Short Fiction · Chapter
The Letter of Advice explained
Villiers tells Austin about his encounter with the degraded Herbert and his determination to find Mrs.
What happens
Villiers tells Austin about his encounter with the degraded Herbert and his determination to find Mrs. Herbert. He shows Austin a letter from Clarke advising him to forget the matter. Villiers then describes his disturbing visit to the Paul Street house. The conversation shifts to a Mrs. Beaumont's house and her strange thousand-year-old wine. Austin reveals that his friend Arthur Meyrick has died and left him a book of drawings, which Villiers identifies as depicting Mrs. Herbert, deepening the mystery.
Themes in this chapter
The Urban Mystery
The chapter deepens the mystery surrounding Mrs. Herbert, with clues emerging from Paul Street, a letter, and a dead artist's drawings.
Occult and Forbidden Knowledge
Clarke's letter warns of 'depths and horrors' beyond ordinary knowledge, and Meyrick's drawings depict a 'frightful Walpurgis Night of evil.'
Corruption and Evil
Herbert is described as 'destroyed, body and soul' by his wife, and the drawings reveal 'strange monstrous evil.'
Characters to notice
- Mr. Villiers
Villiers recounts his encounter with Herbert and his plan to find Mrs. Herbert; he identifies Mrs. Herbert in Meyrick's drawings.
- Austin
Austin listens to Villiers's story, shows him the book of drawings from Meyrick, and mentions Mrs. Beaumont's house.
- Mr. Clarke
Clarke wrote a letter to Villiers advising him to forget the matter, hinting at hidden horrors.
- Charles Herbert
Herbert is mentioned as having been ruined by his wife and now dead; Villiers saw him begging.
- Helen Vaughan
Referred to as Mrs. Herbert; Villiers identifies her portrait in Meyrick's drawings and suspects she will return to London.
- Arthur Meyrick
Dead painter and friend of Austin; his posthumous book of drawings contains disturbing images and a portrait of Mrs. Herbert.
Key passages
“Throw the portrait into the fire, blot out the story from your mind. Never give it another thought, Villiers, or you will be sorry.”
Clarke advises Villiers to destroy the portrait and forget the entire affair to avoid regret.
Clarke's letter of advice, urging Villiers to abandon his investigation.
“I am like a traveller who has peered over an abyss, and has drawn back in terror.”
Clarke compares himself to someone who has glimpsed a terrifying chasm and recoiled.
Clarke's metaphor for his limited but horrifying knowledge.
“It was as if I were inhaling at every breath some deadly fume, which seemed to penetrate to every nerve and bone and sinew of my body.”
Villiers describes a physical sensation of poisoning in the Paul Street room.
Villiers's account of his disturbing experience in the house.
“It is a collection of drawings in black and white by my poor friend Meyrick.”
Austin explains that the book contains black-and-white drawings by the deceased artist Meyrick.
Austin introduces the legacy from Meyrick.
“The figures of Fauns and Satyrs and Ægipans danced before his eyes, the darkness of the thicket, the dance on the mountaintop, the scenes by lonely shores, in green vineyards, by rocks and desert places, passed before him: a world before which the human soul seemed to shrink back and shudder.”
Villiers sees a series of mythological and sinister scenes that horrify the soul.
Description of the disturbing content of Meyrick's drawings.
