The Mermaid in the Basement

by Gilbert, Morris

  “There’s no escaping trouble,” Dylan said. His voice was soft and gentle as a woman’s, and compassion was in his eyes. “The old Hebrew said it well:‘Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward,’ and women, too, of course. Plenty of unkindness in this world, there is. That’s why all of us should help bear one another’s burdens. Every man and woman is born the same, and we all go the same. The captains and the kings and the tinkers and the beggars, we all go alike.”

  “I—I never thought deeply about those things.”

  “Haven’t you now? Well then, I think the very mention of time to come is like a spectre to some. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring—or today for that matter—but the one thing we know is that time will bring its sorrow and grief.” He added thoughtfully, “And we build bridges.”His brow furrowed in a single ridge. “We build bridges until the river wets our feet, but there’s no bridge to carry us over troubles and griefs and woes. All of us have to go through the depths of grief. It’s the lot of all of us, Viscountess, and it seems God has no favourites in this.

  Indeed, sometimes He puts His favourites into the valley of humiliation, and the valley of pain, more than anyone else. Right now you’re in that valley, and it’s grieved I am for you and for your family.”

  Serafina listened to Dylan as he spoke with more gentleness than she had ever heard in a man’s voice. It shocked her somehow, and at the same time brought her a measure of consolation. “That—that’s what I’ve always thought, but I’ve been afraid to speak it out.”

  “We need to speak our thoughts out, Lady Serafina. That’s what the tongue is, a miraculous organ that allows us to say what is in our spirits and in our souls and in our minds. The thoughts gather there, but unless they are spoken they fall dead at our feet. It’s the tongue that makes man different from the animals, among other things, of course.” He seemed very thoughtful now. “We can tell when animals are pleased by their bodily actions, but good it is to have a counselor bring news of comfort to us. As water to a thirsty man, so is a counselor who brings ease in the time of sorrow.”He seemed to think deeply, then said, “But the times of sorrow need not be overwhelming. Have you read the story of King David?”

  “No.”

  “He had many sons, but he had one son that he loved above all else. Loved him to distraction, King David did. This favourite son of David’s was Absalom. David poured his love, his affection, and gifts upon that boy as he grew up, so that his whole heart and soul was tied up in the young man. David announced that Absalom would be the king after David died. But Absalom had a weakness. He couldn’t wait for the blessing his father wanted to give him, so he made a conspiracy to kill his father and take the throne. King David awoke one day to find that Absalom had raised an army, and the old man had to flee his own kingdom.”

  “How terrible! What was in Absalom’s heart?”

  “Who knows what evil there can be in a human heart? The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,Viscountess. Remember the words of Prince Hamlet on the wickedness of men? ‘I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me.’”

  “What happened?” Serafina asked.

  “David was brought out of the city by some of his loyal followers. They crossed the brook outside of Jerusalem making for safety, but what agony must have been in David’s heart. God Himself had identified David as a man after His own heart, and here David’s own son had betrayed him and was out to kill him.”

  Dylan looked down at his hands and was quiet for a long moment. Serafina waited, and she saw that Dylan’s hands were not steady.When he looked up, she was startled to see tears in his eyes. Tears in a man’s eyes were a sign of weakness—or so she had always believed. She could not fathom it. Then Dylan said, “There’s a psalm in the Bible recording David’s prayer as he fled from his son Absalom. It says, ‘Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me. But thou, O Lord, are the shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill.’”

  Dylan was so moved that Serafina felt she could not breathe for a moment. This man had depths she had never encountered. But suddenly he smiled and said, “But I love what the Scripture tells us that King David did.”

  “What does it say?”

  “It says, ‘I laid me down and slept; I awakened; for the LORD sustained me.’ Oh, there’s a wonderful thing! David lay down and he slept!

  Glory to God for such a man who loved God so completely and trusted Him when death was at his very door!”

  Serafina felt uncomfortable. Dylan’s words were enigmatic to her.

  This God he spoke of she did not know—did not even believe in, and she suddenly felt an impulse to avoid such talk. She got to her feet and cleared her throat, saying more loudly than necessary, “That’s very interesting, but I don’t believe God’s interested in me. I’ve not been interested in Him.”

  “There’s wrong you are, Viscountess, about God anyway.”

  Viscountess Serafina Trent could not remember any moment in her life when she had felt as uncomfortable and as unable to speak as she did at that moment. She said almost desperately, “I think we need to go talk to the murdered woman’s maid. I don’t think we know all she knows.”

  Dylan smiled slightly. “Of course.We’ll go at once.”

  Helen Morton opened the door and stood looking at the pair for a moment. “What is it?” she said shortly. She was obviously distressed to see them and did not invite them in.

  “I know this is hard for you, Helen,”Dylan said quickly, “but I know you had a fondness for your mistress.”

  “Yes, I did. She wasn’t the easiest person to serve, but she could be kind, at least to women.”

  “Could we come in and talk with you?”

  Helen hesitated, then shrugged. “Come in,” she said. She led them into the small sitting room and waved at a couch. They sat down side by side, and Helen’s eyes were wary with distrust as she asked, “What is it you want me to say? I’ve told the police everything.”

