Mr Scarletti's Ghost (13 page)

To that he was more than happy to agree. Mina realised that she had quite a task in hand if she was to bring Dr Hamid unreservedly on to her side. To expose trickery might need a capability for rapid action, and a measure of size and strength, all of which were beyond her. Dr Hamid had these attributes but he lacked her conviction and recklessness.

It was with this in mind that the very next day Mina went to see Anna Hamid at the baths and asked if she might be shown how to do the strengthening exercises. Anna, detecting a fresh and possibly dangerous determination in her visitor, was careful to warn Mina not to try to do too much at once. She demonstrated some simple movements that required no apparatus, the raising and lowering of the arms, or extending and holding them out to the sides. Some further exercises could be carried out while holding a light staff, such as a broom handle. She told Mina that she must not on any account twist her body or make jumps, and if any exercise caused her a moment's discomfort she should stop at once. Only when Mina had mastered these simple callisthenics and could perform them properly and without pain should she take the next step. Mina asked what the next step might be and Anna declined to reveal this in case Mina decided to press ahead with it before she was ready. It was, of course, exactly what Mina had in mind, but she was obliged to accept the inevitable and do as Anna directed her. One day, she promised herself, she would be strong.

M
ina returned home to find her mother with a sour and angry expression, drinking hot tea and stabbing at a currant cake as if it had mortally offended her. Louisa's ruse to excite the cream of Brighton society with the accomplishments of Mr Bradley had worked rather too well. The clamour for his healing circle had become so great that he had been obliged to inform her that the Scarletti parlour was now quite inadequate to accommodate all the attendees and he had instead hired a nearby meeting room for his next gathering. Louisa, who had hoped that Mr Bradley's popularity would result in further fashionable salons
chez
Scarletti, was understandably annoyed. Mina tried to soothe her mother by suggesting that she could still hold elegant social events at home, a literary or musical circle perhaps. She was a little mollified and Mina, to her immense relief, soon saw her engaged with new plans that did not involve Mr Bradley.

Mina had learned enough to understand that the next step in her campaign to discover more about Miss Eustace must be to establish a reputation as an unquestioning believer in that lady's mediumistic powers. Her ability not only to be admitted to a séance but to be placed in a position most advantageous for exposing fraud depended entirely on her convincing everyone concerned that she was a true adherent, one who could with confidence be positioned in a place of trust where she could be relied upon to protect the medium from prying suspicious folk. Since so much of what mediums and supposed healers did was to tell people what they wished to hear, Mina found it amusing that she was making Miss Eustace a victim of her own methods.

Even her mother would not be fooled by such a sudden conversion, so Mina began with a careful and humble approach, explaining that ever since attending the séance she had thought long and deeply about what she had seen, had found herself quite unable to explain it away by any natural arguments, and was eager to see more. Louisa looked pleased. She said that Miss Eustace was increasingly in demand, and as well as the séances at the Gaskins' rooms she was also being called upon to give demonstrations in other houses, including some of the most elegant in Brighton. Tickets were hard to come by, but she thought they would always be available to sincere persons. Mina tried her hardest to look sincere, and Louisa melted and said she was sure to be able to get tickets.

Mina was extremely grateful to learn that her mother, who had not forgiven Mr Bradley for deserting her parlour for the bleak space of a meeting hall that could accommodate a hundred invalids, did not think she would be troubling herself to attend any more of the healing circles. In any case the forthcoming meeting was to take place on the same evening as Miss Eustace's next séance at the Gaskins' and she could hardly attend both.

There was one very important piece of information about Miss Eustace which was, felt Mina, being withheld. Whether this was deliberate or not she could not be sure, so she essayed a gentle probe to test the water.

‘I understand that Miss Eustace does not lodge with Professor and Mrs Gaskin?' she asked.

‘No,' said her mother, ‘and that is to avoid any suggestion that she is able to arrange the room in advance. I think that is very sensible. Sceptical people will seize on the smallest thing and make some great difficulty out of it, so she has quite done away with that.'

Mina thought that since the Gaskins were such devotees there would be no difficulty in Miss Eustace asking them to arrange the séance room exactly as she would wish, but she did not mention this.

‘I wonder where she
does
lodge?' she asked, with the air of the idly curious to whom the precise answer was not of any importance. ‘These sceptical persons would surely complain if they thought that she was living in grand style somewhere. But she does not strike me as someone who would do so. She seems to be a very quiet and modest lady.'

‘No, luxury and outward show are not at all to her taste,' her mother assured her. ‘Miss Eustace's needs are very few. I believe she has a small and simple apartment where she can retire alone in order to rest and restore her energy.'

‘Her peace and privacy are of the utmost importance,' said Mina. ‘She must be quite exhausted after her demonstrations, and I am sure she would not want curious persons intruding on her rest.'

‘Coarse newspapermen making a great noise, and sceptical persons with their bad thoughts,' said Louisa, with a shudder. ‘She must stay well away from them or it upsets her. Professor Gaskin, who of course knows about such things, says that she reminds him of a delicate balance that needs to be perfectly aligned if it is to be true. That is why he and Mrs Gaskin care for her and ensure she is protected at all times.'

It was a small matter but another little clue, thought Mina. Miss Eustace was keeping her address a secret. There might be any number of perfectly understandable reasons why that was the case, but it was also very possible that the lady had something to hide. Quite what it was she might be hiding Mina did not know, but she was now determined that at least some of the lady's secrets would be revealed at the next séance.

