Arthur

Arthur is Rosie’s long-separated beloved, reunited with her after a door opens onto a place he remembers from 1874. His tenderness is tested soon afterward in Humphrey Wells’s hostage-taking scheme: shaking but deliberate, Arthur yields the talisman to protect Rosie, while refusing to believe Humphrey’s lies about her affection for Paul Carpenter.

Reunion and return

Arthur’s reappearance is marked first by the exchanged cries of “Rosie!” and “Arthur!” Paul looks away from the reunion, which he finds almost enough to put him off true love for life. In that moment, he also wonders whether Arthur knows he has a son, and thinks of Dennis Tanner; the text leaves Arthur’s knowledge uncertain.

The reunion takes place as the group crosses the threshold of a room that carries a memory for Arthur. After Pip recognizes a ceiling stain and recalls writing to the landlord about it in 1874, Mr Tanner’s mum grabs Arthur by the collar and frogmarches him through the door, explaining that she had to check it was safe first. Her protective gesture strikes Paul as almost touching. Rosie follows Arthur through, then Sophie Pettingell and Paul; Paul closes the door, catches it as it rolls up and falls off the wall, and remarks that their passage is over. Arthur’s response to the room’s return is not recorded here, but Pip’s recognition establishes that it is a place connected to the past.

The talisman and the bargain

Later, Arthur faces Humphrey while Mr Tanner’s mum is in danger. Humphrey has stopped sawing her in half and threatens to put her back together only if Arthur hands over the talisman. He offers his word as a gentleman, but Arthur asks what assurance he has that she will be restored. Humphrey’s answer is that Arthur has little time to decide: unless he puts her back within three minutes, there will be no point.

Arthur is shaking, yet he acts. He reaches across the table, picks up Humphrey’s conjuror’s hat, and produces three white doves, a rabbit, and a fine gold chain. The animals scatter; Arthur places the chain on the table and identifies it as what Humphrey wants. The revelation reverses the balance of the demand: Humphrey has been carrying the talisman for a hundred and thirty years without knowing it. He admires Arthur’s ingenuity and nerve, but says he intends to dispose of the object so his uncle will no longer be a problem. Arthur has secured the exchange, but Humphrey remains in control of the people around him.

Loyalty under manipulation

The bargain does not end the danger. Mr Tanner’s mum grows claws and tries to swipe Humphrey, who freezes her with a snap of his fingers and then transforms her appearance. He taunts Arthur by claiming that Rosie has been pursuing Paul, presenting the supposed affair as evidence against Arthur’s faith in her. Arthur looks at Paul, shakes his head, and refuses the claim: “I don’t believe you,” he says. “My Rosie’d never do anything like that.”

Humphrey’s next move is to freeze Arthur before he can answer further. The threat is both physical and relational: Humphrey proposes to confine Arthur with his friends and suggests that Rosie might prefer him to that fate. Arthur’s brief, firm defense of Rosie stands against this effort to make captivity and jealousy do Humphrey’s work for him. In the evidence available here, Arthur’s loyalty remains clear even as his freedom is taken away; what happens to him after Humphrey freezes him is not shown.