  Serafina had a sudden insight. “Have you found another position, Helen?”

  “No. They’re not easy to come by.”

  “Perhaps I could help.” Serafina smiled slightly. “I have a great many acquaintances. Would you like for me to see if I can find someone who needs a faithful maid?”

  Serafina’s words caused Helen to bite her lip and look down. Her hands were unsteady as she held them on her lap, as was her voice when she said, “That—that would be kind of you, ma’am.”

  “I’m sure we can find something.”

  “That’s good of you, Lady Trent.”

  “You can’t serve your mistress now, but you can help us find her killer. He needs to pay for this crime, Helen,” Dylan said.

  “What is it you want to know?”

  “Tell us about the men in her life. We know there was more than one.”

  Helen’s head tilted back, and a bitter smile turned the corners of her lips upward. “More than one! Yes indeed, more than a dozen. I lost count.”

  “Just tell us, if you will, about these men.Whatever you know.”

  The two sat there and listened, and finally Helen fell silent. Serafina saw that something was troubling her. “What’s bothering you?” she asked.

  Helen looked up. “You’re very quick, ma’am. There was one man that I never saw.”

  “You never saw him?” Dylan asked. “How can that be?”

  “Because she would never bring him to her house. She would get ready wearing her finest, and she would wait. A carriage would come to the door, and she would leave. I know it was wrong of me, but I was curious. I would go to the window and look at the carriage. She would get in, and they would drive off.”

  “Did you see the man?”

  “Just barely an outline, but he wasn’t any of the men that she allowed in the house.”<
br />
  “Can you tell us anything at all about his appearance?”

  Helen closed her eyes and seemed to be thinking deeply. Finally she said, “One night they came back late. He got out of the carriage that one time, and I could see a little bit. He had his hat pulled down low and had on a dark cape. All I could see was that he was a tall man and seemed strong, but I couldn’t see his face plainly.”

  Serafina asked, “Did you ever see Miss Fairfield write in a diary?”

  “Oh, I know she kept one, but I never saw it. She kept it hidden, I think.”Her fingers fumbled with her dress, and she shook her head. “She wasn’t a good woman. She liked to make men suffer.”

  “And women too?” Serafina asked.

  “No, just men.”

  After they left the house, Dylan said doubtfully, “That’s interesting, ay? A man that she would never bring inside.”

  “Obviously she didn’t want the maid to see him.”

  “I wonder why?”

  Serafina was thinking quickly as they got into her carriage. “It may be the other way around.”

  “How do you mean, Viscountess?”

  “I mean perhaps the man didn’t want to be seen.”

  Dylan turned and studied her. “Very quick, you are.”

  “I think we ought to go to some tobacconists and see if we can find a clue among those men who smoke Roi Blanco cigars.”

  “Right, you.”He leaned out and said, “Take us down to the shopping areas, Albert.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The two spoke little, and in the next two hours they went to four different tobacconists. They all sold Roi Blancos, but were reluctant to give the names of their customers. They were suspicious, and at one point Serafina said, “I wish you were a policeman instead of an actor.We could force them.”

  “Well, from that last one we have one clue. Sir William Dowding buys Roi Blanco cigars regularly.”

  “I think we should go and see him.”

  “Beard the lion? Are you feeling fierce this morning?”

  Serafina turned. “Are you?” she asked.

  “All he can do is turn us away with, perhaps, a rather sound cursing. I’ve heard him do it before.”

  “What’s he like?”

  “He’s rich. That makes a man different. He’s used to having his own way, and he will have it. He’s a domineering man, and he can be cruel. Sometimes, though, he can be generous when he wants something from someone.”

  “And he was in love with Kate?”

  “I don’t like to use the word love that loosely. Certainly he lusted after her. He was one of many.”

  They did not speak again until they drew up in front of Sir William Dowding’s home. They both were well dressed enough that when the butler opened the door, he at least invited them in, then went to ask if his master would see them.

  “He doesn’t think we’re tradespeople or he would have made us go to the back or side entrance.” Dylan grinned. “We must look very fine, indeed.”

  Serafina smiled. “Appearances can be deceiving.”

  “Sir William will see you now,” the butler said as soon as he returned. He led them to the study, where Sir William was standing beside a window. He turned, and as if to confirm what they already knew, he was smoking a cigar that had the peculiar odor associated with Roi Blancos.

  “Viscountess, it’s good to see you.”He looked with some surprise and said, “What are you doing here, Tremayne?”

  “I know you heard, sir, that the viscountess’s brother has been arrested.”

  “Yes, I read it in the papers.”He was a tall, powerfully built man, and both Dylan and Serafina thought at once of the maid’s description of a tall, well-built man. Sir Dowding at least fit into that category.

  “I’m sorry to hear of it, Viscountess. How’s the case going?”

  “Not very well, I’m afraid, Sir William.”

  “Too bad. He’s a reckless young man. Very likable, but he has a hot temper.”

  “We’re calling on people who knew Kate,” Dylan said carefully.

  Sir William was not a fool. He looked at Serafina and said, “You’re trying to get your brother off.”