Mina had no plan in mind when she attended her second séance, but she had resolved to watch carefully for any opportunity to learn more about Miss Eustace. All she knew was that great wonders were about to be performed in front of her eyes that would convince even the most sceptical person of the divine truth of spiritualism. Either that or there would be a demonstration of blatant trickery that would only fool the gullible. Mina, as a sceptic pretending to be gullible, felt that she was there in disguise, like a spy sent to a foreign court to learn secrets. She was a deceiver, appearing to be of the shining faithful but harbouring deep in her bosom the dark seeds of doubt. It was quite an adventure. She tried at first to conceal her feelings of excitement beneath a calm exterior, but then saw that this was unnecessary. Her keen anticipation would be interpreted by believers as a quasi-religious ecstasy wholly appropriate to the situation.

Dr Hamid was there, and greeted Mina and her mother with a look of deep concern it was impossible for him to conceal.

‘Poor man,' said Mina's mother, when they were out of earshot. ‘I do so hope Miss Eustace can bring him comfort.' Mina felt sure, however, that the doctor's glance was not an expression of inner suffering, but an unspoken warning that she should not commit an indiscretion. Mina had never committed an indiscretion, but when she came to think about it she was twenty-five and single and independent and might therefore do as she liked. Perhaps indiscretion was something she lacked in her daily life and she ought to try it at least once. She knew that unless something very remarkable was to occur she could not count on Dr Hamid to assist her. Nevertheless his presence as a level-headed scientific observer was of considerable value.

The Gaskins' parlour had been rearranged since Mina's earlier visit. No longer were there two rows of chairs, but a large round table had been brought in and dining chairs in sufficient numbers for the company arranged around it. At least the table had not been pushed close to a wall to trap doubters as the Dialectical Society's Dr Edmunds had been trapped at the Davenports' failed séance; there was more than enough room for a person or disembodied spirit lights or flying violins to proceed about its perimeter. The table was bare, and Mina wondered if this was to prevent breakages in case it was to suddenly tip and tilt, which she knew from her reading that they were, in the right company, prone to do.

Besides Mina's mother, her party of ladies and Dr Hamid, the others in attendance were a young gentleman called Mr Clee, and the two widowed sisters, of whom the younger, Mrs Mowbray, a lady nearing fifty with a very prominent bust, was making her interest in Dr Hamid increasingly obvious, eyeing him as if he was something she might like to purchase and take home. Her face bore unmistakable traces of paint.

Miss Whinstone was making sure, both noisily and repeatedly, that everyone knew she was braving the dangers of heart failure yet again. Mrs Bettinson was almost welded to her side, holding her up with a firm grasp on her arm, as if she had been a life-sized puppet. As Mrs Bettinson moved, so Miss Whinstone moved, and they walked together like a pair of comedy dancers on a stage. Every so often the legs of the puppet seemed to fail and the lady threatened to collapse, or at least claimed that she was about to collapse, and Mrs Bettinson's hand tightened. Mrs Gaskin sailed up with some kind words for Miss Whinstone, assuring her that she was a very important member of the gathering, and expressing the hope that she would not think of going since her presence was an inspiration to the spirits. She must not think, said Mrs Gaskin with a smile like medicinal syrup, that the dear spirits meant any harm; they were a benevolent influence and could do only good. Miss Whinstone, fortified by Mrs Gaskin's praise and a small glass of sherry, decided to remain. Louisa, meanwhile, was watching Mrs Gaskin very closely, and with an unfriendly air. For a moment Mina thought hopefully that she was beginning to have reservations about the séances, and then she realised that her mother, with her nose still very firmly out of joint after losing the opportunity to preside over Mr Bradley's healing salon, was jealous.

The dark curtains that had enclosed one corner of the room had been drawn back and Professor Gaskin was eagerly bustling about and encouraging everyone present to take a look at everything in the recess for reassurance that no trickery of any kind was involved. He spoke mournfully of letters recently published in the
Gazette
written by ignorant, hypercritical and ill-mannered persons. Such people could only serve to upset refined individuals such as Miss Eustace, and he had taken great care that these destructive influences should not be permitted to attend until such time as they became humble enough to receive the truth. Only the other day, he revealed, a man from the
Gazette
had applied for a ticket and had been very firmly refused. The company murmured approbation for this sensible precaution.

Mina joined those who dared to look into the space behind the curtains, but saw and felt nothing out of the ordinary. It might have aroused suspicion of her intentions had she passed her hands over the walls but a pretended loss of balance, which she was sure would have appeared excusable in one such as herself, seemed to force her to put one palm to the wall. She found it solid, with nothing to suggest any recent alterations, and no secret doors or cavities. The little table with the hand bell, tambourine, paper and pencil had been pushed into the corner, and Mina was able unobtrusively to satisfy herself that the paper was a single unfolded unmarked sheet. The only other item in the space was the chair. The carpeting of the room ran right to the edges of the floor, and looked to be well bedded into place.

Mina rejoined the general throng in the room. ‘The cabinet is, as you have seen, no more than it appears to be,' observed Mrs Gaskin with slightly narrowed eyes.

‘But it is a place of great wonders,' said Mina, with a bright happy smile. ‘I confess to entertaining some hope that if I stand there long enough I might benefit from the power of the spirits which must surely be very concentrated on that spot.' She touched her hand to her shoulder as if it pained her, which that evening, thanks to Anna Hamid's ministrations, it did not. ‘Is that too much to expect?' she asked plaintively.

‘Not at all,' said Mrs Gaskin, in a more kindly tone. ‘Dear young lady, your faith does you credit. The spirits are our friends and watch over us. If you trust in them,' she added with great assurance, ‘you
will
be rewarded.'