Mr Scarletti's Ghost (2 page)

Rose emerged from the parlour. ‘Excuse me, Miss, but Mrs Scarletti says she would like you to take tea with her.'

Mina paused, wondering if she could plead a headache or a backache or any sort of an ache, but the streak of pain that had pinched her into wakefulness that morning had been warmed by the sun and was gone. Rose stood awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other, as if there was something more she wanted to say but dared not.

‘Thank you, Rose,' said Mina, accepting that
The Cursed Emerald
would have to wait. Rose looked relieved and hurried away. Mina limped downstairs, opened the door of the parlour, and paused there in some surprise, for she was met with an unusual sight.

Louisa Scarletti was one of those fair, thin, frail-looking women, who always seemed to be on the verge of some terrible illness but was actually in perfect health. She had been favoured with an opalescent skin, vivid blue eyes and a cascade of blonde hair so pale it was almost white. It was now more than a year since Henry had died, sufficient time for most widows to begin participating in at least a few activities in which widowhood was not an essential feature, but she had become enamoured of the life of a semi-invalid, and embraced suffering as if it was in itself a comfort.

Louisa's favoured position from which to take tea was reclining on a sofa surrounded by cushions, a smelling bottle at her fingertips, sipping at barely half a cup of a pale tepid infusion, while weakly declining the temptation of a biscuit. Her lustre gone, she resembled an arrangement of
immortelles
, painted porcelain flowers that lived forever under a glass dome as a tribute to the dead. That afternoon, however, Mina found her mother sitting upright by the tea table wielding the heavy silver pot with energy and aplomb. Her companion, Simmons, with a wary and slightly uneasy look, sat silently by, poised for any duty or emergency.

‘Mina, my dear, do take some tea,' said Louisa brightly. ‘And I would very much like you to meet Mr Bradley.'

Mina entered the room, and a gentleman who had been seated in an easy chair at once started up. He had obviously been warned to expect someone of Mina's appearance, for he adopted a curious pose, his shoulders hunched forward, his hands clasped in front of him like a clergyman about to confer a blessing on the recently bereaved. He was not a clergyman, but Mina could not be sure what he was. A little below middling height and fleshy but not yet fat, he was aged about forty-five and neatly dressed after the fashion of a moderately well-to-do professional gentleman, with a dark rim of hair wrapped like a glossy swollen worm about his balding head, and short trimmed side-whiskers. His features were unremarkable, but when he gazed on Mina his eyes opened very wide, his jaw sagged in dismay, and he adopted a look of sympathy that bordered on the grotesque.

‘Mr Bradley is recently arrived in Brighton and I am pleased to say that he has joined the congregation at Christ Church,' said Louisa, with a deft application of the milk jug. ‘He is a gentleman of unusual perception and you would do well to pay very great attention to what he says.'

‘Oh, you are too kind!' exclaimed Bradley, allowing his body to undulate in his hostess's direction while keeping his attention focused on Mina. ‘Miss Scarletti, I must say it is the very greatest pleasure to meet you. Your mother, who is in my opinion a lady of the most extraordinary courage, has told me all about you.'

Mina said nothing, but inclined her head in greeting, then crossed the room to a chair and sat down. All the while Mr Bradley observed her gait as if the very sight of her affliction was causing him the most exquisite pain.

Simmons distributed teacups and plates and offered a platter of fancy cakes, and when they were all settled, Louisa said, ‘Mr Bradley, although he is far too modest to speak of it to any degree, has a rare ability, in fact I do believe I have never met another individual with his gift. He is actually able to perceive the spirit of a living person, in quite the most extraordinary detail. Colours and shapes – just imagine! He can in this way ascertain whether the person, be they man, woman or child, is in poor health either in body or mind. But more than this, he can offer comfort for the spirit, and even – yes –
cure
what is ill. We are fortunate indeed that he has decided to make his home here.' Louisa, with a rare flush of her pale cheek, took a mouthful of cake.

‘Are you a medical man?' asked Mina, feeling sure that their visitor was not, and thinking that his arrival in a town many of whose amenities were devoted to the requirements of invalids was no coincidence.

