Society of Antiquaries' Somerset House

Society of Antiquaries' Somerset House is the imposing London building where Theodosia follows a dying man’s last instructions to Lord Wigmere and enters the Society of Antiquaries. Its thousand-windowed frontage and ordered offices establish a visible world of institutional authority; behind a curtained wall, a concealed lift leads down to Level Six, giving the location a hidden dimension as well.

Setting and Approach

Theodosia first learns that Society of Antiquaries' Somerset House may offer help from a badly weakened man she has encountered with Henry. After struggling to make sense of his speech, she understands him to identify the place, then to specify the third floor and the Society of Antiquaries. His final instruction singles out Lord Wigmere and trails off with a warning about the forces of chaos. The location is thus introduced not through a routine visit but as the destination of an urgent message from a man who can barely speak.

Theodosia runs through narrow streets until she reaches the Strand and sees Society of Antiquaries' Somerset House directly across from her. The building is large and imposing, nearly the size of a palace, with a thousand windows facing the street. She crosses its enormous courtyard more slowly, trying not to attract attention. That change of pace marks the shift from the exposed urgency of her errand to the more formal demands of entering a powerful institution.

Entry and Institutional Thresholds

At the entrance, a doorman questions Theodosia about her business, and she uses her best imitation of Grandmother Throckmorton’s haughty stare to present herself as someone who belongs. She names Lord Wigmere and the Society of Antiquaries on the third floor, though she initially gets the institution’s name wrong; the doorman corrects her and points her toward the stairs. Her borrowed air of family authority proves useful, but the small correction also establishes the building’s formal conventions and the visitor’s need to navigate them.

The ascent brings her through a space occupied by men on business; she notices that there do not seem to be any women there. On the third floor, a large brass sign identifies the Society of Antiquaries, confirming that she has reached the destination the messenger described. Yet arrival does not immediately grant access. A prim young clerk with wire spectacles steps out of his office and questions her, and Theodosia again relies on Grandmother Throckmorton’s stare to insist on seeing Lord Wigmere. The sequence makes the floor, sign, and guarded office into successive thresholds rather than a single open reception.

Lord Wigmere and the Society

After the clerk checks with Lord Wigmere, he returns and admits Theodosia, emphasizing her status as a young woman in his manner of address. Lord Wigmere is at his desk, writing, and initially tells her he will attend to her in a moment without looking up. This calm reception contrasts with the dying messenger’s desperate effort to get her there. The building’s official pace continues even when Theodosia arrives carrying a warning about danger.

The conversation at Society of Antiquaries' Somerset House reveals that Lord Wigmere is concerned about serious events in Britain and believes Theodosia is involved. He knows that her parents have reputations for their work and that some of the artifacts her mother brings into the country have remarkable properties. He asks how many other objects with such properties are held in the family’s museum. The location therefore becomes the setting for Theodosia’s first direct encounter with an institutional authority who already knows something of the unusual artifacts and seeks information about their wider presence.

The Concealed Lift and Level Six

The building’s public offices conceal a more private route. Lord Wigmere leads Theodosia down a hall to a narrow door marked as private and forbidden to visitors, then enters despite the warning sign, with her following close behind. The room beyond is no larger than a large closet. Heavy curtains cover its east wall; when Lord Wigmere draws them aside, they reveal a flat, shiny metal door with no handles and only a seam down the middle.

A button on the wall opens the metal doors to disclose a lift. An attendant operates its control panel, and Lord Wigmere requests Level Six. The concealed entrance transforms the building’s spatial character: the imposing public frontage, the marked institutional floor, and the guarded offices give way to an access-controlled mechanism hidden behind curtains. The scene does not explain what lies on Level Six, but it establishes that Society of Antiquaries' Somerset House contains a route beyond its ordinary offices and that Lord Wigmere can bring Theodosia through it. The contrast between public decorum and concealed passage makes the building a crucial transition point between the Society’s visible authority and its restricted interior.