* * *
‘This is a lovely room,’ said Hannah, her gaze roaming the walls painted with scenes of blue skies and meadows sprinkled with flowers. For a moment her gaze fell on the chaise longue and then shifted to the harp in a corner near the window. She glanced at Mrs Black. ‘D’you play?’
Eudora smiled. ‘I have a Welsh friend who comes from the spiritual church. Malcolm loved her playing.’ She turned to Kenny. ‘Sit down, dear. Your foot…’
‘I doubt you can help.’ He was slightly unnerved by her mention of his father but did as she said and sat down.
‘You’ve had the laying on of hands in your church?’ asked Eudora.
‘And prayer. I can walk, I’ve work. Hanny and I have a home of our own.’ He glanced at his wife and said seriously, ‘Perhaps this happened for a reason.’
Hannah almost exploded. ‘For what purpose? Why should God punish you? You’ve done no wrong. Unless he’s punishing me?’
‘I didn’t say it was a punishment, Hanny,’ said Kenny firmly. ‘Often we can’t see why things happen but later they seem to work into a pattern and things come right.’
‘I don’t see how.’ Hannah’s chin wobbled and she bit hard on her lower lip.
‘Hush, Hanny.’ Eudora’s voice was gentle and briefly she rested a hand on the younger woman’s shoulder. ‘I sense a darkness in your spirit that needs dealing with.’
‘Of course you do,’ said Hannah, folding her arms across her breasts and forcing a smile. ‘You know what there is to know.’
Eudora gazed at her piercingly and Hannah lowered her eyes. ‘That’s not true, dear, you’re hiding something.’
‘Fear,’ said Kenny, staring at his wife. ‘Despite Bert having left the country she can’t forget, so it’s with her all the time. Perhaps you can hypnotise her into forgetting, Mrs Black, because she won’t ask for prayer.’
‘I can’t forgive so how can I expect God to answer my prayers? Isn’t that how it works?’ asked Hannah bitterly, perching on the chaise longue.
Eudora did not comment but went over to Kenny and asked him what the doctor had said about his foot. He told her one of the little bones had been shattered and added with a wry smile, ‘I need a new bone. You don’t deal in them, do you, Mrs Black?’
‘No, Kenny, I don’t,’ she said with a hint of sadness. ‘I can’t help you there.’
‘At least you’re not raising false hopes,’ said Hannah with a catch in her voice. ‘But perhaps you can hypnotise me into forgetting Bert ever existed, and we can be happy again?’
Eudora turned to her. ‘I can help you to forget Bert but that might be dangerous. What if he were to return and find you alone and you didn’t know who he was?’
A cold shiver shuddered down Hannah’s spine. Kenny demanded, ’Why should he return? He’d be a fool to do that! Besides it would cost a lot of money and… why should he return?’ he repeated angrily.
Eudora did not answer him. Instead she said, ‘Perhaps Hannah should come and see me another time. We can discuss what it is that frightens her then.’ She smiled and clapped her hands. ‘Shall we go into the sitting room and have another sherry and more of Emma’s delicious mince pies. Then perhaps you can tell me all about Tilly. Your younger half-sister, I believe, Kenny?’
Hannah darted a glance at her husband as if to say, Now we’re getting to it. This is why she invited us here.
* * *
‘You mustn’t go in there,’ cried Alice, seizing her sister by the arm and pulling her away from the old drawing room.
‘Why?’ asked Tilly, looking surprised. ‘I want to play on the piano.’
‘Because it’s…’
‘Alice!’
Alice almost jumped out of her skin and whirled round to see Seb standing in the front doorway. ‘I didn’t hear you come in,’ she said, flushing uncomfortably.
He took off his cap and threw it on the chest in the hall. Then he walked over to the two sisters and, bending down, kissed Tilly’s cheek and told her to go to the kitchen and stay there until Alice came for her.
‘Why?’ she asked, gazing up at him from wide hazel eyes.
He said firmly, ‘Because I say so. I need to talk to Alice and it’s grown-up talk.’
‘When will I be grown-up enough to listen?’