Mr Bradley smiled and gave a self-deprecating gesture. ‘Medical men attempt to cure only what they can see, and are very imperfect judges of what they cannot. No, I am neither a doctor nor a surgeon, and have never professed to be such. I,—' he said, pressing his palms to his chest, ‘am only the poor conduit of a greater power; and I must reassure you, for I am asked this very often, that such little abilities as I have are not exercised for my own advantage. I exist only to be of help to my fellow creatures.' He paused briefly to enjoy the admiration of his audience, most of which emanated from his hostess. Simmons, who had gone back to her chair, looked more afraid than anything else. Their visitor, sensing perhaps that Mina did not regard him with the degree of respect he was accustomed to command, fixed her with a solemn frown. ‘There are those, I know, who are so impudent as to demand payment for what they do, but I am a gentleman of independent means and have no need to make myself rich from the suffering of others. I am visiting members of the Christ Church congregation to advise that I intend to start some prayer meetings where those in need of comfort may seek guidance, and where I will do what I can to assist in the Lord's work of the healing of the sick.'

‘I declare,' said Louisa, ‘I can feel your influence at work already – simply by being in your presence I am better than I was. But Mr Bradley,' she waved a fragment of cake at Mina, ‘is there nothing you can do for my poor daughter?'

Mr Bradley sighed, and again he opened his eyes wide, and they were very large and brown and sad, like those of an aged and weary cow. ‘If you will allow me?' he asked.

‘But of course,' said Louisa, and finishing the cake, gestured to Simmons to bring her another.

Mr Bradley put aside his teacup, dabbed his lips with a napkin, rose to his feet and smiled. ‘Do not be afraid, Miss Scarletti,' he said.

‘Is there something I should be afraid of?' enquired Mina.

He laughed. ‘Oh, no, nothing at all! I merely wish to touch your hand very lightly. You may or may not know this, but touch is one of what we call our five senses, and these tell us all that we need to know. I can use that sense to see and understand what others cannot. When I touch your hand, you will experience an extraordinary feeling, as the divine power, which reaches out through me, a humble vessel, meets your own immortal spirit.' He adopted a more serious look. ‘I must first reassure you that we of the Church abhor any suggestion that the healing power we are privileged to convey comes from anywhere but on high.'

‘Oh, I had never thought it otherwise,' said Louisa. ‘Can people be so envious and so cruel as to say such things?'

‘I regret that is so,' said Mr Bradley, with the air of a martyr, ‘but you, dear lady, are too kind and too perceptive to think other than what is manifestly right.' He gestured to Mina to rise, then as she eased herself from her chair, he gave a little gasp of dismay, darted forward and offered his arm. ‘My apologies, dear young lady. Let me assist you. Your spirit is so strong that I had quite forgotten your – er—'

Mina rose to her feet unassisted, declining to complete the sentence and letting the awkward moment hang in the air.

‘Mina, dear, you must do whatever Mr Bradley asks of you,' said her mother, sternly. ‘I do not want a repetition of your behaviour before those kind doctors who tried so hard to help you.'

Mr Bradley stood facing Mina, offered her his hand with the palm upward, cupped as if it held a gift, and raised his eyebrows and nodded to show that she must place her hand in his. Mina did not care for Mr Bradley's mournful glistening eyes and neither did she relish the thought of touching his skin, but she complied for her mother's sake, going no further than resting her fingertips lightly on his. He smiled, taking her reserve as an expression of modesty. A few moments passed, but Mina did not experience an extraordinary sensation, which was not a matter of great surprise to her.

Mr Bradley, who clearly needed to demonstrate that something very remarkable was taking place, took a deep breath and tilted his head back, allowing his eyelids to flutter closed. Louisa, one hand pressed to her bosom, stared at him with a look of rapt admiration and just a little hint of excitement. She seemed to be holding her breath. There was a brief pause for the better increase of anticipation.

‘Oh but this is most wonderful!' exclaimed Mr Bradley suddenly – his face suffused with an expression of great joy. ‘Miss Scarletti, I can see your spirit form most clearly – it clothes you in a beautiful glow, soft like the most delicate amber. And I can tell you, my dear young lady, and I know how much this will gladden your heart – that your spirit form, the one that you will wear for eternity after you have passed the veil, is as straight and tall as anyone could desire!'

