The Irish Witch

'If you are right, that would explain many things.'

'Indeed it would. The reason for her leaving England would have been to follow the O'Brien woman to Dublin, and there continue the association. She, not her daughter, may be at the root of the trouble. If she is a Satanist herself, she would have initiated the two girls, and her letter to Georgina be a pack of lies designed to keep Susan in Ireland by alleging that she has disappeared.'

'And when young Charles arrived, having been a previous member of the club he decided to throw in his lot with those people instead of bringing Susan home.'

'That could well be, since he has long been in love with Susan. Under this evil woman's influence she could have tempted him and, rather than lose her, he elected to remain.'

Over supper the two friends speculated further, but neither could produce any other theory, so they turned to Napoleon's defeat and abdication, while polishing off the best part of two bottles of Chateau Lafitte, followed by old port wine. These liberal potations ensured Roger a good night's sleep. But in the morning, instead of going to the Bristol coach station, he walked across St. James's Park to Birdcage Walk.

It was in a house there that, when he had first become a secret agent, he had made his reports to a Mr. Gilbert Maxwell. Later he had dealt direct with Mr. Pitt and a succession of Ministers of Foreign Affairs; but he had often had occasion to collect documents and money from a Mr. Desmond Knight, who had succeeded Maxwell, and he now sent up his name to him.

Mr. Knight was a tall, thin, greyhaired man. He received Roger courteously, then asked in what way he could be of service to him.

‘It is a private matter,' Roger smiled, 'but, knowing you as well as I do, I feel sure you will not refuse me your help. I am anxious to learn all you can tell me about a man named Cornelius Quelp: a Dutchman who was tried and convicted some months ago as a secret agent in the pay of the French.'

Mr. Knight returned his smile. 'Mr. Brook, we have many secrets here, but none from a man so intimately acquainted with such affairs as yourself. Mynheer Quelp was sentenced to three years hard labour and is now quarrying stone on Dartmoor. What do you wish to know about him?'

‘I understand that he acted as courier for a woman named Katie O'Brien, who collected information for our enemies. She lived in a house out at Islington. No doubt you know what went on there?'

'Yes; she was known as the Irish Witch, and ran a Satanic circle, called the New Hell Fire Club. Unfortunately, before her connection with Quelp emerged at his trial, she got away to Ireland.'

'So I gather. But why was she not arrested by our authorities there?'

'Because we could trace her only as far as Dublin. From there she disappeared.'

‘I am told she is possibly there now, running another Satanic circle.'

'If she is it must be under another name, otherwise we should have learned of it.'

'Did you perchance secure a list of the members of the Hell Fire Club?'

'Yes, although by no means a complete one. The members went to considerable pains to conceal their identities. They put on masks before entering the house. But discreet enquiries among the coachmen of the nobility gave us the names of some thirty-odd people who had been driven there at night and not returned until the early hours of the morning. Some, too, visited the house fairly frequently in daylight.'

'Was Lady Luggala among them?'

'Yes. She, I recall, was one of the regular visitors.'

Roger's guess had been right. He smiled grimly, then said, 'Mr. Knight, reverting to espionage. It will naturally have occurred to you that the woman O'Brien must have obtained much of the information she passed on to our enemies from the members of her club. Were many of them prosecuted on that account?'

The Secret Service chief shook his head. 'No, Mr. Brook. The majority of them, I am sure, were entirely ignorant of that side of the woman's activities, and anything she received from others would have been by word of mouth. There were a few that we suspected, but we had not a tittle of evidence against them.'

'Was Lady Luggala among those you suspected?'

'Yes, for a variety of reasons. She was one of the witch's most frequent visitors. They were both Irish and she was living beyond her means. Our undercover man at Coutt's traced several drafts on the O'Brien's account made payable to Lady Luggala.'

'She is now living in Dublin and I am about to proceed there. I have reason to believe that, given your help, I could secure the evidence needed to convict her and, perhaps, others.'

'Indeed! Well, the war, thank God, is over; but all the same if there are grounds for believing that she gave information to an enemy agent, she should certainly be brought to trial. What help do you need ?'

'Authority to enter her house, to search it, to question her servants and, if my suspicions are correct, to arrest her.'

Mr. Knight hesitated. 'Mr. Brook, as you are not an official agent of the Grown, you are asking a lot, particularly the right to take her into custody.'

'If, having got the evidence we need I am not empowered to do so, before I can get a warrant from a magistrate she will have the chance to disappear, as the other woman has done. You know enough about me to be sure that I should not abuse such powers as you may give me.'

'True, true, Mr. Brook. I am sure you would not. In the intimate circle in which we move, you are become almost a legendary figure. I recall that there have even been times when you have been given Lettres de Marque to speak on behalf of Prime Ministers. Unorthodox as your request is, it would be unreasonable in me not to grant it.'

As he spoke Mr. Knight tinkled a bell on his desk. A secretary came in and, a quarter of an hour later, Roger left the house with the papers he had asked for in his pocket.

He lunched at White's, wrote a brief, loving note to Georgina, just to let her know he had stumbled upon one lead that he hoped would facilitate his search for Susan and Charles; then, having said good-bye to Droopy, he took the night coach to Bristol.

Next morning, having booked himself a cabin at the ferry office, he had a clerk there produce the register of passengers who had taken tickets to cross during the last week in March and found that Charles had sailed on the 25th.

Satisfied that no accident had befallen Charles before leaving England, he went aboard and ordered champagne and dry biscuits; having found from long experience that sipping the one and nibbling the other gave the best hope that the queasiness from which he always suffered when at sea would not become actually sickness.

On landing in Dublin he hired a coach and told the driver to take him in turn to the best hostelries in the city. The second at which they halted was the Grown and Shamrock. His inquiry produced the information that the Earl of St. Ermins had arrived there on March 26th and stayed two nights, then departed leaving no address. He had not been seen there since.

Having taken a room, unpacked and had a meal, Roger went out and bought himself a cheap, ready-made trouser suit of brown cloth, a cloak of Irish homespun, a pair of heavy boots and a top hat made of shiny, black waterproof material. Taking his purchases back to the Grown and Shamrock, he changed into them, scruffed the boots and battered the hat a little, then slipped down the back stairs and into the stable yard.

By then it was growing dark. Out in the street, after enquiring of a passer-by, he soon found his way to Merrion Square, in which Lady Luggala had her house. On finding the number he was greatly relieved to see chinks of light coming from between the drawn curtains of a room on die first floor, which implied that she was at home, but no sounds suggesting that an entertainment was in progress. There were also lights in the basement.