It was a fine day and he agreed to take a walk with her on the Chain Pier, where he seemed to be not so much contemplating the land and all that moved on it, or even the cool waters and the constantly changing place where the two met, but gazing instead into the air, as if looking about him for evidence of spirits. They walked slowly, not only due to Mina’s preferred speed of gait, but because the gentleness of the stroll pleased them both. They passed under the cast-iron arches, which housed little kiosks selling toys, sweetmeats and novelties, going toward the old landing stage at the end, where the packet boats arrived from Dieppe. Being of purely commercial use it was the least attractive part of the pier, and it was no coincidence thought Mina that the most popular portraits of the pier seemed either to be facing away from it, or with its slime-blackened supports in the misty distance. They stopped briefly for refreshments, and passers-by looked on the pair with approval, seeing a kind gentleman assisting a poor crippled lady.
‘I don’t know if you have heard about the scandal regarding Mr Clee,’ Mina said.
‘No,’ said Dr Hamid, ‘but nothing would surprise me about that individual. Anna has told me about his attempt to win her, and a more transparent fortune hunter was never known. Anna is a fine, honest and loving woman, and I hope even now that she may find someone worthy of her, who will add to her happiness, but that person is not Mr Clee.’
‘He may well be married already,’ said Mina, ‘and he appears also to be engaged to two other ladies, one of whom, my mother’s former companion Miss Simmons, is taking an action for breach of promise.’
‘The scoundrel!’ he exclaimed, shaking his head in dismay. ‘And this is the creature who has attached himself to Miss Eustace, no doubt with hopes of winning her, too. Thankfully Miss Simmons’s action will alert her to his true nature. I, like you, have become convinced that he is simply a conjurer, and his object has been from the start to conjure Miss Eustace from her fortune.’
‘The lady has many admirers, yet seems to entertain none of them,’ said Mina. They walked on. There was little enough to divert them on the pier, other than the sea and the sky, but that was all to the good. ‘My brother Richard has recently told me he wishes to court her, but I have told him he is unlikely to be successful.’ She looked at Dr Hamid carefully as she spoke, but he seemed unconcerned at the news, and she was reassured that he at least had no tender interest in Miss Eustace. ‘But Richard can be impulsive and reckless, and I fear that he may do something foolish,’ she went on.
‘He did recklessly offer to knock down Mr Clee unless he left my house, something which I must admit did commend him to me,’ said Dr Hamid, with a smile.
‘He wishes to make Miss Eustace a gift to express his admiration, but he disdains to deliver it in the usual way,’ said Mina. ‘He plans to make a bold gesture by placing it in her apartments without her knowing, so it will seem to have appeared by supernatural means.’
He stopped walking and stared at her. ‘Goodness – how does he propose to do that?’
‘I am very sorry to say that the means he is adopting may place him in danger of arrest,’ said Mina.
Dr Hamid looked shocked. ‘You must try to dissuade him!’
‘I have done my best, truly I have, but he insists on making the attempt. He has asked me to wait with a cab at the end of the street – Miss Eustace lodges not far from Professor and Mrs Gaskin – and I am to be there to make sure he can make his escape.’
‘Oh, this is very wrong!’ said Dr Hamid, clapping one hand to his forehead and pacing up and down. ‘Not only does he risk his own liberty but he draws you in as an accomplice! But you say that he only wishes to leave something, and intends to take nothing away?’
‘Oh, Richard is no thief; I can assure you of that. I only hope that if he is caught it will be put down to a youthful escapade and he will have learned his lesson. What do you think I should do?’
He sighed. ‘Is there anyone else whose opinion might sway him?’
‘Only Mother, and I prefer her to know nothing of it, in fact I dread her finding out. She is very unhappy over the business with Miss Simmons and I will not add to her worries.’
