The Pale Horse

Meeting with Bradley for a second time, Mark arranges terms for the wager upon the death of Mrs. Easterbrook at 1,800 to 1. After demanding full details of the arrangement, Bradley tells Mark to bring something personal belonging to his wife to the women at the Pale Horse, and then to avoid London and anywhere else the victim might be until the wager is ended.

Discovering Mark’s intention to visit the Pale Horse, his cousin Rhoda is surprised to find he is interested in their entertainments. Walking in town they run into Thyrza, who tells Mark not to eat heavily and to appear at precisely seven o’clock. Before he visits the inn, Mark stops in at the vicarage to speak with Mrs. Calthrop and tell her the plan, including his upcoming visit to a séance at the Pale Horse. Giving him her blessing and a promise of her prayers, she sends Mark down the road to the inn and his fate.

Received without pomp or circumstance, Mark begins to let his guard down and suspects that he has been overthinking: “What is there to fear here?” (183). Allowing himself to be led to the old barn, Mark discovers a table in the center of the floor, covered in a purple, velvet cloth.