Quote:

The public is respectfully informed that a

CHARITABLE CHRISTMAS BALL

will take place at SALTWICK VIEW MANOR

on the evening of FRIDAY THE TWENTIETH OF DECEMBER

at Eight O'Clock,

for the BENEFIT of the

WHITBY SOCIETY FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF LITERACY

 

Under the distinguished patronage of:

The Dowager Countess Selby,

The Right Honourable Lord McPadraic,

and various excellent ladies and gentlemen.

 

The proceeds resulting from this splendid engagement are intended to fund small libraries in the local board schools and the Whitby Workhouse, thus providing Whitby’s young and indigent population with an opportunity for SELF-IMPROVEMENT. Appealing to the TRUE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS, the attendance of every generous and socially minded lady and gentleman is earnestly solicited.

 

The Royal York Orchestra has been engaged for the occasion.

Dancing will commence at Half Past Nine and Cease at Three O’Clock.

 

A scrumptious supper will be provided at Eleven O’Clock.

 

Tickets, one pound each, can be procured beforehand from the Whitby Post Office, or may be purchased upon arrival at the door of the Manor. Refreshments and supper are included in the price.

 

Evening dress is imperative!

Quote:I am a young, impressionable woman from a respectable family in Texas, United States. Though I am at an age that I can afford to take time to pursue a nursing degree, what is a woman without a husband?

I answered an ad from here in search of a wife. He said he was in his 30s, and I told him my age – 19. It did not alarm me at the time.

I laid with my letter, dreaming of a modest future with a man who seemed so humble he must be honest. Right? If only! When he met me for lunch, he whispered my name as though it were dirty. He kept his gloves on, even as he drank tea! Beckoned me to drink tea with him so that we did not look ‘suspicious,’ as though he thought he were hiring me for the night! He told me he was ‘seriously’ in need of a wife after acting as though he had an assassin in the shadows after him.

Not only this, but he assured me repeatedly that he was merely seeking a ‘friend’ to be married to, not to be mistaken for a true wife. A scam to the good public! At first, I took it as him merely being shy around women. Now, I wonder. Is he impotent? He demanded no children, but surely no real man means such a thing. He said that it would be loveless, but aren’t all marriages at first? Oscar Wilde, too, has no children.

Is he another Oscar Wilde, but this time masquerading as a good Catholic and upstanding constable instead of the far more suspicious artiste?

Perhaps I should have known better when his letter demanded secrecy of a complete and honest stranger!

The truly horrifying moment is what might have befallen me had I went along swimmingly with him: our dear friend at Box #12 hits women, because what else is he to do on the job but beat up any helpless tourists who might have thought the private land was public? Woe to any women who agrees to be this miscreant’s wife.

I hope you found what you were not looking for, Constable Elijah Crane.

Sincerely,
An Anchor in Your Scorn

Quote:Are you lonely? Are you looking for a place to go away from all of your cares? Then come to the Diamond Pony, where we will take care of you the way you want to be and you can ride off in a princely way. _____Address here_____

Quote:Looking for maids, cooks, guards and more. Apply within. ______Address Here______

Quote:What drives a man who has it all to take even more?

Magnus Carrington IV, 27, was a respected member of the community, up until that grisly night months ago. Up until he was shot full of five bullets of three different calibers, he drank with the men. He was normal. Crude? Certainly. A fan of women? Not unduly.

Yet now, he is a man surrounded by speculation. Did his dearly beloved sister, Olivia, merely have a tragic case of being left at the alter despite her sizable dowry? Or was [something more foul] [afoot]?

True and trustworthy men, of course, knew of Magnus’ bit of business in the coals: The Diamond Pony. One of the best open secrets of Whitby, it has since been tarnished with the ashes of his reputation and the blood on his hands. According to Parish Clerk Rolando Vega, he secreted off to the council with a woman to be his wife. Sonia Carrington nee DeAngelis, 19, is an unknown woman of the kind of beauty that puts a woman in danger. Where they met, too, is a topic of great speculation! Of greater interest, however, is her inheritance. She is also believed to merely be the last of many such covert weddings, but the Parish Clerk could not be reached for further comment.

Despite the confirmed murders, we must remember that Magnus Carrington was above all else a man. A man with needs, wants, and homicidal tendencies. He was you and I in his darkest moment, even if his funeral was far grander and his death far more dramatic than you and I could ever hope for.

How this effects the Carrington family fortunes remain to be seen – especially with an eldest on the wake, a brother to follow, and triplets, should something happento Darius!

Morton Conover,
Chief Editor of the York Business Journal