‘And Mr Beckler’s abilities lie in the photographic portrait,’ said Mr Hope. ‘There is however, I believe, a sensitive at the table.’
All eyes turned to Mina.
‘Miss Scarletti!’ exclaimed Mr Honeyacre, in astonishment. ‘Why have you hidden this from us?’
‘I have nothing to hide,’ said Mina. ‘If Mr Hope is referring to me then he is dreadfully mistaken.’
‘Ah, but time will tell,’ said Mr Hope, with a superior smile. ‘One day your powers will burst forth and that will be a great and glorious day for spiritualism!’
Mina finished her fish as the table fell into silence, waiting for her powers to burst forth. ‘But not today, I fear,’ she said.
‘I can be patient,’ said Mr Hope. ‘Mr Honeyacre, I assume that Mr and Mrs Malling and your excellent cook have not claimed any mediumistic powers?’
‘They have not. And I can speak for my manservant Mr Gillespie and Kitty’s maid, Miss Pet, as well.’
‘I can say the same for my maid,’ said Nellie.
‘Well, we shall see what emerges,’ said Mr Hope, undeterred. ‘In my experience, those who believe they have no powers often experience an unexpected awakening when in a location of concentrated spiritual energy. Just such a location as this, in fact.’ Not everyone at the table viewed this prospect with such obvious enthusiasm as did Mr Hope.
The fish plates were removed and were succeeded by a large and fragrant steak pie with vegetables.
‘Do you expect anything further to transpire today?’ asked Mr Honeyacre, anxiously.
‘I do indeed,’ said Mr Hope, who was becoming more confident by the minute. ‘It is very clear to me that the best course of action would be to hold a séance. And we must do so without further delay. This room would be ideal.’ He turned a searching eye to his host. ‘Have you held a séance here before?’
‘Er — well, no, I mean, I thought one had to engage a medium to do so and we have none.’
‘Oh, we have more than enough psychic power in the house and I am confident that we shall achieve good results. Once dinner is done I will see to the best arrangement of the room.’
‘But Mary Ann and Susan will be frightened out of their wits!’ protested Mr Honeyacre. ‘And my dear wife — I will not have her disturbed for anything!’
‘If the maids are nervous they may be sent home before we begin. It will be for the best, as malevolent spirits have been known to be attracted to young girls of the servant class and play their tricks and frighten them, and we do not want anything of that sort preventing innocent unhappy entities contacting us. Mrs Honeyacre,’ and here Mr Hope turned his most appealing expression towards Kitty and his tone dropped and softened like the touch of silken velvet, ‘I would like most earnestly to reassure you that you will be in no danger at all. In any case —’ he pressed his hand to his chest — ‘I am here to protect you.’
Kitty, as so many ladies had done before her, melted under his earnest gaze and smiled. ‘Oh, Mr Hope, you are too kind!’
Mr Honeyacre sighed. ‘If it was only possible to send Kitty away, I would. My dear, what would you like to do?’
‘I think,’ said Kitty, bravely, ‘that if there is an unhappy spirit here it should be given comfort. And I am content to be a part of the company.’
The pie was consumed without relish, although the meat was tender, the gravy delicious and the pastry crisp. The hot pudding that followed brought little consolation. Mr Hope, who had placed himself in charge of the arrangements, expounded on his plans for the séance as if he had now become the master of the house, in which Mr Honeyacre had been demoted to chief steward. As he did so, Mina saw her host’s expression harden and grow less comfortable. A viscount Mr Hope might be and an honoured guest, but he had hardly been in the house a few hours before his welcome was wearing thin.
Chapter Nine
‘Well,’ said Nellie, as she and Mina headed for the parlour, ‘we should have expected that, I suppose.’
Immediately on completing his dinner, Mr Hope had risen from the table and begun striding busily back and forth the length of the dining room, issuing orders to the other gentlemen as to how everything was to be made ready for the séance. The ladies had all decided to make their escape. Mina dared not look at Mr Honeyacre, but had no doubt that he was already reconsidering the wisdom of inviting Mr Hope to his home.