He smiled faintly. ‘A while yet… but you’ll grow up quickly enough, I bet. Enjoy being a little girl while you can.’ He turned her round and gave her a little push in the direction of the green baize door and watched her go through.
Alice cleared her throat and he whirled round and gazed into her pale strained face. ‘You’re going to tell me off, aren’t you?’ she said.
Exasperated, he said, ‘You mustn’t infect Tilly with your fear.’
‘You think I’m imagining it. That it’s a pregnant woman’s fancy!’ A single tear slid down her cheek.
Seb did not answer but turned the knob and pushed open the door into the old drawing room. He took out his silver matchbox and lit the gas before beckoning her inside.
Alice remained rooted to the spot. She had not entered the room for months, since she had seen Victoria’s ghost and sensed Bert’s evil presence. She had taken to having breakfast in the bedroom and lunching in the nursery. She had explained this behaviour as merely economical – a way to save coal. Now they had their evening meal on a tray on their knees in the new drawing room.
Seb reached out, took her by the shoulders and propelled her into the old drawing room. Her pulse beat rapidly and she kept her eyes downcast, placing a hand over her swollen belly as if to protect her unborn child. As she did so, it moved beneath her hand and she prayed that God would keep her son, for she was certain it was a boy, safe from evil. She found herself also asking her mother to be close to her. She was shocked by her weakness; it seemed tantamount to getting in touch with spirits!
‘Look around you, Alice! There’s no ghost here,’ said Seb.
She lifted her head slowly and stared at the spot where the chaise longue had stood. It had gone and in its place was a new sofa of brown moquette. A cry escaped her. ‘Where did that come from?’
He kissed her hair. ‘I had it delivered today while you were at the yard. I told Mary and the new woman to keep quiet about it so I could surprise you. Also, I’ve been thinking that it’s time the piano was used and seeing as how Tilly has shown interest in banging on the instrument, perhaps she should start lessons. I’m sure one of Mrs Black’s lodgers would be willing to come here and teach her.’ He drew Alice against him and burrowed his face against her neck. ‘Doesn’t it say somewhere that music calms the savage beast?’ he said in a muffled voice.
She whispered, ‘I wouldn’t know. Kenny and Hanny are the readers.’
‘I could have it wrong but you know what I’m getting at?’
‘I think so. But I’m not sure if it’ll calm ghosts. And I don’t want my sister taking lessons in this room from someone who lodges with that woman. Who’s to say they haven’t been affected by what she does?’
Seb lifted his head. ‘From what I’ve heard, you couldn’t have three more respectable music teachers. You mustn’t let your prejudice against Mrs Black affect your sense of fairness… unless you’ve heard something about them that I haven’t?’
Immediately Alice was ashamed of herself. ‘No.’
‘Then ask one of them what day they can come.’
‘Me? Go to that woman’s house?’
She felt his chest move as he drew in his breath and, before she could say anything else, he released her. ‘I’ll go then… and I’ll go now.’ His expression was stern.
She looked at him in dismay. ‘Now? What about dinner?’
‘I won’t be long.’ He left the room, and immediately, she lumbered after him.
‘How long?’
‘Ten minutes?’ Seb opened the front door, pulling it to behind him. He turned up his topcoat collar against the chilly January evening and went down the path between shrubs, stunted
by frost, and out of the gate.
Moonlight glistened on the frosty pavement, so that it appeared to be studded with hundreds of tiny diamonds. He took a deep lungful of air that was tinged with smoke from the chimneys and damp vegetation. It was a relief to have got through the first part of his plan without Alice bursting into tears. He did not want to upset her but she could not go on the way she was, avoiding the old drawing room and flinching at shadows.
He came to Mrs Black’s gate, unlatched it and strode up the path. A lighted oil lamp hung on the wall next to the front door. That’s new, he thought as he banged the knocker and heard the sound echoing along the hall and up the stairs. Then came the patter of hurrying footsteps and he moved backwards off the doorstep. The door opened and Emma stood in the doorway, looking down at him in obvious surprise.
