Chapter 5

So why had Odham MacGuinness invited the man described as ‘Englands most depraved scoundrel’ to stay at Buckthorney? To answer this question, we must go to Norway.

Two kilometers outside the small hamlet of Aldbrec stands an old stone wall, which locals claim has stood there as long as anyone can remember. Known as Aldehain, the wall is reputed to have magical properties which have protected it from aging. Enting Morrow had learned of the walls existence during his many travels around Northern Europe, and he became determined to understand how the Aldehain wall had come by it’s remarkable reputation. However, he was not the only person interested in the wall at Aldehain. Odham MacGuinness had also heard rumors of a wall impervious to the ravages of time. And so had another extremely wealthy man, with an extensive knowledge of the occult: Stefan Peroneus Parsons.

Parsons was regarded by those who taught him as quite possibly one of the most intelligent men to ever walk through the hallowed doors at Oxford. By the age of 19 he was also among the wealthiest, having made his fortune predicting the ebbs and flows of the stock market, for which he had an almost preternatural ability. Then on his 21st birthday Parsons announced his ‘retirement’ from society and promptly disappeared. In 1884 he was sighted in the Far East, and then again in 1887 in the Himalayas, where he was said to be studying with an order of Dark Heart Monks. In 1900 he returned to London. It didn’t take very long for rumors to spread through the occult underground that a Grand Adept was now residing in the capital. Many leading figures of the esoteric arts sought audience with this powerful man, among them Enting Morrow.

Parsons was impressed with Morrow, claiming to see something of himself in the young Adept. Within a month Parsons handed Morrow a blank cheque to help fund the formation of The Golden Bough. When Morrow landed in court 1t was Parsons who paid all legal bills, and when Morrow told his benefactor that he was going to study the wall at Aldehain to learn it’s secrets, it was Parsons who funded the entire expedition, and joined Morrow on his trip to Norway. Together, they would unravel the mystery of the Aldehain wall, and later use the knowledge gained to reproduce a similar wall in England; at Buckthorney.