Despite being almost continuously occupied in conversation or dancing, Amelia felt as though the evening would never end. Following the fourteenth dance, the musicians took a break and most of the party guests walked to the dining room for supper. The room could not possibly accommodate so many people at a sit-down meal, and in fact the chairs had all been removed, so the guests were required to select their food buffet style from the table and sideboards and then find a place where they could eat standing up. Some guests took their food to the drawing rooms or parlors, where they could sit and eat, but most stood around talking, eating, and socializing in the dining room or adjacent corridor. Amelia and her companions, as usual, had most of the college boys following them around like an entourage. Amelia did her best to appear happy and untroubled by the events earlier in the evening.
The many meals that Amelia had enjoyed at the Westfield home were excellent, but for this occasion, the cooks had really outdone themselves. There were platters of cheeses, breads, and appetizers, followed by both cold and warm dishes. Ham, pork, beef, and mutton dishes were the main entrees, but saltwater and freshwater fish, chicken, and turkey were available as well. There was even a wonderful venison stew and a tray of tiny roasted quail. Amelia found a wonderful dish of stewed mushrooms that was heavenly. She really regretted having to wear a corset tonight, and probably would have used food as a salve for her despair if she could. To make matters worse, Martha had laced her down extra tight so that she could fit into her new dress, and she was barely able to enjoy even a meager sample of the many foods.
Following dinner, most of the guests either returned to the ballroom, or wandered into one of the drawing rooms where wine and liquors were available. In addition to giving everyone a chance to digest his or her meal, the break gave them an opportunity to converse before the dancing resumed. The men were able to enjoy a brandy or two, but since it was mid-winter and windows could not be opened, no cigar smoking was permitted inside the house on this occasion, except in Mr. Westfield's study.
Amelia finally had an opportunity to speak with Anne's fiancé while they waited for the dance to resume. A handsome and charming young man, who at five-foot nine-inches was four inches taller than Anne, Gerald wore a thin moustache heavily saturated with wax and twisted so tightly into a spiral that it resembled a piece of black twine stuck on his upper lip. Since graduating from Harvard last year, Gerald had followed in his father's footsteps and entered the family banking business. Amelia learned that the happy couple would take up residence in Boston following their wedding in June and the subsequent honeymoon.
Gerald had arrived at the house in the company of his mother just an hour before the party was set to commence. His father, although unable to make the trip for the engagement party, wholeheartedly approved of the union. Gerald told Amelia of their incredible ordeal in trying to reach New Bedford for the party. It had taken four days to travel the 50 miles from his family's home in Boston. Because his mother was with him, he couldn't come by horseback. They'd had to stay overnight in South Braintree, Easton, and Weir, as the Old Colony Railroad tracks were only slowly being cleared. Most of the journey's progress had been made today, when the New Bedford RR line that connected with the Old Colony line at Weir Junction was finally reopened. Even so, it had still taken 8 hours to travel the last leg because they'd had to find a carriage to take them around an uncleared section of track near Myricks.
When the musicians returned to the stage, they played a brief and lively tune to recall everyone to the ballroom. After allowing enough time for everyone to reassemble, they began the fifteenth dance. Following the seventeenth dance, Mr. Westfield stepped up in front of the musicians and called for everyone's attention. He thanked everyone for coming, told them of the reason for this party, and introduced Gerald's mother.
Ophelia Kent, whose once raven-colored hair had mostly turned to silver-grey, was still a handsome woman. Although of average height, at five-foot four-inches, her regal bearing made her appear taller. Cool and aloof, she epitomized Boston society of the day. She came from old money and power, and through an arranged marriage had maintained the status quo by marrying into old money and power. She stood unsmiling and emotionless as she was introduced, without so much as a nod to the assemblage.
Amelia felt she understood why Gerald acted the way he did in front of his parents, relatives, and business associates. She had seen the real Gerald; as Anne saw him. Amelia knew that Anne would be happiest if she could minimize contact with the Kent family, but living in Boston would make that difficult, if not impossible.
