Mr Scarletti's Ghost (34 page)

In the middle of these deliberations, Mina was surprised by the sudden arrival of Mr Bradley, and found that unknown to her, her mother had asked Rose to send for him. Mina was unwilling to allow him to sit with her mother alone, and was obliged to remain in the darkened sickroom and listen to that gentleman's sympathetic and uncontroversial mutterings, which pandered to her mother's sense of outrage and were therefore well received. Mr Bradley said that while having only limited acquaintance with Mr Clee, who had occasionally attended his healing circles, he had been impressed by the young man's sincerity, good taste and intelligence. The entire blame for the upset was therefore laid firmly at Miss Simmons's door, that lady having had her foolish head quite turned by Mr Clee's natural friendliness, which she had misunderstood as protestations of love. It would have been useless for Mina to make any mention of the supposed wealthy great-aunt. Since she had originally employed Miss Simmons she was in no doubt as to how such an intervention would have been received, and for peace and quiet decided to remain silent.

Her reflections led her to the conclusion that Dr Hamid in their most recent conversation had been correct in one very important respect; there was a significant difference in what was performed at the public séances and the private ones. While it was easy to provide explanations for the simple phenomena produced in front of a gathering, everyone who had been to private consultations had reported being given personal information that could not have been known to anyone but the deceased and their intimates. It was with some reluctance that Mina decided that the only way she might gather more information was to obtain a private consultation with Miss Eustace. The chances that Miss Eustace would agree to such a thing were, she realised, extremely slender, but she felt that she at least had to try. Once Mr Bradley had departed, she wrote a letter to Professor Gaskin asking if she might make an appointment.

Mina remained sure that the Gaskins were as much dupes as anyone else, that the professor had embraced spiritualism as a means to enhance his standing, hoping to make great discoveries in science, while his wife bathed in the sunny glow of celebrity and the knowledge that she held a great truth which it was her duty and pleasure to convey to the ignorant. If the Gaskins' apartments were arranged so as to facilitate Miss Eustace's deceptions then it was done in innocence at her behest. Mina still did not know where the medium lodged, a location where presumably she stored all the items that were necessary to her performances.

Richard breezed in, and said he thought he could have his mother sitting up and drinking tea in a trice. He had good news; his business was prospering and he had no need to borrow money.

‘Please do not tell Mother that you are appearing on stage with an almost naked actress,' said Mina.

‘Oh, I will find some story to tell her, don't fear!' he said, hurrying upstairs.

Richard returned after an hour announcing that their mother was vastly improved, and would almost certainly not need nursing, although she had announced her intention of never employing another companion. ‘I am afraid that will be your duty from now on,' he said. ‘It is not what you might have wished, but I see no way to avoid it.'

‘Nonsense,' said Mina. ‘I would gladly tend my mother night and day if she really needed me, but this is no more than one of her airy vapours. Rose shall see to her wants, she has been with us for five years and my mother likes and trusts her, and I will engage a daily woman to take care of the cleaning.'

He smiled. ‘You have it all planned. Now then,' he said rubbing his hands together, ‘Mother declares that she has no appetite for anything except a little broth, so that means there is a dinner in the house that should not go to waste!'

Mina rang for Rose to order dinner and a suitable tray for her mother.

‘I really do think that it will benefit my mother far more if I was free to go about my business and put a stop to Miss Eustace, than sitting chained to her side,' said Mina. ‘I don't suppose Mother has mentioned Miss Simmons's confession that she was Mr Clee's accomplice in the séance they performed here?'

‘She has not, although that doesn't surprise me. Simmons is a good young person and deserves better than Mr Clee, but unfortunately she can be easily persuaded of the reverse. Plain young ladies with no fortune can be made to do almost anything on a promise of marriage.'

Mina gave him a hard look.

‘Oh, no please, Mina,' he said hastily, ‘whatever I have done, I can assure you that I have never given any lady cause to complain of me. Does Nellie seem unhappy? But I know that other men do not have my scruples.'

