The Madness of Mercury

by Connie Di Marco

  I’m fascinated by family history. I’m more fascinated by people who go to the trouble to remember or explore that lineage. “That’s how you were named!” I exclaimed.

  “Exactly. Evangeline and Lysander. They combined their names and called me Evandra. A very unusual name for the time, or any time for that matter.”

  Gudrun returned, carrying a small tray with an extra cup and a fresh pot of tea. She deposited the tray on the table wordlessly and took a seat across the room, watching her charge carefully.

  Evandra took a sip of her tea. “That will be all, Gudrun,” she announced.

  Gudrun, expressionless, appeared not to have heard.

  “Thank you, Gudrun. You may leave us now.” Evandra spoke louder.

  With a glare in my direction, Gudrun rose. “Sehr gut,” she said as the door closed behind her.

  “Dreadfully depressing woman. I don’t know where Dorothy found her.”

  I had to agree but stifled a giggle. “So what did Dorothy mean when she referred to an Australian branch of the family?”

  “Oh, she’s talking through her hat.” The old lady waved a speckled hand dismissively. “You see, I was born in 1926. My sister, Eunice, two years later. We had a little brother Jonathan, who was five years younger than I, and of course, Elspeth, the baby. My father, God rest his soul, was not an evil man, but he was very very strict, and particularly harsh with Jonathan. My mother couldn’t seem to convince him to spare the rod.”

  “He beat your brother.”

  “Yes. It was very sad. But it was a different time. Today, it would be considered child abuse and the authorities would be called in.” Evandra sighed, recalling the past. “Jonathan ran away when I was twenty years old. We believe he went to Australia right after the war ended. After my father died, my mother hired someone to try to locate Jonathan, but she had no luck. We never heard from him and could find no trace. For all we know, he could have died there. We hoped that if he knew our father was dead, he might return. My mother spent a great deal of effort and money trying to locate him, but it all came to nothing. Poor dear, she never recovered. It broke her heart. She lived another twenty years, but nothing could ease her pain over the loss of her little boy.”

  “How terribly sad. And did you or Eunice ever marry?”

  “No, dear. Neither one of us. I was far too wild and independent. Somehow, as strict as my father was, he let me have my way. I think he understood I was just as ornery as he was and would never back down. I would have done exactly what I wanted, no matter what. Eunice was a different creature. Scared of her own shadow. Never could stand up to him.” Evandra smiled, a mischievous look in her eye. “I was a member of the Rosicrucian Society and even had a short dalliance in Europe with Aleister Crowley and the Temple of the Golden Dawn.”

  “Really? That must have been quite shocking for your family.”

  “Oh, they never knew the half of it. My father trotted every drooling marital prospect he could find through our parlor, but I had no intention of settling down to panty girdles and bridge parties.” Evandra reached her hand to a small, silver-framed photograph on the table next to her armchair. “Here we all were in happier days.” She passed the photograph to me. A smiling woman in a huge hat and long dress stood in a garden with an infant in her arms. Evandra, the oldest child, stood close to her mother clinging to her hand. A younger girl and a small boy stood in front of their mother. The two girls wore long white dresses.

  “This was taken here, in the formal garden. Our house has quite a history, you know. Lilly Hitchcock Coit, whose fortune as you must know built Coit Tower, stayed here often. My father thought she was a trollop, living in Paris and coming back to San Francisco to become what you girls today would call a firemen’s groupie. And Rudolf Valentino actually danced the tango here one night before he was driven out of the city by a jealous husband. Before my time, but my mother told me all about it.”

  “Valentino? In San Francisco?”

  “Oh, yes. He wasn’t a famous movie star then, just a dancer. He performed at the Cliff House in those days. They used to say he moved like a cat.”

  “That’s fascinating. So Dorothy is Elspeth’s daughter?”