Mr. Westfield waited until he was sure that Mrs. Kent was not going to condescend to make even a simple statement or comment, then asked Anne and Gerald to come forward so he could make the formal announcement of their pending union.
Gerald made a short little speech, warmly thanking the guests for coming, while the staff moved through the room passing out glasses of champagne. When he finished, Jeremy hopped up onto the stage and proposed a toast to the happy couple. Afterwards he gave his closing remarks and called for the musicians to resume. He never once tried to make eye contact with Amelia while he was on the stage and away from Miss Stemple. Amelia's heart sank even further.
Amelia was relieved when the party was finally over and she could say goodnight to Freddie and the other boys. The foyer clock chimed three times as she climbed the majestic staircase to the second floor. She finally allowed her smile to fade, letting her face reflect the strain that she had felt since first receiving the note from Jeremy. As she entered her bedroom, she found Martha struggling to undress.
"Amelia, thank God you're here," Martha said as she entered. "I haven't been able to make any progress with this darn dress. I'm dying to get my corset loosened. Will you help me please?"
"Of course Martha. Why didn't you ring for Bitsy?"
"I did. Over twenty minutes ago. I guess that she must be busy elsewhere. I decided to try removing my dress by myself."
It took a few minutes, but Amelia succeeded in unbuttoning Martha's dress and lifting it over her shoulders and head. While Martha hung it in the chifforobe, Amelia removed her own bodice. Then Martha helped her remove her dress. Within an hour, they had finished undressing and prepared themselves for bed. Just as they were about to retire, Bitsy arrived. They thanked her for coming and explained that they had been able to manage by working together. Bitsy apologized and told them that she had been running all over the mansion helping people. She curtseyed and hurried away to assist someone else.
By now, her companions were all aware of the situation with Jeremy, and as Amelia climbed into bed, Martha asked, "Did Jeremy speak to you at all tonight?"
"No, not once. He never even looked at me."
"That's not like him."
"I wouldn't have thought so either. It appears that he had all of us fooled. I feel like such an idiot. Here I was contemplating a life with him, and he turns out to be engaged. I shall never forgive him. I'd flee this house tomorrow morning and never return if it wasn't for my commitment to Anne— and because of our situation. It'll be difficult to tolerate his presence until the wedding. I just hope that I don't have to look at Miss Stemple's smirking face very often. Patricia must have told her of my association with Jeremy during the past week, and she delighted in watching my discomfort all evening."
"Is there a chance that it could all be some crazy kind of misunderstanding?"
"I don't see how. Jeremy never even once looked in my direction this evening. He purposefully avoided making eye contact. He's probably embarrassed at being found out— or perhaps he just doesn't care. I can't forgive him for leading me on like he has."
Despite her feeling of exhaustion, Amelia was unable to fall asleep easily, and when she did sleep, it was a fitful rest. She finally fell into a deep sleep as the sun was peeking over the horizon.
* * *
Martha and Amelia were awakened just after noon Sunday by the sounds of soft knocking at the door. In
response to Amelia's query, Bitsy's tiny voice informed her that she was there to build a fire, so Amelia hurried to unlock the door and let her in. With so many new guests in the house, Amelia hadn't wanted to have anyone walk into their bedroom by accident during the night.
Bitsy was carrying the usual bucket of glowing coals and bundle of kindling wood as she hurried to the fireplace. She quickly built a fire from the kindling and placed a couple of logs on the grate to sustain it.
"Thank you, Bitsy," Amelia said. "Has everyone finished breakfast?"
"Oh, no, Miss Amelia. No more than half a dozen guests have even risen yet. I understand that the party continued long after the band finished playing. Some guests didn't go to bed until sunrise. Breakfast foods will be available until two o'clock, and then lunch will be available until an hour before supper."
