17th July 1889 Adeline, I did not think I would be writing this letter, but the rumours have quieted, and there is much to be done here. In the years you have been gone, I have watched London fall at the feet of heretics. They sing their praises of a Golden Dawn, spreading lies and deceit, boasting of alchemy and magic. And with their song, their ranks are growing.

‘The Light of Dawn’ is the opening of a longer piece about a young woman in the late 1800s, Adeline, who is asked to become a spy in the ranks of a ‘magical’ order known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a not-so-secret society (if only because Adeline’s father knows of its existence and wants it to be destroyed). The whole situation will come with its own risks, of course, but Adeline’s real problem is Florence Farr, a clever and strong-willed Order member.