  “Yes.” Evandra glanced lovingly at the framed photograph in her hand. “Elspeth’s just a baby here. Our family was very fond of old-fashioned names, you see. Elspeth was ten years younger than I and sadly the first to pass over. She married a man named Marshall. That’s Dorothy’s maiden name, of course. My mother was rather a snob and considered Elspeth’s husband a commoner. That caused another rift in our little family, so we were not able to stay particularly close. But I managed to stay in touch with her since they stayed in San Francisco.” Evandra’s hand shook slightly as she replaced the silver frame on the table. She leaned forward in her armchair. “Now tell me, Julia. Am I in danger?”

  I wasn’t sure how to approach this. I took a deep breath and dove in. “I’ve rechecked everything again and looked at your lunar returns for this month and the next couple of months. There’s a four-day period this month that’s particularly intense. And as I told you, the most difficult transit at the present time is the Neptune opposition to your Sun and Mercury. Very soon, this will be exact.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “No. It’s not a happy, exciting time, but it’s not the worst thing. As long as you’re aware of the pitfalls. We feel these pressures most keenly as the planets approach a sensitive point and become exact. Its effect on your Sun sign is depleting your energy and causing depression. Its effect on your Mercury can lead to mental confusion and an inability to sort out reality.”

  Evandra shook her head. “I just don’t understand. And now Dorothy tells me I was wandering … am I going crazy?”

  I bit my tongue. I wasn’t qualified to diagnose dementia, if that’s what was affecting Evandra. “I don’t believe so. You are feeling extremely fearful right now, and not up to your usual energy level. The fact that your Mercury is affected by this transit could lead to a certain amount of paranoia. I have to say that I think you’re misguided as to Dorothy’s motives, but it’s also possible that someone is deliberately working to delude you, to pull the wool over your eyes. Deception isn’t a rule, but it is possible under a Neptune transit. That’s what makes it difficult. Think of it as fog. It’s terribly hard to know what is real and what is not.”

  “What about right now?”

  “This month, this coming week or so, until perhaps the holiday, is the most sensitive time for you. My main caveat is that you must be very careful about any medications you take. Neptune is associated with pharmaceuticals and drugs of all sorts. If you feel something isn’t right, then call your doctor, and do not continue. And particularly when your Sun sign is affected, the physical body is very vulnerable. A medication that normally would be fine could have a much more powerful effect during this time period. Listen to your body. If it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t, at least until this transit is over.”

  Evandra’s eyes had filled with tears. “I’m just grateful you don’t think I’m losing my mind.”

  “Be patient. You’ll see. When this transit is over, everything will become very clear.”

  “Julia, I know I’m in danger. I saw her last night.”

  My face betrayed my confusion. “Her?”

  “Lily. Listen very carefully, dear.” Evandra leaned closer and whispered, “I told you about Lily, my grandfather’s sister.”

  I nodded.

  “Well, it was very different in the late 1800s, you know. A woman couldn’t make her own decisions. Lily wanted to marry a man she loved, a man of dubious prospects, but Elisha, my grandfather, refused. He’d arranged a marriage to one of his older business partners. Lily became very depressed and died.”

  “How did she die?”

  Evandra pursed her lips. “No one would ever say. It was all rather mysterious, but I suspect it was a suicide and the family didn’t want anyone to know.”

  �
�And this is who you think you saw last night?”

  Evandra hesitated and took a deep breath. “There’s a legend. It’s said that when she appears, someone in the family is in danger. She appeared to my father just before he was killed by a runaway horse. I’ve seen her before—that’s how I know. She always wears blue, her favorite color, and when she’s present, you can smell gardenias.” Evandra gripped my wrist. “Julia, I saw her and smelled gardenias the night my mother died.”

  I shivered involuntarily.

  “That’s how I know I’m in danger. Or someone is. Someone in the family. And I think it’s me.”

  “Under a Neptune transit, one can have strange dreams, strange otherworldly experiences,” I explained. “And it’s not uncommon for the veil to be lifted, to perceive other dimensions. But it’s also possible that you’re suffering from fear and paranoia.”

  “Is that what you really think?”

