Barbara Michaels - The Wizard’s Daughter

Her receptivity toward suggestions of the uncanny was now so keen that she stared at the paper with dilating eyes. Then common sense asserted itself. So her aim had not been as good as she thought. The letter had fallen to the floor, Annie had found it, had smoothed it out and put it neatly away. That was the explanation, of course.

Still, the reappearance of the letter was a salutary reminder of her duty. She owed Mrs. Jay an explanation that would relieve the old lady's fears and justify her own behavior. She had been wrong to respond to its criticism with anger. Mrs. Jay was moved solely by concern for her, she knew that.

She forced herself to finish the part of the letter she had left unread. It was more of the same – lectures on the evils of spiritualism. Mrs. Jay did not use the vicar's arguments. Hers was a robustly rational attitude that deplored the activity because it was a denial of the quite adequate and comforting explanations offered by traditional religion. Naturally she said this at much greater length, and it was not until the very end of the letter that she added a single sentence that caused Marianne to uncurl her pretty mouth (a gesture she had unconsciously acquired from Carlton) and pay close attention.

"I find myself not so well as I would like; but at my age, Marianne, one must expect some infirmities."

To do Marianne justice, this statement made her feel bad for a full thirty seconds. To do her even more justice, she would have been thoroughly overcome if she could have seen Mrs. Jay, or known the hours of agonized debate that had resulted in that single understated comment. Mrs. Jay had finally concluded that the shock to her darling's sensibilities might be lessened if she received a well-chosen hint about the event that could not now be far away. But the words conveyed nothing of the physical pain or mental distress that had prompted them; and perhaps Marianne cannot be blamed for dismissing the sentence with a shrug. To be sure, Mrs. Jay was no longer young. Some infirmities had to be expected…

However, she was moved to pick up her pen and dash off a few lines of reassurance. The letter was a skillful blend of candor and tactful omissions. She admitted that the Duchess dabbled in spiritualism, but did not mention her own participation. She assured Mrs. Jay that she herself had not the slightest belief in that pernicious doctrine. She described the vicar at length without going into detail about his reasons for condemning table turning, for some instinct told her that Mrs. Jay would be as disgusted by demons as she was by spirits. All in all, Marianne was pleased with the letter when she read it over. She added a final sentence. "I do hope your rheumatism is better; you must take care of yourself and not do too much."

With a pleasant consciousness of duty done, she prepared for bed. Whether it was the idea of the approaching Sabbath – when no evil spirits are allowed to walk abroad – or the thought of her good old friend, she felt a peace of mind that had been foreign to her for many days. Still, she did not neglect to lock her door and, after a moment of silent debate, to leave a candle burning. The small, valiant flame dipped and swayed in the draft. Its vagrant movements were the last thing she saw before she fell asleep.

She woke with a start to find the room in darkness. At first she thought the unpleasantness of a bad dream must have roused her. It had been a horrid, confused mixture of the varied miseries she had suffered since arriving in London. In it she had seemed to pass, with the swift, unhindered movement of a bodiless spirit, through a dreadful twilight country of bare twisted trees and half-seen monsters, all wearing human faces:

Mrs. Pettibone and her sadistic son; Bagshot, mouthing curses; Wilson, the sinister manager of the supper club; and, worst of all, dear Mrs. Jay, who had shaken her fist and shrieked out threats of hellfire and eternal damnation.

This last terrible vision lingered even after she awoke. The limp white hands of her old friend still hovered above her head.

Marianne felt the bedclothes pressing down on her. She was awake… and the hands still hung luminous in the darkness. A clammy sweat dampened her brow. She was too frightened to move or scream.

A low, wavering moan sounded, mounting to a scream. It came again, louder and more peremptory; and then, all at once, Marianne was fully awake and furious. With a lunge she sat up and snatched, not at the pale spectral hands, but at a point just beyond where they ended in darkness. Her fingers closed over a solid, human arm. She pulled with all her strength.

The moan ended in a yelp of surprise and pain, and something fell heavily across her lap. In fumbling for a better hold, Marianne lost her grip on the intruder, who immediately rolled off the bed. She heard him blundering around the room, but made no attempt to recapture him. Instead she found her candle and struck a light.

She had known, as soon as her fingers touched the thin, boyish wrist, who her tormentor was. The flaring candlelight caught the young Duke on his way to the hidden passage. It gaped open. The table she had placed before it stood to one side, and Marianne cursed her own stupidity; anyone coming by way of the stairs would naturally carry a light, and as soon as the panel slid to one side he would see the obstacle.

Remembering the boy's propensity to fall into a fit when he was startled, Marianne did not shout at him, as she wanted to do, but spoke in a firm, quiet voice.

"You are fairly caught, Henry. Sit down, if you please."

Henry hesitated long enough to make her wonder what on earth she would do if he fell to the floor frothing and writhing. Then, with a sullen swagger, he threw himself into a chair, crossed one leg over the other, and stared at her defiantly.

"You weren't frightened at all," he said. "How did you know it was me?"

"It was I," Marianne corrected. "I wasn't frightened, but I might have been; it was a cruel, malicious thing to do. Why did you do it?"

"I thought it would be fun."

"And how did you evade M. Victor? He should not allow -"

"He has gone out. I suppose he is down at the Devenbrook Arms, getting drunk, as usual."

"Getting…" Marianne decided not to pursue this line of investigation. Curiosity got the better of her, and she inquired rather ingenuously, "How did you do that?"

"Gloves, coated with phosphorus," Henry answered readily. He pulled these objects from his pocket and dangled them from his hand. In the gloom they had a perceptible glow; but, like all enlightened viewers of a conjurer, Marianne wondered how she could ever have been deceived by such a simple trick.

"I got the idea from A Young Person's Guide to Science," Henry went on. "There are lots of other good things in that book. Would you like to see it?"

"Yes, I would." Marianne was decidedly interested; but seeing that Henry was now quite at ease, and indeed rather proud of his ingenuity, she thought she had better not encourage him any more. Returning to her lecturing tone, she asked reproachfully,

"What would your dear mama say if she knew you had done this?"

A singularly unpleasant, unchildlike smile came over Henry's face. "She would like it. She hates you."

"Hates me? You must be mistaken. Why should she hate me?"

"You are very pretty," Henry said. "And the vicar admires you."

Marianne was silenced momentarily. Consternation, lingering anger, pleasure at the compliment, and hurt – for she had really hoped that the unhappy Lady Violet would be her friend – gave way to an overwhelming pity.

"I am sorry if she doesn't like me," she said gently. "I like her very much, and would like to be of service to her. And to you, Henry. I know it is dull for you here. I am bored too, sometimes; perhaps we could do things together. I am very good at playing ball, and marbles."