‘Has Miss Gilden attended one of Miss Eustace's séances?' Mina asked, avoiding any further conversation on the subject of Richard's scruples.

‘It has been hard to get tickets,' said Richard ‘as the gatherings are so well patronised, but yes, by dint of calling herself Lady Finsbury and having an expensive calling card not to mention one of Mrs Conroy's new Paris gowns, she was one of the congregation last night, and created quite an impression. She is all bows and lace and fans, and looks quite the thing. I think the Gaskins were very taken with her and, of course, Miss Eustace who thinks of nothing but money and how she can get it, has noticed her particularly.'

‘Was Mr Clee there?' asked Mina, concerned that even from his seat at the back of the room he might have recognised Nellie from the séance at Mrs Peasgood's.

‘Not in the flesh, but there were some rappings and knockings that might have been him. And if he had stood before her, he would not have seen the dowdy Miss Foxton in the elegant Lady Finsbury. As to her etheric and finely shaped friend,' he added with a knowing smile, ‘I do not believe there was a man in the room who could have described her face.'

‘And what were the noble Lady Finsbury's conclusions?' asked Mina.

‘Exactly as we suspected, the effects are purely conjuring and chemistry and not very skilled at that. M. Baptiste is a hundred times better and he performs in full light. But then he does not pretend to be anything other than he is.'

‘And you, Richard? What are you pretending to be to please Mother?'

‘I am the manager of a theatre,' he said, proudly. ‘A large theatre, patronised by Brighton's most fashionable society. Respectable entertainment only, of course. Mother never goes to the theatre so I think she will not demand to know more, although if she asks to be driven past the establishment so she can see my name on the posters I will have to make some excuse.'

‘I might have wished you to be a private detective,' said Mina, ‘then I could have employed you to discover where Miss Eustace lives.'

‘Oh, that shouldn't be difficult!' said Richard.

‘Excellent,' said Mina ‘then I expect the answer within the week.'

N
ot unexpectedly, Mina's letter to Professor Gaskin was favoured with a prompt reply to the effect that Miss Eustace was unable to grant a private séance as her energies were fully occupied with her present clients. Miss Eustace, thought Mina, would be occupied for as long as was necessary to prevent her ever having such a consultation.

She also received a letter from Miss Simmons, revealing that Mr Clee, the man who she regarded as her future husband, had somehow omitted to tell her his address. She had only ever met him in the streets or gardens of Brighton, and on each occasion they had made the appointment for their next meeting. It was essential, she wrote, that she should advise him of her new position, but unaccountably, at their most recent rendezvous, he had not appeared. Thinking that there might have been some mistake, she had gone to all their usual haunts, but he was nowhere to be found. Miss Simmons was by now consumed with fear that her betrothed had been taken ill, and was unable to send for help. She had called on Professor Gaskin for information, but he was unable to assist, other than assuring her that when he had last seen Mr Clee a few days previously, he was in perfect health. He promised to pass on a message to Miss Eustace, and shortly afterwards a brief note was received advising that although Miss Eustace understood that Mr Clee was resident in Brighton, she did not know his address. Miss Simmons had then attended one of Mr Bradley's healing circles, which she knew Mr Clee occasionally patronised, but Mr Clee was not there, and no one at the gathering knew where he lived. She had applied for a ticket to Miss Eustace's next séance, feeling sure that she would see Mr Clee there, but was told that the séances were fully subscribed and would be so for some time to come. In desperation she had taken to standing outside Professor Gaskin's lodgings in case Mr Clee should enter, but without any result.

Miss Simmons begged Mina to tell her if she knew her betrothed's address, but, of course, Mina did not. Mina wondered if Dr Hamid had found anything in Eliza's effects to suggest where Mr Clee lived, but on enquiring there, found that all Eliza's correspondence had been sent via Professor Gaskin, his lodgings being the address on the calling card left by Miss Eustace, and Mr Clee had not been a client of Dr Hamid's baths.

