Under Lock and Key: A Story. Volume 2 (of 3)

In Short

Set in Victorian England, Under Lock and Key: A Story (Volume 2) is a classic melodrama of domestic oppression and high-stakes criminal intrigue. The narrative centers on Janet Holme, a proud young orphan navigating the cruel whims of her patron, Lady Pollexfen, alongside a parallel pursuit of the legendary Great Mogul Diamond. As old military secrets resurface from India, double-crosses multiply across aristocratic estates and remote hideaways. Built on vibrant period atmosphere, sharp characterizations, and structural ingenuity—including epistolary reports and personal journals—the novel endures as an inventive, page-turning piece of nineteenth-century sensation fiction.

The Story

The novel picks up as Janet Holme enters a new realm of service at Dupley Walls, taking over secretarial and companion duties for the stern, icy Lady Pollexfen. Janet’s daily life is a study in stoic endurance; she suffers not only her ladyship's scathing insults regarding her low status and lack of beauty, but also physical cruelty, quietly bearing black-and-blue marks from her mistress’s vicious pinches. Amid this cold atmosphere, a tender romance blossoms between Janet and Captain George, a visitor at nearby The Lindens who decides to pursue a career writing magazine articles about his military service in India.

Yet shadow and mystery hang heavily over Dupley Walls. Decades earlier, Sir John Pollexfen died after burdening his estranged wife with a terrible mandate: his corpse must remain unburied under her roof for twenty years, and she must visit it weekly. Further darkness emerges through Sergeant Nicholas, an old soldier who arrives to reveal a long-buried secret. In India, a priceless gem known as the Great Mogul Diamond was stolen from a dying Captain Pollexfen by M. Platzoff, an eccentric Russian who subsequently fled to his secluded estate, Bon Repos, overlooking Lake Windermere.

Intent on recovering the stone, Lady Pollexfen employs her cunning, dried-up estate agent, Solomon Madgin. Recognizing the immense scale of the task, Solomon recruits his son, James Madgin Junior—an actor with a sharp, theatrical mind. The father and son strike a cynical bargain: James agrees to trace the diamond in exchange for fifteen hundred pounds or reimbursement for his time. Operating under the alias of Mr. Deedes, James travels to Windermere to spy on Platzoff’s estate.

At Bon Repos, the plot thickens into deadly conspiracy. Platzoff lives in paranoid luxury, guarded by his dark-skinned valet, Cleon, and keeping loaded revolvers beside his bed. Staying with Platzoff as a guest is Captain Ducie, a smooth operator determined to secure the diamond for himself. Ducie carefully maps Platzoff's secret quarters, drugs the Russian with a doped pipe of strong tobacco, and uncovers the hidden chamber where the gem is kept. When Platzoff awakens or interrupts the theft, a lethal struggle ensues: Ducie kills Platzoff, suffers wounds during the encounter, but successfully flees Bon Repos with the genuine Great Mogul Diamond.

Meanwhile, James Madgin Junior seizes his own opportunity amidst the chaos. Entering the dead man's private gallery, James steals a precise paste duplicate of the diamond, recognizing its strategic value. He then accompanies the wounded Captain Ducie on a rushed escape from Windermere to London, and eventually to Jersey, keeping close watch on the killer while feeding coded reports and letters back to his father and sister Mirpah in Tydsbury.

How It Unfolds

Janet’s new trial — Janet Holme accepts the position of companion to Lady Pollexfen at Dupley Walls, enduring thirty guineas a year alongside her mistress's biting insults and secretive physical cruelty.

The sergeant's tale — Sergeant Nicholas arrives at the estate to relate how M. Platzoff fled India with a stolen diamond taken from Captain Pollexfen, prompting Lady Pollexfen to seek out the gem.

The Madgins take the case — Solomon Madgin enlists his clever daughter Mirpah and his actor son James to track down the hidden jewel, signing a formal agreement to pay James fifteen hundred pounds upon recovery.

Infiltration at Bon Repos — James Madgin travels to Lake Windermere under an assumed name to spy on M. Platzoff, observing the eccentric Russian and his suspicious guest, Captain Ducie.

