Rowena was gone.

CHAPTER 21

The séance was in the small family parlor this time, the walls done in silvery paper and the curtains a deep blue velvet. Oil lamps burned brightly. Lord Jasper’s family was there, along with the Ashfords, Mr. Travis, Peter, Tabitha, her uncle, and Caroline. Tabitha would not look at me. Mr. Travis, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop.

“My dear, if you don’t mind,” Lord Jasper said after one of his sisters sniffed at me disdainfully. “Out of scientific interest, Miss Donovan has suggested you be searched before we begin.”

My eyes widened. “Pardon?”

“It is the accepted method in many Spiritualist circles. And you can have nothing to object to, can you, Miss Willoughby?” Caroline did not smile. Her demeanor was that certain one ingrained in every unhappy governess. Her hair was pulled back so severely it pulled at the corners of her eyes. I wasn’t sure what to say or think. Elizabeth scowled on my behalf.

“I have every faith in Miss Willoughby and her abilities,” Lord Jasper said smoothly.

I stepped forward, holding out my arms and feeling faintly ridiculous, but I wanted to prove Lord Jasper right. I had nothing to hide about what went on tonight and nothing on my person. Besides, Mother had taught me that mediums never carry evidence that might be discovered. She usually left all the danger of exposure to Colin and me, with the bellows under my skirt. But in the end, she’d been the one caught out in her underwear.

“Why don’t you check me over yourself,” I asked her pointedly. “That way you can have no doubts.”

Caroline looked briefly taken aback. I supposed it was hardly unexpected that such a demand might be made of me. That it was her specifically, however, gave me reason to pause. There was obviously something behind her “scientific interest,” and I could not be convinced otherwise. She was very thorough and not particularly gentle. Peter leered at us over his glass of port the entire time. Tabitha didn’t say a word.

“Well?” Lord Jasper asked. “May we continue?”

Caroline nodded stiffly.

“As I thought,” he said.

“We still have to bind her,” Caroline insisted stubbornly.

“Bind me?” I squeaked. They were going to tie me up? What kind of séance was this? Peter snickered suggestively at me. “You can’t be serious.”

“Don’t be alarmed,” Lord Jasper said, which was absurd. I stared at Elizabeth wildly. She stared back just as wildly.

“This kind of testing is all the rage according to the Spiritualist papers,” Frederic explained. “I’ve seen it done myself.”

Sir Wentworth rolled his eyes. “Leave the poor chit alone,” he said. “This is all a bit of fun anyway. You can hardly take it seriously.”

All eyes turned toward me. I was on boggy ground now. If I agreed it was only entertainment, I was damning any future respect and confirming that I was fraud like my mother. On the other hand, if I wanted to be taken seriously, I was going to have to submit to being restrained. I sighed. I might not want particularly to be a medium, but I didn’t want to be accused of lying either.

“Fine,” I said reluctantly. “In the name of scientific inquiry.”

I was led to a cabinet with a single opening in the front. The sides and back were thick wooden panels carved with leaves and roses and impish gargoyles. There was a short stool for me to sit on. Before I could do so, Caroline tied my wrists with red silk thread, even going so far as to seal the knot with a drop of wax from one of the candles. I felt nervous and vulnerable. And, frankly, belligerent.

“Are you quite finished?” I asked her after she’d pulled the excess thread out and looped it to the outside of the cabinet.

“This will ensure that Miss Willoughby stays in the cabinet,” she explained to everyone. “Should she move or attempt some trickery, the thread will alert us.”

She twitched the curtains in place and I was left in the darkness most mediums required. The amount of light hadn’t seemed to make much difference to my communications with Rowena thus far, but at least this way I was tucked away from any suspicious or mocking glances and Lord Jasper’s supremely calm countenance. He had far more confidence in what I was about to attempt than I did. I felt like a fool, trussed up in a cupboard with my bruised face.

There was nowhere to go now and nothing to do but give it a try. I was doing this for Rowena, so she had bloody well better show herself to everyone. Or at the very least I might be able to convince Mr. Rochester to prance around on the table. Or pee on Caroline’s perfectly pristine slippers. If only.

I could hear the rummaging of everyone taking to their seats. There was a murmured prayer and the usual assortment of songs. I could barely hear Tabitha, she was whispering so faintly. Mr. Travis was looking around the room almost desperately. I wasn’t sure what he was hoping to see.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Lord Jasper called out.

I had no way of knowing if this would even work. Rowena was capricious, popping up to frighten me at any time of day or night; it seemed monstrously unfair that she might stay away now that I actually had need of her. I focused on the spot between my eyebrows. Lord Jasper’s book had referred to it as my “third eye.” It was simple enough to imagine an eye there, blue as violets, opening slowly, pupil dilating like spilled ink.

“Rowena,” I whispered, too softly for the others to hear. “Rowena, make yourself known to them.” I blinked several times until the shadows of the sitters at the table wavered slightly through the crack in the curtains. All the light in the parlor seemed to coalesce over the table. No one seemed to notice, though they did seem to feel the blast of cold air. Frost formed on the window panes, delicate as lace.