The Mermaid in the Basement

by Gilbert, Morris

  “I can’t believe that, Sir Leo.”

  “That’s as well. You have faith, then.”

  “I have faith in what you and I and Dylan can do to set my brother free.”

  He nodded slightly, and they entered the main building. The guard remembered them and bowed deferentially. “Good morning, Sir Leo. Good morning, ma’am.”

  “We’d like to see my client, please.”

  “Yes, sir. Right this way.”

  The two followed the guard out of the main room, up the stairs, and then down the line of cells. As always, the odor was rank, and Serafina steeled herself against it. “It looks like they could do something about the terrible smell in here.”

  Sir Leo shrugged his elegant shoulders. “I suppose they’re not terribly interested in making the place nicer for the prisoners.”

  When they reached Clive’s cell, the jailer opened it and said, “Just sing out when you’re ready to go, Sir Leo.”

  “Yes, thank you very much.”

  Serafina entered first, with Sir Leo right behind, and the door clanged shut behind. Clive was standing, waiting for them. She went toward him and ordinarily would have given him her hand, but something came over her at the look of his thin, drawn face. She put her arms around him and gave him a hard hug. “Good morning, Clive.”

  Clive’s arms tightened around her, then he released her and stood back. He had lost weight over the last three weeks in prison, and though his clothes were clean enough, they seemed to hang on him.He turned to Sir Leo, greeted him, and shook the advocate’s hand. Then Serafina saw there was a measure of excitement in his eyes, and he was standing straighter than usual.

  “Something has happened, Serafina.”

  “What is it, Clive?”

  “I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember some of the details of the night that Kate was killed. I was a fool that night and very drunk.

  Last night I couldn’t sleep. There was something that I was trying to touch in my memory, some sort of detail.” Clive shook his head and turned it to one side, a familiar gesture to Serafina. He always turned his head to one side when he was excited.

  “Did you remember something, then, Clive?” Sir Leo asked quickly, his voice animated. He wanted to win this case, but he knew there was no chance unless new evidence was unearthed. “What was it?”

  “It came just before dawn. I was literally worn out trying to remember, and then it came to me like—well, it was like a picture. I remembered that while I was in that woman’s room, a man came in.”

  “A man? What sort of a man?” Roth demanded.

  “He must have been the woman’s pimp, I suppose.”

  “Well, what did he look like?” Serafina demanded.

  “I only saw him once and then only briefly. He came into the room, and I can only remember two things about him. He was a big man with blunt features—and instead of a right hand, he had a steel hook, like those you see in illustrations of pirate novels.”

  “That’s wonderful, Clive!” Serafina exclaimed. She squeezed his arm and said, “Can you remember any more details?”

  “No,” Clive replied with chagrin. “But that ought to help some, don’t you think? There can’t be all that many men in London with steel hooks on their right hands.”

  “We’ll have to pursue this at once. If we can find the man, we will have found the woman,” Sir Leo said.

  Hope shone out of Clive’s eyes, and he seemed more alive.

  Serafina took the basket of food from Sir Leo and set it on the single table in the room. “I brought some of the things you like best, Clive.”

  “Thank you, Sister. You know, if I could remember that one detail, I’m going to try to remember others.”

  “Good!” Sir Leo nodded vigorously. “We’ll work on that. I know some men that are pretty well acquainted with the underworld of London. I’ll talk to them immediately. You don’t really forget a man with a steel hook for a hand.”

  “I remember,” Clive said slowly, “he called the woman’s name.” He reached up and put his hands on his temples as if he could squeeze the name out of his brain. “I’ve tried and tried.He called her name. I just can’t remember it.”

  “Try, Clive,” Serafina urged. “It’s very important. The trial will be starting soon.”

  “And we don’t have much to go on, do we, Sir Leo?”

  Sir Leo said honestly, “Not yet, but this will help, I’m sure. All we have to do is prove that you were at that woman’s house during the time that Kate Fairfield was murdered, and no jury would find you guilty. The case, I imagine, would be dismissed.”