  His words sounded like an accusation, and Serafina struck back at once. “You were seeing Miss Fairfield, I understand.”

  “That’s no secret, but I knew she would turn me off.”Dowding tapped the ash from the end of his cigar, studied it for a moment, and said, “She turned all men off sooner or later. That was her pleasure.”

  “When was the last time you were in her room?”

  “It’s been some time ago. I don’t know how long.Why?”

  “That’s a Roi Blanco cigar you’re smoking, isn’t it, Sir William?”

  Serafina asked quietly.

  Suddenly Dowding’s eyes were wary. He looked like a wolf that had been brought to bay. “Yes, it is.What about it?”

  “Someone smoked a Roi Blanco cigar in Kate’s room the night she was murdered.”

  Sir William’s face reddened, and the anger that lay buried not too deep came out.“Many men smoke these.”

  “Not many, Sir William—only rich men.”

  “I think we’re through talking. I wish you would leave now.”

  “Thank you for seeing us,” Dylan said. He offered Serafina his arm, and the two left the house. As soon as they were outside, Serafina said, “He’s lying, I think.”

  “He may well be.” Dylan shrugged. “I wish I could see into men’s hearts, but only God can do that.”

  “What shall we do now?”

  “We will go for a walk in the park. I don’t believe in too much work in one day.”

  She saw that a lighter mood had come upon him, and felt herself in need of some lightness. “All right,” she said.

  The park was fairly crowded, the walkways filled with couples and families. Dylan said,“Come this way. I’m going to let you see my secret place.”

  “Is this where you come when you’re angry?”

  “No, I come here sometimes just because it’s a beautiful spot, and I need to see some beauty.”

  He led her away from the main path down a smaller one that terminated by a small pond. The water reflected the blue of the sky, and he motioned to a tree that had fallen.“There’s where I sit. Join me,Viscountess.”

  Serafina walked to the tree and sat down, and he sat beside her. “Tell me about yourself, Dylan.”

  “Why would you want to know that? It’s not a very thrilling story.”

  “Women are all curious.”

  “Yes, they are. It’s part of being a woman, I suppose.Well, I’ll tell you about my life.”

  Serafina sat quietly, watching Dylan’s face.He was facing out over the pond, his eyes moving from point to point as he gave her a brief history of his life. She was shocked at the hardness of his youth—orphaned at such an early age, working in the coal mines. He made light of it, but she knew the hardship that coal miners endured.He spoke of how he had fled to England and had become a criminal, forced into crime by the family that took him in.

  “I got away as quick as I could. When I was seventeen I joined the Queen’s Army.”

  “Did you see action?”

  “Yes, I did, and bad it was. I didn’t like the Army, and when my enlistment was up, I came back to England. I didn’t know what to do with myself.”

  “So how did you become an actor?”

  “Oh, I fell in with some friends who seemed to see something in me. One of them recommended me to a troupe, and I learnt the trade.”

  “And you’ve been successful.”

  “It’s not a thing I care a great deal about. Some people, like Ashley and most other actors, make the theatre their lives, but I could be happy if I never saw another stage again.”

  “You’ve had a hard life.”

  “And so have you.”

  Startled, Serafina glanced at him. “How—how did you know that?”

  “I’ve seen it in your eyes. I’ve heard i
t in your voice. Life is hard, my dear viscountess, but there’s good in it. You have to search for it like a man searching for a treasure.He finally finds it in a field, and he goes and sells all he has to buy that field. That’s what we all ought to be doing.”

  Serafina was shocked when Dylan reached over and took her hand.

  She let it lie in his, and he exerted a firm pressure. It was a liberty that would normally offend her, but the sound of his voice and the tale of his early life had softened her.

  His voice drew her eyes to him. “You have so much to give, Serafina.

  All that a man could want. A lone man’s urges move like the needle of a compass toward some women. Perhaps a woman just walks into a room, one he’s never seen before, and he looks at her, and she catches his glance, and the old impulses rise. Perhaps in both of them. You’re a proud woman, Serafina Trent, and your emotions run far beneath the surface.

  You have a power to stir men, but I don’t think you recognise it.”

  “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dylan.”

  “A woman is beauty, Serafina, and somehow all men look for beauty in their lives. Some men must stay a safe distance, afraid to go too close, and when they come upon it, the beauty fades and dies out. It’s hard for a man to come into the shrine where a woman is and see that which he can never have.”

  Serafina was watching him and listening to him almost breathlessly.

  Her eyes were filled with shadows, and her bosom rose and fell with her quickened breathing. “There’s a fragrance of you. You’re a full woman, and a man feels strange things when he looks upon beauty and knows it will never be for him.”

  Serafina was intently aware of the warmth and strength of his hand as he held hers. She felt a strong impulse to leave it there and surrender, but at the same time deeply buried old memories troubled her, and she wanted to flee. “I—I must go back to the house.” She pulled her hand away and stood to her feet. Dylan rose and said, “You’ve got all a man wants, Lady Serafina Trent, but you’ve built a wall around yourself. A wall so high that no man could ever climb over it.”