As they crossed the hall, which was filled with the authoritative boom of Mr Hope’s commands, they encountered Mr Malling, umbrella in hand, conducting Mary Ann and Susan, heavily cloaked against the rain, to their homes in the village. Miss Pet was bringing Little Scrap to her mistress and the two decided to avoid contemplating what was to come by playing with the pampered puppy.
‘My fervent wish is for an uneventful evening,’ said Mina, as she and Nellie made themselves comfortable before the parlour fire.
‘Really?’ said Nellie, arching a mischievous eyebrow. ‘I could arrange something different if you wish.’ Mina was sure that her friend could easily delude Mr Hope. Nellie had always maintained that the best conjuring tricks, assuming a skilled performer, were the simplest ones that required little in the way of special equipment or preparation and therefore appeared all the more mysterious. Her brief career as Miss Foxton the medium had necessitated only several yards of black fabric, which, due to Richard’s impecunity, Mina had been obliged to purchase, and a loan of the Scarlettis’ best oriental vase.
‘Please promise me you will not,’ begged Mina. ‘In fact, I am relying on you to look out for trickery and put a stop to it if you can. If there should be any manifestation during the séance it will only strengthen Mr Hope’s delusion that I am a medium and I will never hear the end of it.’
‘Perhaps you ought not to attend,’ suggested Nellie.
‘I will still be in the house, so I doubt that that will make any difference.’
‘Do you think Mr Hope is a cheat?’ asked Nellie.
Mina considered this. ‘He is a true believer and I suppose he would imagine cheating to be unnecessary, but I also know that he will stoop to anything in pursuit of his goal, which is to draw others to his cause. So I would not dismiss the idea. If he does cheat, however, I think he will not be adept at it. You would easily find him out.’
‘And what about his faithful follower, Mr Beckler?’
‘I don’t know. It is worrying enough that he is Mr Hope’s disciple. I would not be at all surprised if Mr Hope is funding his experiments in photographing spirits. He has some knowledge of chemicals and optics, so may have a host of tricks that he can play to deceive us. However, both gentlemen arrived here with little more than a few necessities and that may limit what they can achieve.’
Mina cast her mind back to the séances of Miss Eustace, which she had attended with her mother. Crucially, while all the attention of the sitters was on the medium events had occurred which were only possible if there was an accomplice present. Sometimes the accomplice posed as one of the sitters, sometimes the accomplice lurked outside, waited for darkness and then crept in and walked about invisibly to wreak fear in the hearts of the faithful. Accomplices could also be placed outside the séance room throughout the performance, rapping on walls.
She rose to her feet. ‘There are at least some precautions I can take,’ she said. ‘Come with me. It would be extremely valuable if you could take a look at the room and see if there are any opportunities for cheating.’
When they returned to the dining room, Mr Hope was still giving orders, which were being carried out by Mr Beckler, Mr Gillespie and Dr Hamid. Mr Honeyacre was on one of the settles looking helplessly miserable. The large dining table had been moved against one wall. The linen runner folded, silver candlesticks, cruet set and other dishes had been placed on the sideboard. The round tea table had been granted pre-eminence and was placed centrally under the efflorescence of ceiling lamps. Seven dining chairs circled the table and the rest were being placed in a line next to the sideboard.
/> ‘Mr Hope,’ said Mina. ‘Might I suggest something?’
He looked around. There was a pause during which he appeared to be considering asking her to leave, but thought better of it. ‘By all means,’ he said coldly.
‘With Mr Honeyacre’s permission, of course,’ Mina added.
Mr Honeyacre looked up as if surprised that he had been addressed. ‘Oh, yes; yes, please do.’
Dr Hamid and Mr Beckler had both stopped what they were doing and were staring at Mina. On both their faces was the expression of anticipation that often appears in a theatrical audience which has just seen a curtain go up.
‘I am sure,’ said Mina, ‘that everyone would like to avoid any possibility of an accusation of cheating.’
‘There will be no cheating,’ said Mr Hope, curtly. ‘I forbid it and will do everything I can to prevent it.’