  “Oh, how wonderful that would be!” Serafina exclaimed. “I’ll ask Dylan to help.”

  Serafina sat down on the cot with Clive, and Sir Leo leaned against the wall. He studied the two and saw that there was a strong family resemblance between them. Of the two, he knew for a certainty that Serafina was the stronger.He had found out a great deal about Clive from the members of the family and through asking about, and he knew that the young man was a wastrel, that he had never taken anything seriously in his life, and the thought suddenly came to him,Well, he’ll take this seriously all right. There’s something about a noose being put around your neck that does tend to sober a man!

  Dora had squeezed herself into the corner of Sir Aaron Digby’s carriage. She knew that according to the etiquette of the day, when a man and a woman not related rode together, it was considered polite for the man to sit across from the woman, and she had expected that Digby would do exactly that. He had not, though, and had sat beside her. Now he was so close that his arm was brushing against hers, and she had to keep her lower body pulled away to keep his leg from touching hers.

  “It was a fine concert, wasn’t it, Dora?” Digby smiled.He was dressed at the height of fashion, as he always was, and looked elegant in a long black frock coat with a spotless white shirt. The coat was beautifully cut, without a wrinkle, and his boots were polished to a satin gleam.

  “Yes, it was very nice.”

  Digby abruptly seized her hand and said, “You must know how much I admire you, Dora!”

  Dora was startled and attempted to free her hand, but he was too strong for her. “Please, Sir Digby, let me go!”

  “I will never do that! Why, I want you to marry me, Dora!” Before she could move, he seized her and pressed his lips against hers.He ran his hand down her back and laughed when she struggled. “You’re a pure young woman, aren’t you? Don’t know a thing about men! Well, it will be my duty—and my pleasure—to teach you after we’re married.”

  Dora freed herself, then said, “I don’t intend to marry anyone for a long time.”

  Digby only laughed and shook his head. “I’ll speak to your father. We’ll settle the marriage between us.” His smile was thin and suggestive, and he laughed as she tried to shrink away from him. “I’m anxious to have you, Dora. It will be an adventure for you.”

  Dora did not speak all the way to her home, and when she stepped out of the carriage, he came toward her. She whirled and fled, and his mocking cry came to her. “Run, little dove! Soon we’ll be married and you’ll be running to me.”

  Serafina was startled when Dora burst into her room, her cheeks tearstained. “What in the world is wrong, Dora?” she cried.

  “It’s Sir Digby. He asked me to marry him—and I can’t do it. Tell, me, Serafina, how does a woman know? You’ve been married. How do you know? How do you think about marriage?”

  Serafina was quiet and did not speak. Finally she said in a strangely muted voice, “I’m not the right one to ask, Dora.”

  Dora stared at her older sister. “But you were married. You must know what it was like.”

  “I had ideas about what marriage was like,” Serafina said, speaking slowly, and her face seemed to be fixed. “Of course I had some romantic notions—but I found out quickly enough that I had the wrong ideas. I—I knew how to perform scientific experiments, but I didn’t know how to judge a
man.”

  Dora stared at her sister. She realised that Serafina never spoke about Charles, and now she asked tentatively,“Weren’t you happy with Charles?”

  A long silence seemed to fill the room, almost palpable, and Dora saw the words were forced from Serafina. “No, Dora, I was miserable.”

  Serafina shook her shoulders as if throwing off some burden and said, “You don’t love this man, and none of us know him. I think you should put him out of your mind.”

  “Aunt Bertha won’t let me do that. She thinks he’s a wonderful catch.”

  “Then Bertha is wrong. All she sees is that he has money and a title, but there’s more to a man than that.” For a moment she hesitated, then said bitterly, “There has to be more to a man than that.”

  Dora turned slowly and left the room, and Serafina watched her go helplessly. “I wish I could help,” she whispered. “I wish I could, but I couldn’t even help myself!”