The secret of the fourth room — Captain Ducie drops paper pellets while blindfolded to locate Platzoff's hidden library entrance, methodically planning how to bypass locked corridors and vigilant valets.

Murder and theft in the night — Ducie drugs Platzoff's pipe with custom tobacco, loots the secret cavern, and leaves Platzoff dead on the smoke-room floor after a violent struggle.

The fake gem and the flight — James Madgin discovers Platzoff’s body, steals an exact paste replica of the diamond from a display case, and joins the injured Ducie on a flight to London and Jersey.

The People

• Janet Holme: A resilient, proud young woman forced into dependence as Lady Pollexfen's companion. Despite constant verbal abuse and physical torment, she maintains her dignity, anchored by the memory of her mentor, Sister Agnes, and her growing affection for Captain George.
• Lady Pollexfen: The proud, unyielding mistress of Dupley Walls. Hardened by an unhappy marriage and bound by her late husband’s bizarre will, she governs her household with icy tyranny and an iron grip.
• Solomon Madgin: Lady Pollexfen’s small, dried-up business agent. Wearing a fluffy, oversized beaver hat and an old-fashioned cravat, he is driven by worldly shrewdness and the promise of a five-thousand-pound reward.
• James Madgin Junior: Solomon’s stage-actor son. Practical, sharp-witted, and theatrical, he uses his dramatic talents to conduct undercover work, outsmart his father in business dealings, and trail a murderer.
• Captain Ducie: A ruthless, calculating guest at Bon Repos. Desperate to possess the Great Mogul Diamond, he coolly plans its theft, ultimately resorting to drugging and deadly violence to secure the prize.
• M. Platzoff: An eccentric, pipe-smoking Russian landowner residing at Bon Repos. He harbors a stolen Indian diamond in a hidden cavern until his paranoid reign ends in betrayal and murder.

In Its Own Voice

"Pride ill becomes a dependent like you--a mere nobody--a person who has eaten the bread of charity from the day of her birth."

Lady Pollexfen frequently casts Janet’s low status in her face, demonstrating the casual cruelty Janet must endure daily at Dupley Walls.

"I, Solomon Madgin, on the part of Lady Pollexfen, of Dupley Walls, do hereby promise and bind myself to pay over into the hands of my son, James Madgin, the sum of fifteen hundred pounds..."

This businesslike agreement between father and son highlights the mercenary nature of the Madgins' search for the lost gem.

"'Ingrate!' they seemed to say, 'was it for this I took thee to my bosom and called thee friend?'"

Captain Ducie experiences a brief flash of guilt while glancing back at the corpse of Platzoff, the host he has just murdered for his treasure.

What It's Really About

Under Lock and Key explores the corrosive effects of greed, secrecy, and domestic tyranny. At its heart, the novel contrasts the quiet moral endurance of Janet Holme—who suffers beneath the cruel authority of Lady Pollexfen—with the ruthless, mercenary motives driving the hunt for the Great Mogul Diamond. The physical confinement of Dupley Walls mirrors the spiritual confinement of characters trapped by legacy, vengeful wills, and hidden crimes. By placing an actor and a petty agent at the center of the investigation, Speight raises questions about identity and deception, illustrating how wealth reduces human relationships to cold financial transactions and murderous betrayals.

Why Read It Today

Fans of Victorian sensationalism and early detective fiction—in the vein of Wilkie Collins or Arthur Conan Doyle—will find Under Lock and Key a rich, entertaining rediscovery. Speight weaves a multi-layered narrative using epistolary reports, private diaries, and dramatic third-person scenes. The writing strikes a delightful balance between sinister suspense and subtle character humor, particularly in the banter between old Solomon Madgin and his sharp-witted son.

Readers should be prepared for typical mid-Victorian literary conventions, including episodic pacing, dramatic coincidences, and stiff melodramatic dialogue. The novel also reflects the colonial attitudes of its era, framing foreign gems and Eastern travels through a sensational nineteenth-century lens. Nevertheless, the vivid atmosphere of isolated country estates, the clever heist sequences at Lake Windermere, and the resilient character of Janet Holme make this installment an engaging, fast-paced read for anyone who delights in vintage mystery.