At the House of the Magician (17 page)

‘
I forgive you, Father.
’

He nodded. ‘Then you may look at him beseechingly for just a moment – but do not venture any closer for fear he should notice the colour of your eyes! – and turn and go back behind the yew tree, where Alice’s grave lies.’

I nodded. ‘
Alas, poor Alice
,’ said the voice in my head.

I didn’t know what time it was, but they say that midnight is the hour when graves give up their dead, so I suppose that it must have been about that time when I heard the muffled thud of a horse’s hooves at the front of the church and the light jingle of a bridle.

I began to shake with fright. ‘
Each ghoul or ghostie, faery, sprite …
’ I said to myself, but it wasn’t just these I was worried about. Suppose Lord Vaizey didn’t believe I was his daughter’s ghost? Suppose he reached for me and discovered I was real, substantial, not a spirit at all? It wouldn’t help me to say that I was working under Dr Dee’s instructions; I could still be burnt at the stake as a witch.

A horse and rider came into view and I shrank back against the churchyard wall and watched as the man slipped off his horse. The moon reappeared, allowing me to see that Lord Vaizey – for it must be he – wore a heavy cloak, high boots and a black felt hat with a sable mourning feather. He walked towards Dr Dee and Mr Kelly, and they all exchanged low bows.

Lord Vaizey seemed very anxious, for he was continually wringing his hands and shifting his weight from leg to leg. ‘I beg you, gentlemen, tell me straightaway,’ he asked hoarsely, ‘do we ask too much of my daughter?’

‘How so, Sir?’ Dr Dee replied.

‘Will she mind being called from her eternal sleep? We beg our dead to rest in peace … should we leave her to do just that?’

I froze, listening intently.

Mr Kelly spoke up very quickly, no doubt thinking of the thirty gold angels to be gained or lost. ‘Not at all, my Lord,’ he said. ‘Your daughter knows your suffering.’

‘And if she can ease that suffering, then I believe she would be willing to do so,’ Dr Dee added.

‘But suppose she has
not
forgiven me?’

There was a moment’s silence, then Dr Dee spoke again. ‘I am convinced that she will have, Sir.’

‘Do you say so?’

‘I am completely sure of it.’

‘And I believe she’s e’en now waiting to be called by
us,’ said Mr Kelly, making a sweeping gesture towards the chalk circle.

Lord Vaizey breathed out with a long sigh and I believe a purse was handed over at this stage, for I saw Mr Kelly slip something into his pocket. The three of them walked towards the chalk circle, then Dr Dee placed himself in its centre, with Mr Kelly and Lord Vaizey standing a little way off, on the other side of the circle from where I was standing.

Dr Dee began bowing to each corner of the graveyard: low, reverential bows, his arms raised to heaven between each one.

‘Dr Dee is preparing to entice your daughter’s spirit to return to earth from the heavenly chambers in which she now dwells,’ explained Mr Kelly.

‘I pray he succeeds,’ said Lord Vaizey. ‘For I can live no longer with my guilt.’

‘You must understand, my Lord, that if he manages to raise her, she’ll be an ethereal being; an insubstantial wraith. You mustn’t touch her, or even come too close.’

Lord Vaizey didn’t reply to this. He seemed too distressed.

‘If you disobey these rules, if you
do
touch her,’ went on Mr Kelly, ‘I must warn you that her soul may be in danger.’

‘I won’t touch her,’ came the hoarse promise.

There was a moment’s complete silence.

‘Then call in the elements!’ Dr Dee declared, and Mr Kelly produced five small pewter bowls from
somewhere outside my vision. The first contained something which he set alight, saying as he did so, ‘Fire!’ The next held water, then came air, spirit and earth. Each bowl was placed at one point of the star.

‘The circle of a pentacle protects and contains,’ Dr Dee intoned. ‘It symbolises eternity and infinity, the cycle of life. The circle touching all five elements indicates their connection.’

‘So be it,’ responded Mr Kelly.

‘Tonight is an auspicious time for a ceremony such as this, for departed spirits will not be far from earth and are ever watching o’er their loved ones …’

As this discourse continued I used the time to prepare myself for my entrance, breathing evenly and trying to remember everything about Mistress Vaizey that I’d learned. In a moment I’d take a few steps into the churchyard, give Lord Vaizey a sympathetic glance, utter four short words, and it would be over.

As Dr Dee neared the end of his speech, a cloud of sulphur-tinged smoke began billowing from near the church porch. I was frightened by this at first, thinking it to be something other-worldly, then realised that it was only some stage-setting, a ‘mystical’ backdrop set up by Dr Dee and Mr Kelly. This was confirmed to me when Mr Kelly pointed at it in wonder, saying, ‘The spirits hear us! Oh, see the spirits rising!’

Dr Dee raised his hands to heaven once more and I saw that in his right hand he had the black and silver mirror. ‘If you are close to our earth, Alice Vaizey, then
hear your father’s plea and return through this glass!’ he called into the air.

I began to shake with fright.

Dr Dee turned in my direction.

‘Alice Vaizey! Arise, sweet spirit!’ he commanded, and as he spoke to give me my cue to appear, something very strange happened: a warmth ran through my limbs and I became filled with both calm and courage. Completely in control of myself now, I pulled myself up to my full height, tossed my hair back from my shoulders and walked lightly through the smoke until I reached the pentacle. I was on one side of it, Lord Vaizey on the other.

I stood as I’d been tutored, head slightly lowered now so that he couldn’t see my face too clearly, hands folded as if in prayer, and waited for the smoke to clear.

When it shifted slightly, there was a gasp from Lord Vaizey, a throaty cry of, ‘Alice!’

I nodded meekly.