He looked at her sympathetically. ‘I can see that you are very fond of your brother. You would not have harm come to him and whatever he does you will not abandon him. I can only advise you to do your utmost to dissuade him from this foolhardy plan, and if you cannot then no advice I or anyone else can give will prevent you from assisting him. Of course, if he is only intending to leave a gift then it may take just moments to achieve his aim, and you may then hurry him safely away; only do make him promise faithfully that any future gifts are delivered by more conventional means.’
‘I will do as you suggest,’ she said. ‘Will you be at Miss Eustace’s séance tonight?’
‘That is my plan, and now I can see where I might be able to help you. On my way home I will look to ensure that you and your brother have departed safely before Miss Eustace returns. Where does she lodge?’
‘Bloomsbury Place. I will have the cab wait at the northern end.’
‘Then I very much hope that we will not meet there.’
The séance was due to start at eight o’clock, although how long it was likely to last was unpredictable. Mina hired the cab for eight, but Richard, with his customary sense of urgency, arrived late and then insisted on stopping on the way to purchase cigars. It was therefore well after half past the hour when they arrived in Bloomsbury Place, and stopped at the end furthest from the seafront, where the road took a turn into College Place and the cabman would not be able to see where Richard was going. The sun was dipping towards the horizon, and the summer light was fading as Richard drew his black velvet cloak about him.
‘Did you bring a gift for Miss Eustace to act as your alibi?’ asked Mina.
‘Oh, no, I forgot,’ said Richard. ‘Well, it’s too late now, I suppose.’
Mina handed him a lace handkerchief. ‘Oh, my wonderful sister!’ he exclaimed, pocketing it, ‘What would I do without you!’
‘Please be as quick as you can,’ she urged.
He laughed affectionately at her worried expression, kissed her cheek, and then jumped down from the cab and sauntered down the street disappearing around the corner. ‘Am I to wait here, Miss?’ asked the cabman.
‘Yes, my brother is just delivering a gift to a friend, he will return soon,’ said Mina. Time passed, and she could imagine Richard climbing up to the balcony, swinging his long legs over the railings, then, more perilously, using the narrow window ledges, ascending higher to Miss Eustace’s rooms. She hoped that he would not fall, hoped also that when he reached the second floor that he would find the windows had been securely locked, give up the enterprise, and return to her with a rueful expression. He did not return, and after a while she began to worry that he had indeed fallen and was lying injured in the street, or worse still, had become impaled on the iron railings that surrounded the basement area. Perversely, she thought of a story – the ghost of a man who had died in that horrible way, haunting passers-by with the great iron spike through his chest. It was a dreadful image and she almost disliked herself for thinking of it. She was about to ask the cabman to turn around and move closer when there was a knock on the door. Her first happy thought was that it was Richard, thankfully safe, but to her surprise she saw that it was Dr Hamid.
He climbed in, and though it was now growing dark, she could see that his face was grim and drawn.
‘Did you walk up Bloomsbury Place?’ she asked. ‘Did you see anything? I was so worried that Richard had fallen, and I was about to go and look for him.’
He shook his head. ‘No, no, I saw nothing.’ Suddenly he leaned forward, hid his face in his hands and groaned. ‘I have been such a fool!’ he said. ‘Whatever will you think of me?!’
‘What has happened?’ asked Mina. ‘Is the séance over? Is Miss Eustace on her way home?’
He raised his head and his face was a picture of misery. ‘
No, it is still in progress. I made an excuse and left early. I needed to think about what I had been told.’ He made a little gulp that was almost a sob. ‘How could I have been so taken in?’
‘Because she caught you when your grief and pain were fresh and you would have done anything, grasped at any hope to relieve them,’ said Mina, gently.
He nodded. ‘You are right, of course. But at first it seemed so very real, so full of hope! Tonight, we were just a small circle, receiving messages through rapping noises that spelled out words. Eliza – only, of course, I now know it cannot have been Eliza – said she was sorry if she had caused any offence to Dr Chenai when he met with her. He is a friend of mine, and some months ago she agreed with some reluctance to allow him to examine her, but I saw at the time that she regretted it and would not answer his questions. The message stated that she found herself unable to look at or speak to him as she was unsettled by his appearance, something for which she now felt profoundly sorry. Dr Chenai had been stricken with a palsy, and one side of his face was drawn up. But the mere idea that Eliza would have made a comment on a person’s appearance could only be entertained by someone who had never met her. And then – and then I recalled that Dr Chenai was not afflicted until some weeks after he examined Eliza. She never saw him again, and his case was not reported in the newspapers and I thought it best not to mention it to her, so she never knew of it.’
