Page 21 of Mesmerized

“Is Roderick utterly gone?” Lady St. Leger asked Madame Valenskaya, her voice trembling. “Can you not bring him back?”

“I haff no power over spirits,” Madame Valenskaya replied flatly. “He is gone now. Spirits do not stay with unbelievers.”

“I must say,” Stephen said coolly, “that Roderick’s voice sounded uncommonly like yours, Madame Valenskaya.”

“The spirits use Madame Valenskaya to communicate with us,” Mr. Babington explained. “She is the instrument through which they speak, so naturally the voice is Madame’s. However, the words are the spirits’.”

Stephen snorted. “As if Roderick would have said anything like that.”

“He was unhappy,” Stephen’s mother said miserably. She turned to the medium hopefully. “Can we not try again? We could do it over. Maybe Roderick would return.”

“No,” Madame Valenskaya said flatly. “Is too late. He will not come again tonight.”

The medium looked at Lord St. Leger significantly. “Spirits will not come if unbelievers are present.”

“A convenient excuse, I must say.” Stephen turned to Lady St. Leger. “Mother, can’t you see that it is all trickery and fakes? That was not Roderick speaking to you.”

“Stephen!” Lady St. Leger exclaimed angrily. “You are being impolite to our guests. I invited Madame Valenskaya here, and I won’t have you behaving rudely to her.”

Stephen’s brows rushed together, and he drew breath to speak, but Olivia quickly laid her hand on his arm. “Lady St. Leger, I am sure your son did not mean to be rude.” She turned to Stephen with a warning look as she continued. “Nor does he want to frighten away the spirits. He is merely concerned about you. He can see how unhappy the spirit’s words made you.”

“Yes, of course,” Stephen agreed grudgingly. “I cannot believe that Roderick would say anything to make you unhappy.”

“Of course not. Poor boy. He must be dreadfully upset to have said anything like that.”

Olivia felt Stephen’s arm tense under her hand, but he clenched his jaw and kept quiet. Olivia turned back toward the medium, and as she did so, she saw Lady Pamela looking at Olivia’s hand on Stephen’s arm. Olivia realized belatedly that it was too intimate a gesture to make to a man she barely knew, and she pulled her hand back. Pamela’s eyes shifted to Olivia’s face, and Olivia saw there a flash of pure dislike before Pamela turned back toward the medium.

“Surely you will not deprive us of the chance to talk to dear Roddy again,” Pamela said pleadingly. “I am sure Roderick knows his brother well enough to ignore his bad temper.”

“Yes, say you will sit again tomorrow night,” Lady St. Leger pleaded. “Lord St. Leger will not interrupt again. Will you, my dear?”

“No. Of course not. I promise that I will be quiet,” Stephen replied.

“And keep an open mind.”

“So open the wind will rush through it.”

“There. You see?” Lady St. Leger smiled winningly at the Russian woman. “Please, say we can have another séance.”

“Well...for you, my lady,” Madame Valenskaya said. She pushed back her chair and rose. “But now, I rest. Irina?”

“Yes, Mama.” Irina popped up and stepped around the table to her mother, taking her by the arm.

Mr. Babington went around to the medium’s other side, giving her his arm, and Madame Valenskaya exited the room, leaning heavily on both her supporters. Olivia glanced at Stephen, who was watching the scene with a grim expression. He sighed and turned to Olivia.

“Would you care, perhaps, for a stroll around the conservatory before you turn in?”

“That sounds delightful.” Olivia felt sure that he wanted to talk about what had just happened. She turned and made her excuses to Lady St. Leger, who answered her somewhat abstractedly.

“I apologize again for my behavior, Mother,” Stephen said.

“I know, dear.” Lady St. Leger smiled at him. “I do wish that you would give Madame Valenskaya the benefit of the doubt. Such a dear woman.”

“You did not use to be so skeptical, Stephen,” Pamela said in a teasing tone.

St. Leger looked at her and said in dry tone, “That was before I learned what people were capable of.” He turned back to his mother. “I know how much you enjoy Madame Valenskaya’s company. I will do my best to, um, restrain my boorish tendencies.”

With a small bow to his mother, he offered Olivia his arm. They strolled through the great hall and down the back hall to the conservatory, where wicker furniture, softened by flowered cushions, was scattered among the large number of green plants. It was dark inside, lit only by the sconces in the hall outside and by the moonlight coming in the many windows. Stephen paused to light a candelabra, then led Olivia into the conservatory, making his way to a wicker sofa in the center of the plant-filled room.