‘Hello, stranger! What are you doing here?’ she asked.
‘Is that how you’re supposed to greet callers?’ he responded and grinned.
She smiled. ‘Naw! What can I do for you… sir?’
‘I want Tilly to have piano lessons.’
‘Oooh eh! They’re out tonight… gone to the Liberal meeting at the Music Hall, what with the elections coming up. Even though they can’t vote, they feel they’ve got to show their support for the new candidate and express how they feel about the rumours about the government taxing tea and bread. D’you want me to pass on the message?’
‘If you would.’
There was a silence and then she said, ‘Everything all right with you and Alice and the old lady?’
‘Mrs Waters is going further down the nick… and as for Alice she’s fancying things.’ He hesitated, aware of an urge to unburden himself. Never before in his life had he had to handle such a situation.
Emma said softly, ‘She’ll probably be fine once the baby’s born. Women do get strange fancies when they’re in that condition.’
‘She thinks the old drawing room is haunted,’ he muttered.
Emma’s face stiffened. ‘Felt a presence, has she?’
He raked his dark curls with an impatient hand. ‘It’s all in her imagination.’
‘None the less real for that.’ Emma rested her shoulder against the doorjamb and folded her arms. ‘Have you thought of asking someone to exorcise the room?’
Seb frowned, nudging the step with the toe of his boot. ‘That would be like admitting there was something there.’
‘What harm would it do?’ asked Emma in a low voice. ‘More likely to do good if it eases Alice’s mind. She’s a churchgoer, so must believe in good spirits as well as bad if she’s read her Bible. Remind her that St Paul spoke of a host of heavenly witnesses cheering us on to the finish. Which means she’s not alone when she feels haunted.’
‘I didn’t know you knew the Bible so well, Emma,’ said Seb, encouraged despite his scepticism.
‘We had Scripture lessons in school, you know! I mightn’t go to church often but I’m not ignorant,’ she said sharply with a toss of her head. ‘Now get back to your wife and do what I said.’
‘Yes, Emma,’ he said meekly, and kissed her cheek. ‘You’re a good friend.’
‘Gerraway with yer! What would me fella say if he saw yer now?’ she said in a mocking voice.
He moved away then stopped, ‘Talking about that fella of yours… if he ever gets fed up with the railway, tell him to come and see me. I’m not saying I’ve much work on at the moment but I’d enjoy a talk with him.’
‘I’ll mention it to him,’ she said, gratified.
They wished each other goodnight and Emma closed the door. ‘Who was that?’ She jumped at the sound of Mrs Black’s voice and turned to see her standing at the foot of the stairs.
‘Someone wanting piano lessons,’ she said glibly. ‘I told him I’d pass the message on.’
‘He seemed to be here a long time.’
‘He wanted some advice, so I gave it to him,’ she said chirpily. ‘Shall I come and tidy the room now and then cook supper?’
Her employer nodded and went back upstairs.
Emma took a deep breath, knowing Mrs Black wouldn’t have liked it one little bit if she knew of the advice she’d given to Seb. She’d lost count of the times her employer had expressed how she’d like to get into the room where Victoria Waters had passed over. Well, it wasn’t going to happen, so she might as well give up, thought Emma, hoping that Seb would do as she suggested before Alice went completely to pieces. A lot of good she’d be looking after a baby then.
* * *
‘You say your wife has seen a ghost?’ The man in the dog collar with a large crucifix on his chest rested his elbows on his desk and tapped the tips of his fingers together, gazing over his tortoiseshell rimmed spectacles at Seb and Kenny.
‘No. I said she said she’d seen a ghost.’ Seb was wishing himself anywhere but in this man’s study. With Alice attending the Methodist chapel and himself having been brought up a Catholic, he had sought out Kenny, who preferred the local C of E parish church. Seb had not attended his own church since his return from India, knowing that his marriage would not be regarded as binding by the priest. Kenny had spoken to his vicar, who had been in touch with the diocesan exorcist.
‘Don’t forget she felt a presence of evil,’ put in Kenny.
