“Move her from this room. I dislike the aspect,” he commanded, prowling around the bedroom and peering into closets and cupboards. “There is something unhealthy in the air and I want the windows to open. She needs fresh air. Who has put all this cloth here? Oh – she did it herself? Curious. You are her mother?”
Adelia nodded.
“Good. She will sleep in your bed from now on. Is it large? You can have a truckle-bed in the room for yourself if you prefer. She must be comfortable above all, and I know that mothers will suffer any discomfort for their offspring. Good, good.”
Adelia saw she didn’t have a choice so she simply nodded again.
“Her diet must have a bland base to it, but include some small – very small, mind you! – morsels of tasty things at regular intervals. A mere bite of a delicacy designed only to stimulate her appetite. Otherwise, the basis for her diet will be gruel made with fresh milk, the very freshest. Have you a phonograph or graphophone? She must be exposed to beautiful music, beautiful views, and only the very best in conversation. Even if she is asleep, or appears to be, let all your words in her presence be edifying ones. Her spirit is misaligned and it has grave, very grave, consequences for the balance of her mind – as you can see.”
Adelia could not fault what he was saying. Theodore was nodding too, with a serious expression on his face. She wondered what he thought of the whole “spirit is misaligned” suggestion; it sounded a little strange to her own ears, but then, she wasn’t a trained doctor, so she didn’t say anything against it. Nor did Theodore.
The servants sprang into action and soon Felicia had been transferred into Adelia and Theodore’s room. Theodore was turfed out into a small adjoining chamber. He was happier about it than Percy, but to his credit, Percy did not openly object to the doctor’s changes either.
It seemed that everyone had come to the conclusion that everything now must be done to help Felicia, and no one was going to complain about it.
The police continued their round-the-clock protection, too. They came and went as their shifts changed, hovering between Percy and Felicia, watching everything and saying nothing. They began to fade into the background like the everyday servants did. Adelia had grown up screening people out from her awareness, and it wasn’t hard to do the same to the policemen as they slotted into the household routine.
Later that day, she encountered Percy as he sat morosely in the garden room, half-hidden by an overgrown fern. She jumped as he coughed, and excused herself, but he begged her to stay if she wanted.
“They won’t let me go up there.”
“They?”
“That doctor and your husband. They are doing an experiment, apparently.”
“What sort of experiment?” she asked as her heart thudded, picturing wires and electricity and straps and screaming.
“Some sort of mesmerism, which is bunkum as far as I am concerned.”
“They call it hypnotism now and I believe it has some medical uses.”
“It’s a sideshow, a stage trick, that’s all. But it can’t harm her, at least,” Percy said.
“That’s true. We must trust them, if we can.”
“Huh. This is all utter madness. Do you know what I want to do?” Percy muttered, and he continued before she could respond. “I want to sell this place. Sell it, the whole damn lot, sell it to the first bidder. I don’t care what I get for it. I’ll walk away. I’ll take her with me, of course. It will just be me and Felicia, just like when we first met and she was carefree and beautiful and I was happy and I felt like I knew who I was. I’ve lost myself, you know, and no matter how far I travel, no matter where I go, I just can’t seem to find myself.” He laughed hollowly. “I spoke with Parker about it, you know. He was more than a valet to me. He was a friend. And he said, wisely, that I wouldn’t ever find myself in a far foreign field. I would find myself here, back home. So here I am. And what have I found? Death. Death and madness. God help us all,” he finished, brokenly.
“May God guide us and lead us,” she said, surprising herself at her sudden turn for the religious. But it seemed appropriate, and anyway, what else was there to say? After a moment of reflection, she said, “You could do it, you know. Why not sell and move on? The world is different these days. Why not?”
“Why not, indeed? Only my grandmother would surely die of horror and shame, and my aunt Agnes would curse me, and all my servants would be out of a position. Some of them have worked here for generations. And finally, what about my sister Lady Katharine? Oh, they all talk about a curse, but the curse is being the Earl of Buckshaw.”
“Your grandmother would simply move into more appropriate accommodation that would fit the needs of an aging lady. Lady Agnes ... has her life ahead of her.” Adelia kept the budding romance with Captain Everard to herself. If Percy hadn’t worked it out by now, it was none of his business. “She is determined and self-reliant, and she has chances she might take. Your servants will find other places if you can give them a good character and with the help of people like Mrs Carstairs, they will soon get work. Whoever bought Tavy Castle would be sure to keep many of them on.”
“And my sister?”
“You could give her the gatehouse. Sell the castle, and let