‘Of course, but when we relate the circumstances to others who are not present will not some people criticise the arrangements and say that this or that thing could have been done? And would it not be an idea to dismiss those doubts before we begin?’
Mr Hope appeared to be biting back a firm retort. Instead, he chewed at his lower lip and gave her a hard stare. ‘What do you suggest?’
‘You have just seven chairs about the table.’
‘Yes, they are for myself, Mr Beckler, Mr and Mrs Honeyacre, Dr Hamid, yourself and Mrs Jordan.’ He glanced around to see Nellie, who was walking around the room, looking for all the world like a fashionable lady with no thought in her head other than taking a refreshing turn to banish ennui. His eyes lingered on her form a little longer than they ought to have done.
‘You consider the smaller table to be preferable to the large one?’
He turned back to Mina. ‘I do, for the better transmission of energy between the sitters.’
‘What of the other persons in the house? Will they not be here?’ asked Mina.
‘The servants you mean?’
‘Yes.’
He considered this. ‘That would make us —’ he began to make a calculation.
‘Thirteen,’ said Mina. ‘The remaining six are Mr and Mrs Malling, Miss Pet, Zillah, Mr Gillespie and Mrs Blunt.’
He grunted agreement. ‘Thirteen at the table. Not the most propitious number for such a proceeding. And, in any case, the table is not large enough. Besides, none of the servants has shown willingness to be a part of this. Mrs Malling will come in to sweep once the furniture has been rearranged, but after that she will retire from the room.’
‘My suggestion is that they should all be in the room when the séance is conducted. They do not need to participate; they may observe from a distance, no more. This is to avoid an accusation of complicity from someone outside. It does happen; do not deny it. I have attended séances of that nature.’
His expression darkened. ‘You know my opinion on these matters. It is only when the spirits are unwilling or unable to appear, or the medium has temporarily exhausted his or her powers that certain practices are resorted to in order to ensure a result. It happens no more than one occasion out of a hundred, perhaps a great deal less. The intention of the medium is not trickery, but to avoid disappointing the clients, many of whom are in a grieving state. That is the reason for these ridiculous accusations of cheating.’
‘Do you agree,’ Mina persisted, ‘that it would do no harm to have all persons present in the room?’
After some consideration, he said with some reluctance, ‘I agree, it would do no harm.’
‘Then let it be so. And there should be light in the room.’
This was a demand too far and Mr Hope’s ability to control his annoyance with Mina finally expired. ‘Oh, this is quite unreasonable! You know very well that the spirits deplore light. We shall never have any results that way.’
‘But,’ said Mina patiently, ‘we both know that it is the constant theme of the doubters that darkness only serves to give opportunities for fakery. Results from a dark séance will never convince them. This, however, I will concede. It will not be necessary to provide a bright light. Just sufficient to satisfy everyone that no one has left their place.’
Mr Hope was not appeased. ‘But this is not an experiment to convince the materialists; it is a sincere effort to contact and comfort the spirits that are causing a disturbance in this house. Nothing more.’
‘If you don’t mind my saying so,’ offered Mr Honeyacre nervously, ‘Miss Scarletti’s proposals seem very sensible to me. I would like to be as sure as I can of the evidential nature of anything that transpires. The gas can be lit but turned low.’
Mr Hope folded his arms and stared at Mina in what he hoped was an intimidating manner. Mina refused to be cowed. ‘I suppose you would like everyone to swear on the Holy Bible that they will not resort to trickery?’ he said angrily.
‘That is an excellent idea,’ said Mina. ‘I had not thought of that. I agree with your suggestion.’
He gave an irritated grunt. ‘It should not be necessary to point out to you that no one here claims to be a séance medium. No one is taking money to be here. All of us around the table are genuine seekers after the truth.’
‘Then I await the results with interest,’ said Mina. She turned and left the room. Behind her, she could hear the plaintive tones of Mr Honeyacre’s voice asking Mr Hope to comply with her requests.