‘Ahhh!’ The man’s eyes blazed. ‘And this emanated from the ghostly figure?’
‘No. They’re separate,’ said Kenny, leaning towards him. ‘The man responsible for the death of Miss Waters, who died in the room, is an evil man. He’s left the country but just knowing he had been in the room is causing my sister distress. He was violent to her in the past and over a period of time was sending her and my wife threatening letters.’
‘I see.’ He frowned. ‘So she’s not scared of this ghost but of the memory of this man?’
Kenny and Seb exchanged glances. ‘I’d say she’d be glad to get rid of the ghost, too,’ muttered Seb, and then realised what he’d said. Damn! He didn’t believe in ghosts and he’d never felt a presence. Why the bloody hell had he listened to Emma and come here?
Almost immediately he had his answer. ‘My sister’s having her first child, Reverend,’ said Kenny. ‘You would be doing her a kindness if you eased her mind. The baby is due in a few weeks.’
The vicar met his eyes and, after the barest of hesitations, suggested that perhaps a full blown exorcism was not the right procedure in this case. The best course would be for him to pray and simply lay hands on Mrs Bennett and banish these thoughts and feelings that were troubling her.
Kenny and Seb exchanged looks and both nodded. An appointment was made for the following week. ‘You think she’ll agree to a vicar laying hands on her?’ asked Seb, as he watched Kenny climb into the passenger seat of the Ford model T, which he’d had imported from America along with several others for the customers he’d already secured. ‘We never talk about religion but I would have thought she’d rather have her own minister.’
With a surety that Seb almost envied, Kenny said, ‘She won’t want her church knowing she believes in any other ghosts except the Holy One. If you don’t want to be there, what about Hanny keeping Alice company?’
Seb agreed with relief, adding that women were so much better at the emotional and spiritual stuff than men.
* * *
Hannah shaded her eyes to cut out the reflection of the sun on the glass, whilst taking care that the latest Votes for Women magazine did not slip from beneath her arm. Now she could see the piano clearly. The last time she had been in the drawing room, she really hadn’t taken notice of the instrument. But there was talk of Tilly taking lessons and Hannah could not help wishing that she and Kenny could have provided her with a piano at their house. When she had expressed that thought to Kenny, he had replied with some heat that material objects weren’t everything. They gave her their love and time… and didn’t she appear happy when she came and stayed with them? Hannah could not argue with that but even so, she wished they had mor
e money so they could give her more of this world’s goods. Her gaze took in as much of the room as possible in the gap between the curtains, now looking for a sign of a ghost. Unlike Seb she had an open mind when it came to the supernatural… or so she liked to believe.
She moved away from the window and banged on the knocker again but there was no response, so she decided to go round to the back of the house, just in case Alice was in the kitchen. Opening the door she saw her sister-in-law seated in a cushioned wheel-backed chair, toasting a crumpet on the red embers of the fire. Her cheeks were flushed prettily and her auburn curls seemed to glow in the reflected warmth of the hot coals. Her pregnant state was well advanced now and Hannah wondered, not for the first time, whether the child would be a boy as Alice had predicted. She was alone in the room.
‘So you’ve arrived,’ said Alice, removing the crumpet and tossing it onto the table before balancing the toasting fork on the highly polished brass fender. ‘D’you want a crumpet? There’s a bag of them on the table.’
Hannah nodded and placed the magazine down. ‘You feeling alright? I brought you the latest Votes for Women.’
‘I’m nervous.’ Alice pushed herself up from the chair and went over to the table. She buttered the crumpet and sank her teeth into it before picking up the magazine, but she only glanced at the front cover before putting it down. ‘D’you think I’m going mad like my dad?’ she said in a rush.
Hannah did not hesitate, ‘Of course not! Where are the servants by the way?’
‘Cook‘s gone to the market and I’ve given Mary a couple of hours off… Sybil, who I still think of as the new one, is upstairs reading to Mrs Waters… not that she understands a word as far as I can tell. I read the Bible to her sometimes but I don’t get a flicker.’
A Dream to Share Page 28