  “I’ll keep an open mind, believe me,” I said. “I wouldn’t rule either out. Sometimes both take place. Anyone at any age can have adverse reactions during this time, reactions they wouldn’t normally have. Just be aware of that.”

  “That silly doctor probably wants to give me more medication.” Evandra sniffed. “Well, I’ll take your advice and not take it.”

  “You can take a prescribed medication, I didn’t mean that.” I groaned inwardly. I was sure her medical doctor would not like to hear about her astrologer’s advice. “You can take what the doctor gives you, but if for any reason it doesn’t feel right, or you think it’s hitting you too hard, then call the doctor immediately and stop taking it. Don’t take any chances.”

  “Will you come visit again? Or perhaps you could stay a few nights if you like. I’d feel so much better if you were here in the house.”

  “Richard seems to be spending time here with Dorothy. Doesn’t that make you feel better?”

  “Oh, yes. It does. I like him very much. I don’t think Dorothy would dare to do anything funny with Richard around. You know, he’s a very good cook. He makes me mint tea and little cookies with caraway seeds that I just love! He’s promised to cook a great big turkey for our Christmas dinner.” Evandra smiled, and in spite of her pallor, I saw a sparkle in her eyes that hinted at the child she had once been. She leaned back against the cushions and breathed deeply, closing her eyes for a long moment. I watched her carefully and finally decided she must have dozed off.

  But just as I started to rise from the chair, her hand reached out and grabbed my wrist. “There’s something I want to do. Will you help me?”

  “Of course … if I can. What is it?”

  “I want to hold a séance.”

  EIGHT

  “IS SHE CRAZY?” DOROTHY shouted, brushing an unruly curl from her forehead with the back of her hand. “A séance, no less!” She resumed chopping vegetables at the counter. “I’m running a madhouse. Eunice has Gudrun driving her to those ridiculous Prophet meetings, and now a séance!”

  “I heard about Eunice’s activities,” I said. Although I’m always suspicious of do-gooders and preachers—just my natural cynicism, I guess—in light of my recent experience with the followers of the Reverend Roy, my antennae were sounding a red alert. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  Dorothy stopped chopping and paused with her knife in mid-air. “I hadn’t given it a lot of thought. Why do you ask?”

  For once, I decided on discretion and kept my big mouth shut. “It’s a long story. I’ll fill you in some other time. I’m just distrustful of those types of groups.”

  Dorothy wiped her knife off on a paper towel. “Julia, do you know how hard it is to care for elderly people? I’ve been a nurse my whole life, in some very difficult circumstances, believe me, but it’s nothing compared to trying to take care of a family member. This beats it all. A séance no less!”

  “I don’t think she’s crazy or suffering from dementia. Dorothy, listen to me. It’s not that I’m a believer; I just try to keep an open mind. But one thing is true—she’s having a Neptune transit. Physically she’s completely exhausted and perhaps even suffering from too much medication, or not the right kind of medication, or even an allergy. Could she be allergic to something you’re not aware of?”

  Dorothy heaved a sigh. “Anything’s possible. But not that I know of. I keep a good eye on her, you know,” she stated defensively.

  “And she’s genuinely afraid.”

  Dorothy looked up and gave me a piercing glance. “Afraid of me?”

  I wasn’t about to tell her the details of what Evandra had shared with me, and ethically, I had no right to talk about a client’s reading. Although, I remembered, that hadn’t stopped me yesterday when I’d asked if Evandra was showing any hints of dementia.

  Dorothy sighed. “You know, she won’t let me give her any medications. She has them locked in her armoire and will only take them when Alba, our housekeeper, or Gudrun is here.” She shook her head. “Maybe I’m too close. Maybe she is getting senile. I do need to talk to the doctor.”

  “Luis’s death has undoubtedly affected her,” I said. “Right now she’s afraid of everything and everybody. And the truth is, if she were fifty years younger, she could still be having the same reaction.”

  Dorothy didn’t respond, just continued her work. I watched as she deftly swept the vegetables into a pan and sautéed them. “What should I do, Julia? What do you think?”