The desperate efforts of Miss Simmons to try and find Mr Clee, who, she was eager to advise anyone who wished to listen, was her intended, did eventually produce one result, a letter, postmarked London, the envelope printed with the name of a firm of solicitors, addressed to Miss Simmons at the Scarletti address, which Mina was obliged to bear to her former employee, now residing with her married sister Mrs Langley in Dorset Gardens.

Miss Simmons received the missive with great excitement and relief, for while she had never seen Mr Clee's handwriting she felt convinced that the letter was addressed in his hand, while the stationery he had employed proved that he had been attending to urgent business matters in London. Although she did not state it outright there was more than a hint of hope in her voice that the long and worthy life of his great-aunt might have drawn peacefully to its natural close.

Mrs Langley, a capable-looking young woman, was bearing up admirably under the requirements of a baby whose teeth seemed to erupt every five minutes. There was barely time for Mina to be introduced to her before a squeal of renewed outrage from the nursery sent the attentive mother hurrying away. Mina decided it was best to offer to withdraw so that Miss Simmons might enjoy her letter in private, but was reassured that this was unnecessary. ‘You have been a better friend to me than anyone other than my own family, and you must share the good news.' Mina sat at the parlour table, while Miss Simmons went to fetch a letter opener. Even with the aid of the little silver knife, used carefully so as not to harm the precious contents, her hands were trembling so violently that it was a close question as to whether she would tear the envelope or stab herself in the hand.

There were two sheets of paper in the envelope, and although Mina could not see what was written, she observed that they were business notepaper, the top one with a printed heading. Miss Simmons read, at first eagerly, then with her eyes opening wide in disbelief, and by the time she reached the bottom of the first page, she almost fell back into a chair.

‘Is it bad news?' asked Mina. ‘Would you like me to fetch your sister?'

‘I don't understand,' she said. ‘There must be some mistake.' She glanced at the letter again, but this time her eyes flooded with tears and she was unable to read it. She held it out to Mina. ‘Please, look at this, I can't see.'

The letter was not written by Mr Clee, but by a solicitor employed by Mr Clee. This gentleman had been instructed to advise Miss Simmons that he was aware that she had been spreading the rumour in Brighton that she was affianced to his client, a circumstance which had caused considerable distress and annoyance not only to his client but to the young lady of fortune and good family to whom Mr Clee was actually affianced and whom he was due to marry very soon. Miss Simmons was accordingly instructed to cease at once from spreading the untrue story, with the assurance that if she complied, then no unpleasant consequences would ensue. Should she continue, however, his client would have no alternative but to take further action to force her to desist.

There was nothing for Mina to do but go and fetch Mrs Langley at once, and show her the letter. Mrs Langley's expression as she read revealed that the contents, while unpleasant, were not, to her, wholly unforeseen.

Miss Simmons, heartbroken and wretched, was taken to a darkened room to rest. Mina naturally supposed that she ought to leave, but Mrs Langley asked her to remain. Her sister, she said, had spoken very highly of Mina and she would appreciate her advice.

Mrs Langley was a lady of very strong beliefs as to what was right and what was wrong. Proposing marriage to her sister and then pretending that the event had never occurred was a wrong that was not to be accepted lightly or without compensation. Making threats against her sister, who had done nothing more than tell the truth, was not to be tolerated.

Mr Clee had made a very grave error, said Mrs Langley with the steely look of someone bent on revenge. He had assumed that when he and Miss Simmons had gone on their romantic perambulations while she had followed at a discreet distance, that his words could not be overheard, but he was mistaken. She had been suspicious of his intentions from the start, and being blessed with unusually sharp hearing, she had been able to remain within earshot the whole time, and had heard every word he spoke. Mr Clee, she confirmed, had made her sister an honourable offer which he claimed could only be realised when he came into his fortune. Whatever his motives might have been, it was clear that he now had no further use for her, but by communicating through a solicitor, he had now supplied an address at which he could be reached. If her sister was willing to bring an action for breach of promise of marriage – and she would strongly encourage her to do so – she was fully prepared to go to court and give evidence of Mr Clee's guilt. It only remained for the family to appoint a legal advisor, and Mina suggested that she approach young Mr Phipps who she thought might be the very man.