The Dweller on the Threshold

A psychical researcher, Evelyn Malling, returns to London and encounters a celebrated clergyman, Marcus Harding, who projects public success yet carries an elusive sadness. Harding's polished parish life and cultured tastes contrast with a strained relationship with his curate, Henry Chichester, whose frequent critical interjections unsettle Harding and draw Malling's attention. Malling studies their interactions with investigative curiosity, noting subtle power shifts and emotional nuance, and finds the situation connected to his own psychic inquiries and to the work of Professor Stepton, setting the scene for deeper examination of motive and influence.