Page 22 of Unforeseen Affairs
Not this sham.
“There is more to it… please, a moment.” Mr. Bass ignored the chorus of sitters and shut his eyes again, acting as though he were bored with their reactions.
“I see a young woman with dark hair… embracing a young man in a blue coat.”
Miss Pearce giggled.
“Is this something that is, or something thatmaybe?” cut in Lieutenant Pearce in a jocular tone.
“Something that is,” replied Mr. Bass, slightly sharpish.
The young man scoffed.
Charlotte looked to Mrs. Stone.
The medium sat stoically, her lips pressed into a hard line in the manner of someone enduring an unpleasant ordeal. Her eyes were barely open, as if her mind were somewhere else entirely.
“Wait! The spirit beckons me forth, to look closer… oh… no… oh dear. There’s a sound now. Of crying. An infant.” Mr. Bass paused for dramatic effect, heightening the tension in the room. “Yes, a baby wailing. Can you hear it?”
Suddenly an unpleasant sound rang out, not unlike that of a drowning cat.
Mrs. Pearce drew in a sharp breath.
Charlotte raised a brow. The sound had come, quite obviously, from the corner of the room in which Mr. Trenwith lurked. But the other participants were all staring at Mr. Bass, goggle-eyed and open-mouthed, completely in his thrall.
Even Sir Colin’s obnoxious friend had quieted.
“And now the man has gone. Dissipated into the mist. The woman, heartbroken. And the ship retreats, its sails full of wind.”
“No!” Mrs. Pearce exclaimed. “Abdon, tell me it is not true!”
Sir Colin’s grip tightened on Charlotte’s hand. She turned to look at him. His handsome face was twisted in a mix of confusion and horror as he watched his friend.
“The letterA! A ship! With sails!” Mrs. Pearce kept on, working herself into a lather. “Abdon, an infant! A… a…child!”
“I heard its cries,” said Miss Pearce in a shaky voice. She yanked her hand away from her brother as though it had been scalded.
“The circle! The circle!” called out Mr. Bass. “Maintain the circle, please!”
“Tell me it is not true!” wailed Mrs. Pearce, breaking the circle a second time as she jumped to her feet, flapping her hands witlessly.
“On no account should you leave your places!” attempted Mr. Bass in vain.
It was no use. Mrs. Pearce and her daughter were now both shrieking incoherently.
Charlotte felt a surge of happiness as the circle spiraled into chaos.
Someone brought the lamps back up to their full power, dousing the otherworldly scene with a harsh light.
Lieutenant Pearce sat as if in the dock in a courtroom, gripping the edge of the table. His face was pale.
Now several voices rang out, with everyone aside from Charlotte, Mrs. Stone, Lieutenant Pearce, and Sir Colin shouting amongst themselves.
And then Mrs. Pearce swooned.
Her daughter screamed.
Colin did not know when Mrs. Pearce finally came to; he had left her in the hands of his mother and a frantic Alice as Mrs. Stone looked grimly on. The circle had split. And now the close friendship between his family and the Pearces appeared to be in peril.