  “I think Evandra’s got a bee in her bonnet and she’s not going to be happy until she has her séance. Other than that, I can’t say.” I shrugged.

  “Hmph! I guess she thinks she’s going to communicate with Lily’s ghost. Has she told you about that?

  I nodded reluctantly.

  “And when is this séance supposed to take place?”

  “She says it has to be the night of the 21st, two evenings from now. Apparently that was Lily’s birthday.”

  “Where does one go to arrange such a thing, anyway?”

  “I’m not really sure. I know some people from the Eye who are trustworthy. I can arrange for them to come here. I can’t say I believe in this, but at least the people I know aren’t charlatans and won’t charge her for more than their time. Let me give it some thought and work on it. As long as it’s okay with you.”

  Dorothy shook her head. “Fine. Whatever. Maybe Lily will come through and knock some sense into her head. Anything to keep the peace.”

  I returned to the front parlor. The tree was now completely decorated and dripping with antique ornaments. I wandered to the far end of the room, where multi-paned beveled glass doors overlooked a sunken formal garden on the side of the house. Balustrades outlined the perimeter, dotted with yew trees and marble statuary. In the center, low hedges of boxwood formed a maze-like pattern surrounding rose bushes, now bare and stunted. Stone benches stood at the end of the garden. I recognized the location from the photograph Evandra had shown me. Beautiful, but there was a desolate sadness to its formality. It recalled a bygone era. I heard a step behind me and jumped.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” I hadn’t heard Richard enter the room. “How is Evandra?”

  “Rather frail right now.”

  He nodded ruefully. “I hope we’re able to cheer her up. I don’t think this house has seen a real Christmas and home cooking for many decades. It’s such a waste to keep this rambling old place going for two little old ladies. I’ve tried to talk to Dorothy about that.”

  I stared at him. “What are you suggesting? That her aunts be put in a home?”

  “Well, that would make more sense, wouldn’t it? No need to pay for live-in help and the upkeep on this place. Costs a small fortune, not to mention the taxes and insurance.”

  I felt my cheeks grow hot, and I struggled to keep my voice neutral. “Well, fortunately for them, they’re in a position to afford just that, and they seem perfectly capable of making their own decisions. And after all, it is still their house.”

  He’d put my back up, no
doubt about it. Here he was, an estranged husband, a man who’d walked out on Dorothy, venturing his opinion about what should be done about two elderly aunts who weren’t even his own blood relatives.

  “True. That’s true,” Richard said. “I guess I’m just very practical about money matters.” He smiled disarmingly. Practical on how to get your hands on it, I thought. “Dorothy’s got something delicious going. Can you stay for dinner?” he added.

  “Can’t tonight, but thanks. I’ll just say good night to Dorothy.”

  Richard nodded and climbed the stepladder, placing an old-fashioned angel at the top of the tree. I slipped on my jacket and grabbed my purse just as Dorothy entered the room.

  “You’re not staying?” She looked at me quizzically.

  “Thanks, no. Richard invited me for dinner, but I can’t manage it tonight. I have to get some errands done.”

  “Well, let me know if you’re able to arrange something for the séance. I’m just happy you’re willing to humor Evandra.”

  “She’s having a tough time and I can’t say I blame her. Neptune transits are not fun.”

  Dorothy followed me to the door. “Thanks again, Julia. Stop by any time.” She enveloped me in a big hug. I could smell pastry dough on her skin. As I stepped outside, she followed and pulled the front door closed behind her. She moved closer, whispering. “Look, I know you think I’m jumping the gun, letting Richard visit like this, but he’s such a big help.”

  “I’m just an astrologer, not a psychologist or a relationship expert. I’d like nothing better than to see you be happy, believe me. And Richard does seem very … ” I struggled for the right word. “Solicitous of you.”

  “Oh, he is, he’s a changed man,” Dorothy gushed.

  I couldn’t help but wonder just how much Richard knew of Dorothy’s potential inheritance. She watched from the doorway as I climbed into my car. I leaned over to the passenger side and waved to her as I headed down the hill.