‘Alice! Oh, let me …’ Lord Vaizey took a step towards me, arms outstretched, and had to be restrained by Mr Kelly.

‘Lord Vaizey, please,’ he said, ‘remember what we have told you. Remember that it could be dangerous for your daughter’s soul …’

‘Ah yes,’ said Lord Vaizey. I stole a glance at him and saw – poor man – that there were tears coursing down his face.

‘Say what you wish to say swiftly, my Lord, for her
time on earth will be but brief,’ said Dr Dee.

‘Alice, Alice!’ said Lord Vaizey brokenly. ‘I only gave you in marriage because I thought it for the best.’

I let my head fall to one side, as if considering this.

‘I … I imagined that you would come to love him in time, but if I had known you were that unhappy, I would never have forced the marriage upon you.’

I waited another moment, head still bowed.

‘I was a selfish and unfeeling man!’ he said. ‘Oh, child, just tell me that you forgive me.’

I paused again for a count of five, then looked up and said my words: ‘
I forgive you, Father.
’

‘Oh, bless you, child!’ cried Lord Vaizey, and I heard Dr Dee breathe out, a long rasping breath.

Mr Kelly said with some relief, ‘Hallelujah! You are forgiven indeed, Sir!’ and I was about to turn and go back when I felt the heat course through me again and I heard myself saying with some urgency, ‘’Tis too late for me, but save my lady!’

From Dr Dee and Mr Kelly there came a shocked silence.

Lord Vaizey looked at me, baffled and at a loss. ‘My dear,’ he began. ‘What do you speak of? What do you mean?’

In my head I saw myself holding the crystal ball – the seeing stone – again, and spying the jewelled flask within it. ‘You must save my royal lady!’ I cried.

Dr Dee raised the mirror in the air. ‘Sweet spirit! Haste ye back from whence you came!’ he cried, and
his words acted like cold water on the warmth and energy that had coursed through me so that I became myself again.

Turning, I walked back through the smoke. Why I had spoken thus, I had no idea.

‘You fool-born idiot – you could have ruined things for all of us!’ said Dr Dee angrily.

‘Not only that; you could have condemned us to death!’ Mr Kelly raged. ‘We could have all ended up hung, drawn and quartered.’

I flinched under their looks but managed to answer steadily. ‘How so?’ I said. ‘For wasn’t last night just an entertainment?’

Mr Kelly waved me off angrily. ‘Less of your impudence!’ he barked. ‘Dr Dee should dismiss you for disobedience and lack of respect.’

It was the morning after the raising of Mistress Vaizey and I’d been asked to attend upon the two gentlemen in the library. On the journey back the previous night we hadn’t spoken of the matter, for they’d been too intent on getting home swiftly and undetected. Besides, Mr Kelly had said that he couldn’t
trust himself to speak to me, so angry was he.

‘You knew what your words were to be; who gave you the authority to say more?’ he asked now, while Dr Dee stood by, simply shaking his head and running his hands along his beard. ‘Whatever possessed you to say such things?’

‘I just felt that the young lady I was speaking for wanted me to …’ I said helplessly.

‘What nonsense!’ He turned to Dr Dee. ‘This is what you get, Dee, if you ask someone simple and unschooled to undertake an important task.’

‘We had very little choice,’ said Dr Dee tersely.

‘Girls such as she are of a shallow, flighty nature and allow their imaginations to run away with them,’ Mr Kelly continued, pacing about the room. ‘Their girlish fancies cause them to forget the directions of their elders. A girl of this standard and this class cannot possibly be trusted.’

‘You may be right,’ Dr Dee shrugged, ‘but I still say we had no choice.’

‘And what is her excuse and explanation?
She felt the young lady wanted her to …
’ he finished, cruelly mimicking my country accent.

I hung my head, knowing better than to speak up for myself and risk losing my position in the household. I could explain no further, however, bar to say that something – someone – had compelled me to speak as I had done. And it was obvious to me who that someone was.

*   *   *

I yawned frequently as I managed my chores that day, and although cook gave me many sidelong glances and more than once called me a slugabed and a lazy strumpet, she didn’t ask why I was so tired. The mistress was abed again, weary and ailing, so that in the afternoon Mistress Midge sent me and the children to the market to buy some elderflowers and tansy, for she had a mind to make her a tonic. I went off eagerly, for I thought the walk might clear my head a little, and I also very much wanted to see Isabelle.

My friend was sitting on a wooden box in the marketplace, selling produce. ‘White cabbage, white young cabbage!’ she called. ‘White cabbage, fine and white!’

‘Isabelle is back wearing your bodice and skirt again,’ Beth said in a loud whisper as we approached.

I shushed her. ‘They are her own now. I’ve given them to her and you must say no more about them.’

She looked at me, wide-eyed, but said nothing. Margaret was there also, sitting on the box beside Isabelle and selling walnuts, so we sent all the children off to play together so that we could talk.

‘I’m so very glad to see you, for I couldn’t sleep last night for thinking of you in the churchyard!’ she said. I sat down beside her and she gave me a hug. ‘Do tell what happened, for I swear I can’t wait another moment.’ Without pausing for breath she went on, ‘But if it’s a tale of devils and black dogs then I pray you leave out the worst, or I shall ne’er sleep again!’

I smiled a little at that. ‘No dogs. I survived and am here.’

‘And what terrors did you see?’

‘I saw none – but I was extremely afeared and wouldn’t do it again – no, not even for
four
gold coins.’

‘And did the man they were duping believe in you? Did he truly think he was speaking to the wraith of his daughter?’

I nodded. ‘I believe so …’

I paused in my tale as a housewife stopped in front of us, picked up one of the cabbages and squeezed it, then put it down again, shaking her head.