‘Did you challenge Miss Eustace?’ asked Mina.
‘No, I needed to walk about in the air and think, so I just pleaded another appointment and left, but even if I had, I am sure that some clever explanation would have been forthcoming.’ He peered through the window. ‘Where is your brother? He seems to be a long time about his mission.’
‘He is,’ said Mina anxiously, and ordered the cabman to turn and move around the corner into Bloomsbury Place, stopping a few yards nearer to Miss Eustace’s lodgings. She peered down the street, but there was no sign of Richard. They waited in silence for a while, and Mina was wondering if she ought to admit her deception to Dr Hamid and reveal the true nature of her brother’s mission, when her companion leaned out of the window.
‘There is a carriage approaching,’ he said. ‘It is stopping and a lady is getting down. It is Miss Eustace! Is your brother still there?’
‘He must be!’ said Mina. She thought she saw a slight movement at the window of Miss Eustace’s apartments. ‘I can see him!’ she gasped. ‘He will be discovered!’
In a moment, Dr Hamid had leaped down from the cab and was running down the street. ‘Miss Eustace!’ he called out, and she looked up in astonishment.
‘Dr Hamid!’ she said, ‘whatever are you doing? Are you well?’
‘Yes, and I must apologise for accosting you in this fashion. I happened to be visiting a patient who lives nearby, but my thoughts have been in some disarray since attending the séance tonight. I could think of nothing else – my poor dear sister! I need to know more! Would you allow me the favour of a few moments conversation? Let us walk down to the seafront and view the sunset.’
‘Perhaps it would be better to wait until you are calmer,’ she advised.
Mina, trying her best to see, was sure now that it was Richard at the upper window but he was unable to descend without grave risk of Miss Eustace seeing him.
‘Oh, but I must speak with you now, or I will never be calm again,’ pleaded Dr Hamid. ‘One minute only, I beg of you, and we will walk just a little way down the street and then up again, and I know it will refresh me. And I will engage you for another private séance – I will do anything, pay any price if I can hear from my dear sister just once more.’
‘Very well,’ said Miss Eustace, dismissing her cab, ‘let us walk.’ Dr Hamid took her arm and they strolled down the street towards the seafront.
As soon as their backs were turned, Richard began his perilous descent, his cloak flowing about him so he looked like a gigantic leathery bat crawling down the wall. ‘Do you see that, Miss?’ asked the cabman, suddenly. ‘On the wall of that house. There’s something funny going on there! I think I should get the police!’
Mina peered out of the window. ‘I can see nothing,’ she said. ‘But the lady who lives there is a spirit medium and is often visited by ghosts. Perhaps you are seeing a ghost?’
‘Oh my word!’ gasped the cabman. ‘And you say that you can’t see it at all?’
‘No, it is quite invisible to me. I think your best course is to turn the cab around, so it cannot see you.’
‘Oh! Yes! Right away!’ he said, complying with some energy.
‘And it might be best if you do not speak of this incident to anyone. You would only be accused of drunkenness which would be very unfortunate.’
‘I haven’t taken a drop,’ he declared, ‘but I can see that there are those who wouldn’t believe me.’
A minute later, the door of the cab opened and Richard climbed breathlessly inside. ‘That was good work by Dr Hamid,’ he said.
‘Did you deliver the gift?’ asked Mina, holding out her hand.
He dug in his pocket for the handkerchief and returned it to her. ‘Oh yes, with great success.’
Dr Hamid soon joined them. ‘Mr Scarletti, I am pleased to see you are safe, but let that narrow escape serve as a warning never to attempt such a dangerous escapade again.’