When the fire was blazing, Bitsy curtseyed and left to continue her fire building activities in the other rooms. With the house so full, Amelia imagined that Bitsy would be at it for some time. She and the other staff members would begin to get some much-needed rest as guests began to depart today. The household should return to normal by sometime Monday.
Martha and Amelia bathed, and then managed to dress without ringing for assistance. They were ready to go downstairs when Elizabeth and Roberta arrived at their room.
As usual, a flock of eager young men waited at the bottom of the stairs for the trip to the dining room. Jeremy wisely avoided being 'cut' by Amelia by not putting in an appearance, but Freddie was there and quickly offered his arm. Harry and the other new arrivals stayed behind, waiting for Anne's cousins and local friends to come down. This would be the last breakfast they would share for awhile. Jeremy and four others had taken more than a full week off from school to be there for the two weekends of festivities associated with the engagement announcement party, but as it turned out most classes had been cancelled because of the storm. Still, they had to be back at school on Monday morning.
When breakfast was over, the young men and women proceeded to the music room to share the last hours before the boys had to leave. Neither Jeremy nor Miss Stemple put in an appearance during the meal and Amelia wouldn't lower herself to inquire about their absence. Beverly, Tad, or Donald played the harpsichord while everyone else sat and enjoyed the recital, or made light conversation.
Very late in the afternoon, the girls said their goodbyes to the boys, who had to rush to catch the last train of the day. They wouldn't see one another until the week of the wedding ceremony in June, if the four girls were still stuck in this era. Thus far, that seemed highly likely.
By dinnertime, most of the guests had departed for home, including Anne's fiancé and his mother, so the dining room was again able to accommodate everyone at a sit down meal. Neither Jeremy nor Miss Stemple had yet made an appearance, and Amelia's fertile imagination had them making mad, passionate love in some hidden recess of the enormous mansion. With each passing hour her resentment towards the pair increased.
Anne was also missing at dinner, but her absence was explained by Doris, who said that Miss Anne had retired early because she was so exhausted from her duties as hostess for the party. After the meal, the guests relaxed in one of the numerous downstairs rooms where they talked, played cards, or read.
When the longcase clock in the entrance foyer sounded at eleven o'clock, the few who remained downstairs retired to their bedrooms. Martha and Elizabeth had moved back into their separate bedrooms once most of the guests had left, but the four girls rendezvoused in Amelia's room ten minutes before midnight.
"I don't understand," Martha said. "Why do you want to conduct another séance? Why contact the spirit again? You said she won't help."
"She didn't actually say that she wouldn't help," Amelia said. "She was just vague about it. I want to ask again if she can help me return home. I can't possibly remain here now. Every moment is pure torture."
"What about Anne?" Elizabeth asked. "Amelia was her best friend, after all."
"With you three providing support here, she'll survive. I'm sure that it was only the tragedy of losing all four of us at once that might have pushed her over the edge. She'll have months to recover before the wedding."
"If you do make it back, how are you going to explain our deaths?" Elizabeth asked.
"I don't know; I haven't really thought about it. Perhaps I won't have to. If your bodies are still alive, they'll probably be in a coma. Once they're taken to the hospital, it'll be up to the doctors to find an explanation for their condition. I think that the most difficult part will be my inability to tell anyone what really happened. If I inform people that we went back in time, they'll think I've gone mad." Amelia's face suddenly reflected the anguish she was feeling in her heart, and she felt a large lump suddenly develop in her throat. "No, I take that back; the hardest part will be knowing that I'll never see any of you again. You'll live out your lives here, while I'm there, less than a mile away from the mansion, but a hundred twenty years away in time."
"We won't be here in the mansion," Martha said sadly. "Tad's from Boston, after all. When we marry, we'll probably live there."
"Charles is from New York," Roberta said.
"Donald is from Bridgeport," Elizabeth said quietly.
"I guess we were destined to split up anyway," Amelia said, as a tear wound its way down her cheek. "But I won't even be able to phone you."