  Dora slept little that night, for she feared what must happen the next day.She would have fled, but there was no place for her to run.

  Early that evening, Sir Aaron Digby came and sought an audience with her father. Dora sat in the parlor with her mother, her aunt, and Serafina. Serafina had seen Digby come, and had come to the parlor and sat down on the couch next to Dora. She took her hand and smiled at her.

  “Don’t be afraid.”

  Bertha was overflowing with excitement. “Just think—an earl! What a wonderful marriage that would be!”

  Dora flinched, and Serafina said coolly, “I’m afraid you have an exalted idea of the peerage, Aunt Bertha.”

  “What are you talking about, Serafina? He’s an earl! It would be a wonderful match.”

  Bertha went on and on about Sir Digby, and finally they heard the front door close. Septimus came to the door, his face grave. The women all looked at him, and Bertha said impulsively, “Well, did he ask for Dora’s hand?”

  “Yes, he did.” Septimus turned to Dora. “He wants to marry you, Dora.”

  “Oh no, Papa, I couldn’t marry him! I couldn’t!”

  “Couldn’t marry him! What in the world are you talking about?

  You’re a foolish young girl!” Bertha cried out. The scene that followed was very painful. Bertha stridently demanded that Dora act like an adult and not a foolish child. It did not take much of her ranting to send Dora into tears, and soon she fled the room.

  Serafina had endured all she could. She said, “Would you step outside, Aunt Bertha?”

  “Outside? What for?”

  “Because I have something to say to you.”

  “Very well.” Bertha followed Serafina outside. Serafina led her to the study, and when the older woman came in, she shut the door, turned to her, and said, “Aunt Bertha, you will not urge Dora any more to take this man in marriage.”

  “I certainly will!” Bertha bridled, her face reddening. “It’s up to the family to take care of matters like this.”

  “If you do urge Dora to accept Digby even one more time, you will leave this house for good, and the door will be shut against you forever. Do you understand me?”

  It took a great deal to silence Bertha Mulvane, but when she saw the determination on Serafina’s face, she turned pale. She could not afford to lose this relationship, and she dearly longed to bully Serafina into backing down. Aunt Bertha was accustomed to pushing her way through situations by raising her voice and demanding that others recognise that she always knew best. But Serafina’s declaration seemed to hang in the air.

  Serafina repeated in a voice as cold as polar ice, “Do you understand me, Aunt Bertha?”

  Bertha swallowed and nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.

  “That’s good, because I would hate to have a division in the family. But I warn you, one more word to Dora, and you will not be welcome in this house.”

  Serafina left the room, and Bertha stood there speechless for once. Anger rose in her, but she well knew she could not give up the advantages of being in the family of the Viscountess of Radnor, and she left and went to her own room at once.

  Dylan had come to visit with Serafina after she sent word to him. She had taken him to the library and shut the door, and there she had told him what Clive had said.

  “He’s a big man with a steel hook, Dylan. There can’t be too many men like that.”

  “No, and people wouldn’t forget it. I’ll start looking at once.” He paused and said, “What’s wrong? You look troubled.”

  Serafina was not a woman to share her inner self, but Dora’s plight had shaken her. She had put Aunt Bertha out of the picture, but she knew that Aaron Digby would not give up. She said, “Aaron Digby has proposed marriage to my sister.”

  “And you don’t like that, I see.”

  “No, I don’t. I don’t like the man, and Dora despises him.”

  “Well, she doesn’t have to marry him.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  “She doesn’t love him?”

  “Of course not.” Serafina suddenly laughed. “But I’m no authority on love, Dylan.”

  “Well, I am.” Dylan smiled crookedly. “Let me tell you what love between a man and a woman is.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it,” Serafina said, smiling. She knew Dylan was speaking lightly to drive some of the grief out of her face.

  “Well, you see, in the very beginning God made a creature, sort of like a paper doll. But then bad things happened. Original sin came to the world, and everything was torn apart. And this beautiful creature was torn apart. Half of it was called man, and the other half was called woman. Can you imagine,Viscountess, a paper doll torn in two, down the middle? You might have a million of them torn down the middle, but the only one that would really suit the male part would be the female part that was torn from it.”

