an

effigy of the Hermetic ray

hanging over the tablet.

The altar.

Will you be restoring the

house to its original state?

Yeah, that's the plan. I'm

not really sure what to do

with this room, though.

Do? I thought you said you

were going to restore it.

Oh, well, my employer

doesn't really have a use

for a Rosicrucian altar.

And then there are the

rumors around town.

Well, these are simple folk, Mrs.

Hamilton.

The miracle of metempsychosis

is not something they would

ever understand.

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