"Maybe you can, once phones are finally available," Roberta said. "After all, we don't know that the spirit is going to help you."
"Then let's find out," Amelia said. "I saved a small piece of cake earlier. Let's prepare the room for the séance."
As the large clock downstairs chimed the midnight hour, Amelia began her summons by saying aloud, "We're trying to contact the recently departed spirit of Martha Fuller. Can you respond?" She repeated the call several times over ten minutes, and then waited for some kind of response.
"I am Elizabeth Sarah Reese," Martha suddenly said.
"Elizabeth?" Amelia said. "I was calling Martha Fuller."
"Martha Fuller is still too weak from her last contact. I have been chosen to speak with you, Arlene Catherine Watson."
"You know who I am?"
"We have considered the matter at great length."
"Can you help us?"
"We have assented to support you in every way possible, out of gratitude for the sacrifice you make."
"Um, what's that mean, exactly?"
"We cannot restore you to your former bodies as you wish. None with whom we have communed know how to accomplish such a feat. All have said that a soul remains immutably linked to its corporeal body until the body dies."
"Then our future bodies were killed in order to free our souls for transference to this time?"
"Your bodies still lie where you departed them," the spirit said.
"But can't they be reanimated, as these bodies were?"
"I have told you all we have learned."
"If we can't go back, how do you propose to help us?"
"We wish to express the appreciation we feel for sparing our loved ones the pain of seeing their children precede them in mortal death. In recent days we have entered our former bodies while they slept, and rekindled the memories of our former lives."
"You're saying that you're responsible for the dreams we've been having about people we've never known?"
"The memories were already there, and you had probably already experienced them in dreams, we simply strengthened them so they would blend easier with your own, and make them more accessible for recall when needed. This will better help you become one with the role you have been destined to perform here."
"That's it?" Roberta asked.
"That is all we can provide."
"Well, it's not much."
"One day you will understand. I must take my leave now because I grow weak. We will be watching."
"Wait, can I summon you again?" Amelia asked.
After several seconds Amelia st
ared intently at Martha and asked, "Elizabeth, did you hear me?"
"I'm Martha, not Elizabeth," Martha said.
"Not you," Elizabeth said. "She was talking to Elizabeth."
"You're Elizabeth."
"No, she was talking to the spirit of Elizabeth Sarah Reese."
"Wait a minute; did another spirit talk through me?" Martha asked angrily.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you," Elizabeth said.
"Sugar and milk! I'm getting pretty darn sick of being the only one they use for a— loudspeaker. Why can't they pick on someone else? I want to hear what's going on also."
"The news is most disheartening," Amelia said sadly. "It appears that we're stuck here for the remainder of— our lives."
"No chance at all of going back?"
"Elizabeth said they knew of no way to accomplish it."
"But the other spirit knew how," Roberta said. "I'm talking about the first one; the one who brought us here. If he could do it, there must be a way. I suspect they just don't wish to help us. They prefer having us here, filling in for them."
"Maybe," Amelia said. "In any event, without their support our chances of getting back are greatly reduced. I suppose that I'll have to actively begin investigating other possible avenues. But in this time, without computers and the internet, research will be difficult."
"Even though I've decided to stay, assuming the decision was up to me, I'm going to miss my family," Martha said.
"We're all going to miss our families," Roberta said.
"I'm even going to miss my little brother, Jimmy;" Amelia said, "even if he was a pest most of the time. I just wish I could have said goodbye to everyone. The idea of them searching for us and then finding our lifeless bodies in the mansion fills my heart with sadness. They won't understand why we came here or what occurred."
"We won't stop loving our families, but I suppose we should try to stop thinking about them so much," Elizabeth said. "We have new lives ahead of us here. Let's concentrate on securing our futures in this time. I'm sure that I have practically no chance of becoming a pediatrician now, so I'm going to play the game of helpless female, and trap a husband."
When The Spirit Moves You Page 16