Brood of the Witch-Queen · Chapter
II: The Phantom Hands explained
Robert Cairn visits Sir Michael Ferrara's house and speaks with Myra Duquesne, who describes strange nocturnal occurrences including phantom hands and a chilling presence.
What happens
Robert Cairn visits Sir Michael Ferrara's house and speaks with Myra Duquesne, who describes strange nocturnal occurrences including phantom hands and a chilling presence. Meanwhile, Cairn investigates a mysterious death at a hospital, recognizing the deceased as a woman he had seen at Oxford in connection with Antony Ferrara. The chapter deepens the sense of supernatural threat and the connection between Ferrara and the unfolding events.
Themes in this chapter
Appearance vs. Reality
The phantom hands and the mysterious death challenge characters' perceptions of what is real versus supernatural.
The Limits of Rationality
Cairn and the medical professionals struggle to explain the death and Myra's vision through rational means.
Possession and Identity
Sir Michael's altered behavior and the strange influence over him suggest a loss of self or external control.
Characters to notice
- Robert Cairn
Visits Sir Michael's house, investigates the hospital death, and learns of Myra's terrifying experience.
- Myra Duquesne
Describes seeing phantom hands and hearing chanting; is visibly distressed and pale from nursing Sir Michael.
- Sir Michael Ferrara
Unwell, refuses to see visitors, behaves strangely, and has made repeated requests for his solicitor.
- Antony Ferrara
Implicated indirectly; the dead woman at the hospital is the same one seen at his Oxford rooms.
- Walton
Junior house-surgeon who shows Cairn the body of the mysterious deceased woman.
- Dr. Sime
Phoned Cairn about the unusual hospital case, which involved rare nervous symptoms.
Key passages
“He shuddered, as though from a physical chill. The house of the famous Egyptian scholar, dull white behind its rampart of trees, presented no unusual appearances to his anxious scrutiny.”
Cairn felt a cold shiver as he looked at Sir Michael's white house, which seemed normal despite his growing unease.
Highlights Cairn's foreboding and the contrast between ordinary appearance and hidden danger.
“I saw—oh, how can I tell you! You will think me mad!”
Myra hesitated, fearing that her account of the phantom hands would be dismissed as insanity.
Emphasizes the theme of appearance vs. reality and Myra's fear of not being believed.
“Two hands were stretched out over my uncle, two hands that swayed slowly up and down in the moonlight!”
Myra described seeing a pair of hands moving rhythmically above Sir Michael in the moonlit room.
Key supernatural image that drives the chapter's mystery.