‘But Mr Bradley,' said Mina, with a mischievous smile, ‘why would I wish to be other than I am?'

His fingers moved back quite abruptly, and he looked astonished, then he shook his hand, almost as if Mina's touch had stung him.

‘Mina, whatever can you mean by that?' demanded her mother. ‘This is so like you, to be wilful and impertinent. Really, I hardly know what to do with you sometimes.'

‘Oh, please do not fret, dear lady,' said Bradley, recovering his composure, ‘and above all, you must not blame yourself. I can see that your unfortunate daughter labours under an affliction of the mind, one that threatens to eat into her very soul. I do believe that she cannot help what she is saying.'

‘But can
you
help her?' asked Louisa.

‘The bodily—' he paused, ‘deformity, I can do nothing for. Only the Almighty will cure her after she has passed. But I can at least intercede with the Lord to ensure that her case becomes no worse.'

Mina's mother gave a sigh of gratitude, as if he was making a promise that had not already been offered by more human agencies.

‘While she remains in the flesh, however, there is a disturbance in her spirit which I may be able to ease.'

‘Oh please do try,' exclaimed Louisa. ‘I would be so very grateful!'

‘I will pray for her,' said Mr Bradley magnanimously, ‘but Miss Scarletti must also work to heal herself. I advise her to pray both morning and night, and as often throughout the day as possible. And she must come to my meetings, which I intend to hold every Wednesday afternoon at Christ Church, where my little group of the devout will sit and pray and let the healing powers of the Almighty bathe them in delight. You will be there too, I hope, dear lady?'

‘Oh, you may count on my attendance,' said Louisa eagerly, ‘and Mina will of course follow your guidance.'

Mina saw that she was about to be encased again, in a device not of plaster or steel, but no less restraining for that. She was not averse to prayer, and already prayed night and morning; for the ease of her mother's sorrows, for the souls of her father and her sister Marianne who had faded away from consumption ten years ago, for Edward's success and Enid's happiness and for Richard to find whatever his butterfly attention sought. Now it seemed that she must also pray for herself, but she could think of nothing she lacked that she might wish to pray for. She did not look forward to joining Mr Bradley's assemblage of the unhappy matrons of Brighton.

Mina, although she did not consider herself to be worldly, was under no illusions as to why her mother's mood would be lifted by visits from a single gentleman of independent means ten years her junior and of moderately acceptable appearance. If she was honest with herself there was nothing about Mr Bradley to which she could object, especially since in one day he had brought about the improvement that Mina had been attempting unsuccessfully for a year. He was not, as far as she could see, trying to woo her mother, neither was he attempting to extract money from her; he was, she thought, a man of little or no talent who lacked occupation, and was trying to court popularity by telling people what he imagined they wanted to hear.

It transpired later that week that the Reverend Mr Vaughan, Vicar of Christ Church, was not amenable to Mr Bradley holding his devotional meetings on church premises. The reverend had heard some of the church ladies talk about promises of healing, and despite Mr Bradley's protestations of Christian piety, had detected a potential whiff of brimstone in the arrangement. Mr Bradley was obliged to look for other situations, and so it was decided that the meetings would be held in the Scarletti front parlour, a simple gathering for which the invitations and planning of refreshments occupied Mina's mother for a full three days of perpetual agitation.

T
he first meeting was graced by five lady visitors and two gentlemen, who kept Rose and Simmons busy with constant demands for tea, bread and butter, biscuits, sponge cake and fruit, consuming enough to feed a funeral party even before the proceedings had begun. Mr Bradley, bathing in the glow of admiring faces, and thrusting out the suspicion of a developing
embonpoint
, allowed himself to take centre place, and lead the company in prayer.

Having invoked the power of God, and being satisfied that he had not inadvertently summoned a more diabolical spirit, Mr Bradley then proceeded to the healing, which was no more than inviting his little group of devotees to sit in silence and contemplate what infirmity they wished to be cured, while he walked about the circle, allowing his hand to hover over the head of each person. There were a few pitying glances at Mina, the assumption being that she would be asking for divine intervention to straighten her back, something not even Mr Bradley's disciples deemed remotely possible.