# Mr. Salisbury — Short Fiction character guide

> Mr. Salisbury in Short Fiction by Arthur Machen.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** II Mr. Salisbury, III Salisbury, Mr. Charles Salisbury, Charles

**First appearance:** 0009-the-inmost-light

## Snapshot

A restless Londoner whose comfortable routine is broken by a scrap of jingling verse he cannot stop muttering, driving him toward stranger company.

## Who they are

Salisbury lives among green rep, oleographs, and gilt-framed mirrors, a man of ordinary habits whose morning novel suddenly loses its power to hold him. The rhyme he found in an archway lodges in his head like a music-hall burden, and he paces deserted byways trying to fix meaning to phrases that seem meaningless. His visit to Dyson's lamplit, incense-scented rooms shows a man reaching past his own dull respectability, which makes him the reader's natural companion into the city's quieter terrors.

## In the story

### [The Inmost Light](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/the-inmost-light)

Tells Dyson about the strange case of Dr. Black and his wife's death.

### [The Harlesden Case](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/i)

Dines with Dyson and listens to his tale of the Harlesden mystery.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/ii)

A young gentleman of solid intellect, skeptical of Dyson's romantic tales, caught in a storm and witnesses a street quarrel.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/iii)

Returns home drenched, prepares a hot drink, and later retrieves the crumpled paper from his pocket, reading its cryptic message.

### [The Opal of Dr. Black](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/chapters/iv)

Mentioned as having returned to his green rep chairs; his story set Dyson on the trail.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/characters/salisbury
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_6_se/characters