‘I understand there are men who make a living at it, but the work is too hard for me,’ said Richard, as Mina signalled the cab to move off. ‘Still, if my business partner fails to return from London I may yet be obliged to take up housebreaking as my new career.’
Dr Hamid frowned, not sure if Richard was joking or not. ‘And there is another thing of great importance I must say to you. I am sorry if you will be disappointed in the lady who so commands your affections, but it must be said before another moment passes. My eyes have been opened tonight. I have received evidence that has convinced me she is a fraud.’
‘Now, it is strange that you should say that,’ said Richard, ‘because I have just found out the very same thing. It is no wonder that she tries to keep her address a secret, for she has items hidden in her lodgings that she does not want the world to see.’
‘You have searched her rooms?’ said Dr Hamid, astonished.
‘Oh, one thing led to another and I confess that out of a natural curiosity I did, but very carefully. She will not know that anyone has been there. The lady has boxes of costumes, including masks, wigs, false beards, stuffed gloves, rag babies and the like, as well as oil of phosphorous and everything she needs to create her spirits. But there was something else, too, a great many items cut from the newspapers, notebooks with intimate details of the residents of Brighton, culled from who knows where. She is a squirrel for gossip and lays her store aside for when it is needed.’
‘I am sure,’ said Mina, ‘that all the private revelations she passes on will be found there.’
‘But there was another thing,’ said Richard. ‘I saw personal effects and clothing, which suggests that she does not live alone, or at least that she is visited by another who sometimes sleeps there. A man.’ He smiled. ‘Well, that was hungry work, and I can quite fancy a bite of supper!’
‘It would be my great pleasure for both of you to be my guests,’ said Dr Hamid, directing the cab to his home.
‘The question is,’ said Mina, ‘what can we do with the information we now have? We may express our suspicions to the police but that is all. We have no evidence, no facts with which to persuade them to take action. And Miss Eustace has too many supporters for our voices to carry any weight. We most certainly cannot tell anyone what Richard saw in her lodgings tonight or they will want to know how we came by that information.’
‘I suppose we could ask someone to keep watch over the premises and see if Mr Clee slips in of an evening and then departs in the morning, but that would prove nothing,’ said Richard.
‘In any case, I do not think Mr Clee is even in Brighton at present,’ said Mina. ‘There is t
he breach of promise action to be heard, and he has engaged a London solicitor. He may well be staying there until the trial. I suspect he will want to keep well away from Miss Simmons and her sister Mrs Langley who may be tempted to box his ears if she sees him, as might the other ladies he has addressed.’
A gloomy atmosphere descended as the three conspirators pondered the difficulty. It was agreed that if any one of them came up with a plan, then that individual would share his or her thoughts with the other two before taking any action.
The next morning Mina was pleased to see that her mother was feeling a little better. Part of the reason for Louisa’s recovery was her recognition of the fact that Miss Whinstone was even more miserable than she was, and she did not enjoy competition. Miss Whinstone’s wailings about her expenditure on the two orphans was becoming tiresome. They seemed to need a dozen suits of clothing each, and books and equipment for every activity the school offered, including lessons in riding, sailing and languages. She received letters from them once a week, which usually asked for money, and described the appurtenances of wealth that other pupils enjoyed with the strongest possible implication that they would be desolate if they did not acquire the same. All questions as to how she had selected the children or even why she had suddenly taken the course of adoption were met with silence.
Mina was busy with her writing when there was a knock at her door and she opened it to admit Mrs Parchment. ‘Miss Scarletti, if I might have a word?’
‘Yes, of course, is there anything the matter?’
‘Not at all, I am entirely satisfied with my accommodation here. However, I need to inform you at once that I intend to leave Brighton in the very near future. There is family business I must attend to, and it is such that I might be absent for many months or even be obliged to make my home elsewhere. My rent is paid to the end of the month, and I am content with that arrangement. I will inform you of the date of my departure as soon as I know it myself.’
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