  “I see.What does that have to do with love?”

  “It’s like this, you see. These two parts were scattered in the world far apart from each other, but the male part knew and the womanly part knew that somewhere in the world was the other half of itself. There were lots of other bits of creatures floating around, and they could each have made do, but the fit would not be perfect. But it finally happened that the original met the original. They came together, and they fit perfectly. So, you see, a man is looking for that woman that’s a perfect fit, and the woman is searching for the man that will be a perfect fit for her.”

  “Are you saying that marriages are made in heaven, that God has in mind one particular person for each of us?”

  “Oh yes. God’s a romantic.”

  Serafina could not help laughing. “I’ve heard God called a lot of things, but not romantic.”

  “Oh yes,”Dylan said.He looked handsome as he stood there with the sunlight on his features, one lock of his black hair hanging down over his forehead, and a teasing smile on his lips. “God’s romantic, all right. He’s got a woman in mind for me somewhere. No other woman will do but that one. So I don’t have to worry about it. God will help me to find her.”

  Serafina, as usual, was fascinated by the way Dylan’s mind worked. It was so different from her own processes. She said, “So you haven’t found the woman God has made for you?”

  Dylan’s smile left his face. He looked down at the floor, but not before Serafina saw a look of sadness. It was the first time she had ever seen such a thing in Dylan. “What’s wrong?”

  “I thought I found the woman God had for me just one time.”

  “Who was she?”

  “Her name was Eileen.”

  “Did you ask her to marry you?”

  Dylan did not answer for a long time, but when he lifted his head, she saw that his face was totally still, and grief shadowed his eyes. “I was a soldier and had nothing.” He blinked his eyes, and his lips went into a thin line as if something had pained him. “She loved me, though. She wanted us to marry, but I didn’t have courage.”

  “What happened, Dylan?”

  “She died, Viscountess.”
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  “I’m so sorry.” There was a sadness in the man that she had not seen even an indication of before. He once had happiness and joy, and it had been taken from him. “I am sorry.”

  “When she died, it was like the sun went out.”

  Serafina suddenly reached out and took Dylan’s hand, something completely out of character for her since she had built a wall against men.

  “Do you think of her?”

  “Think of her? I think of her every day.” He looked at her and whispered, “You think I’m foolish, don’t you?”

  “No. No, I don’t, Dylan. I—I didn’t know a man could love a woman so much.”

  “He can, and a woman can love even more fiercely than a man, I think.”

  They stood there for a moment, she holding his hand, and then when she became conscious of his strength and his gentleness, she saw that sorrow made up part of Dylan’s life too. “You’ll have to tell me more if it’s not too painful.”

  “Maybe someday, but it’s possible for two people to find each other in this crazy world, just the two that will be right for each other.”

  Serafina dropped his hand and turned away, torn by emotions. Dylan’s simple statement came to her. When she died, it was like the sun went out. She had known nothing like that in her marriage, but she saw in this man the truth that such love could exist.

  SIXTEEN

  Dylan studied his reflection in the full-length mirror and smiled.“Not a bad disguise if I do say so myself.” He was wearing an ill-fitting jacket, a shirt with twice-turned collar and cuffs, and boots that were scuffed on the tops, their soles coming apart.His trousers were frayed at the bottom, and a soft battered hat hid his face. Turning swiftly, he left his room, his mind racing ahead.He had told Serafina he would throw his energies into finding the man with the steel hook for a hand. He headed for Seven Dials.

  He threaded his way through a series of winding streets until he reached the Rookery, a rotting pile of tenements crammed one beside the other. The damp had warped and twisted the houses, and the floors and walls were unsteady, patched and repatched. The smell of human waste overwhelmed him, and the gutters down the alleys ran with filth. He was aware even before dark of the squeaking and slithering of rats.