Bulitz Hotel

The Blitz Hotel is Anthony Cade’s first London base after fourteen years away, and the setting for a sequence that turns an apparently straightforward commission into a contest over Count Stylptitch’s manuscript. He arrives under the name Jimmy McGrath, receives a politically charged visitor, guards the manuscript and letters against intrusion, and finally exchanges the manuscript for a cheque at the hotel.

Arrival and First Impressions

Anthony reaches London by boat train and arrives at the Blitz Hotel at two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon, travelling under the name Jimmy McGrath. George Lomax, misled by an earlier mistake about the ship’s arrival, expects Jimmy to come on Thursday; Anthony is already in the city before George’s plans can catch up with him. After booking a room, Anthony takes a stroll along the Embankment and reflects on returning to a London he had not seen for fourteen years. The hotel gives him a practical foothold in the city, but his arrival also marks the return of an older self: he recalls having been a young Socialist who wore a flowing red tie.

A Hotel Room Becomes a Political Front

The Blitz is not merely a place to sleep. Anthony’s room is where competing political interests begin to press in on his commission to deliver the manuscript. When a card arrives bearing the name of Baron Lolopretjzyl, Anthony recognizes the significance of the visitor and considers his response. After an emissary of the Red Hand has been driven off, Anthony concludes that the job will not be as easy as he had expected: he has already encountered both Loyalist and Revolutionary opposition, and suspects that other parties may follow.

That realization changes how he uses the hotel. Anthony decides to begin work on the manuscript that night and, when dinner approaches, elects to eat in the hotel rather than leave his belongings unattended. He orders dinner and Chambertin, then places the manuscript package on the table with the letters while he waits. The room’s ordinary arrangements—his meal, his suitcase, and the package—are now part of the precautions required by a commission shadowed by political suspicion and attempted interference.

The Manuscript’s Handover

After a peaceful second night, the hotel becomes the setting for the commission’s apparently uneventful conclusion. At nine the following morning, Mr Holmes of Balderson and Hodgkins arrives at Anthony’s room. Anthony hands him the manuscript and receives a cheque for one thousand pounds. Holmes packs the document into the small brown bag he carries and leaves; from the surface, the exchange seems tame after the dangers Anthony had anticipated.

The calm of the handover is qualified by Anthony’s suspicion that the manuscript may not be safe on its journey. He wonders whether Holmes might be murdered before reaching his destination, and sends a sealed envelope containing the cheque and a few lines of writing. The Blitz thus frames both the formal completion of the transaction and Anthony’s continuing uncertainty about what will happen next. As a recurring setting, it joins the private logistics of travel, lodging, meals, and payment to the larger political contest surrounding the manuscript.