‘I believe we both had the same thought,’ said Nellie when they were back in the parlour. ‘The large dining table would be hard to tilt; it must have taken several men to move it, but the round one could easily be manipulated. While you were engaging Mr Hope’s attention I looked underneath it. With a company seated around, especially if there are gentlemen with long limbs, there would be no room for anyone, even a small child, to hide under it undetected and tap out messages. However, anyone seated there might knock it with a foot. I saw nothing in the way of apparatus to assist with movement, but artifice is still possible without.’
‘An eminent professor once said that table tipping was the result of the energies of the sitters combining and producing the movement without their being aware of it,’ said Mina. ‘Of course, even if correct, that theory cannot explain the levitation of a table.’
‘Oh, that is simple,’ said Nellie, airily, ‘any conjuror knows how to do it. Provided the table is not too heavy it requires only the connivance of two people on opposite sides, materials that can be procured anywhere and a little planning.’ She gave an enigmatic smile. As a conjuror’s assistant she knew many secrets and while she often hinted at them in a tantalising manner she knew that she ought never to fully reveal them.
It did not take long before the dining room was arranged to Mr Hope’s liking. Once Mrs Malling had seen it swept and tidied she called on Mina and Nellie to announce that all was prepared and their presence requested.
When Mina and Nellie followed her to the dining room they found Zillah, Miss Pet, Mr Malling, Mrs Blunt and Mr Gillespie seated on the dining chairs that were ranged against one wall. The gas lamps were still fully lit and Nellie cast her eye about the room without appearing to be too obviously looking for cheating.
Mr Hope, chin resting in his hand, was regarding the small table where the other participants were already seated. ‘We have four gentlemen and three ladies,’ he said. ‘It might lead to a better result if there was an even number at the table, alternating male and female.’ He glanced at the row of servants. Mrs Blunt looked like something that had been carved out of a block of stone and left on the banks of the Nile and therefore not likely to move in the near future, and Mrs Malling, who had taken a place beside her husband, shrank back in her chair as if trying to make herself invisible. After a brief whispered conversation between Zillah and Miss Pet and much encouraging patting of hands Miss Pet rose and stepped forward shyly. ‘I might be the fourth lady,’ she said.
‘And a very charming one, too,’ said Mr Hope, gallantly, bringing an eighth chair to the table and offering it to Miss Pet, the others mov
ing to make room for her. Having taken charge of the order of seating he had managed to position himself between the two most desirable females: Nellie and Miss Pet. Next around the table was Mr Beckler then Mina, Dr Hamid, Kitty and Mr Honeyacre.
As Mina took her place she made note of the location of the sitters. The only two persons she might have considered cheats, Mr Hope and Mr Beckler, were not opposite each other where they might have been able to connive at lifting the table, but placed with only Miss Pet between them. The unlikely sets of conspirators were therefore Mr Hope facing Dr Hamid and Mr Beckler facing Mr Honeyacre. The other opposites were herself and Nellie, and Kitty and Miss Pet.
‘And now,’ said Mr Hope, with a little sneer, ‘at the insistence of Miss Scarletti we are all obliged to swear on the Holy Bible that we are not liars and cheats. I personally did not think this to be necessary in a company of this quality, but the lady will have her way.’ Mr Hope went to fetch an elderly Bible from the sideboard and while his back was turned Mina took a rapid glance under the table. She saw nothing unusual, but as an added precaution slid her hands, palms up, beneath the table top, feeling for hidden hooks or shelves. All was smooth and free of places where objects might be hidden. As she did so she became aware that Mr Beckler had turned his head to look at her. She glanced at him. He was smiling. She glanced away.
Mr Hope brought the Bible and circled the table offering it to each of the participants in turn, each of whom placed a hand upon it and made a solemn oath to be honest and truthful.
The volume was then placed in the centre of the round table and Mr Hope placed his hand upon it and made the same oath, his voice thundering especially loudly. The volume remained where it was, perhaps as a reminder to the company that their enterprise was a holy one and did not infringe any precepts of the Christian religion.
‘Mr Malling,’ said Mr Honeyacre. ‘You can confirm that Mary Ann and Susan are at their homes?’
‘Yes, my Lord, I conducted them there myself,’ said Mr Malling.
The Ghost of Hollow House (Mina Scarletti Mystery Book 4) Page 13
