"What did Lady Rose bring a medium here for?" asked Daisy with a scowl.
"To commune with Downton's dearly departed, I imagine," said Thomas wryly, not bothering to look up from his cards. Jimmy snorted and cigarette smoke puffed from his nostrils. "There's nothing to it, anyways. Just a bit of theatre."
"Do you not believe in the spirit world, Mr. Barrow?" asked Anna, taking a pause in her stitching.
"As a matter of fact, I don't. I think those so-called mediums are nothing but charlatans. It's cruel, what they do."
"I didn't think you had any misgivings where cruelty was concerned, Mr. Barrow," said Bates levelly. "And why should it be cruel to give hope and comfort to those in mourning?"
"I may be unkind, Mr. Bates, but I'm not so cruel as that. And I fail to find any sort of hope or comfort in being lied to." Thomas held eye contact until Bates decided that carrying on with their argument wasn't worth his time. He turned to start gathering his things.
"I think Anna and I are ready to go home," said Bates. The others murmured their 'good nights' as the Bates couple walked from the hall. Mrs. Hughes was the next to stand.
"I think I'd better retire for the evening as well. Mr. Barrow, James," Mrs. Hughes addressed the pair of them, "you may want to wake Mr. Molesley sooner rather than later. Remember that the three of you will be expected upstairs at half past eleven."
Mr. Molesley was indeed snoring lightly in a chair at the far end of the room. It came as no surprise to Thomas when Mr. Carson volunteered his under-butler and two footmen for the night's activities and took himself off to bed at a reasonable hour.
"Yes, Mrs. Hughes," said Thomas and Jimmy in unison. Once she had left, Jimmy grumbled, "I'd rather be in me own bed in an hour. What do they want with us at their little midnight party anyway? Do they expect us to offer the ghosts canapés?"
"I don't think a seance quite works that way, Jimmy," said Thomas with a fond smile. He tried to ignore the way Jimmy's hair shone gold in the soft light of the hall. The sight of it made his throat constrict. "We'll probably just stand about while the upstairs folk sit at a table holding hands in the dark."
"That sounds incredibly dull," said Jimmy. Disappointment was evident in his features as he deftly reshuffled the cards.
"To be fair, there's bound to be some tricks thrown in to impress everyone. Shaking table, flying objects and such. I'm sure they're setting up an elaborate show as we speak," said Thomas, examining the unpromising hand Jimmy had dealt him.
"In that case, it shouldn't be too much of a bore then, eh?" said Jimmy. Thomas grunted noncommittally and took a long drag on his cigarette, letting the smoke burn in his lungs.
As the hall gradually thinned out, Thomas's longing for a solid night of sleep intensified. Unsettling dreams about the war had started up again several weeks ago, leaving him tired and out of sorts. Ever since Thomas had made it out of the trenches he'd been prone to sporadic nightmares, but lately he had been experiencing an inexplicable onslaught of them. He usually woke in a sweaty panic, unable to remember much more than a rotten severed limb in the mud or the cacophony of shells. Thomas hardly needed the presence of a medium to bring him closer to the dead.
Jimmy put his cards away as Thomas checked his watch. "I suppose it's time for us to head up. Go give old Molesley a good shake, would you?"
{*\*/*\*/*}
The seance was to be held in the library. When Thomas entered, followed by Jimmy and a still drowsy Molesley, a round table was already arranged in the center of the room. It was draped in a black cloth set with the obligatory crystal ball and no less than a dozen stuttering candles. Curiously, the table also held a plate of bread along with a stack of blank paper and a pen.
A slight white-haired woman, whom Thomas assumed must be the medium, twirled airily around the room waving incense and chanting unintelligibly. Tearing his eyes away from the medium's antics, he nearly jumped out of his skin once he noticed the two young women seated on a sofa by the fireplace. They were identical twins, exhibiting matching blonde bobs, black lace dresses, and blank expressions. They stared over at Thomas, Jimmy, and Molesley unblinkingly.
"Crikey. They're overdoing it a bit, don't you think?" muttered Jimmy. Thomas had to agree that the scene before them was indeed more than a little cliche.
"Let's just get this over with," said Thomas, rolling his eyes at the twins.
He took his post by the door and soon heard voices coming down the hallway.
"…highly recommended. Francine was simply amazed by this woman's abilities. The earth was practically shaking under their feet, she said," Thomas heard Lady Rose proclaim.
Lady Mary sounded much less enthusiastic. "Well, I don't know about that. I don't believe in it myself, but I'm sure it's worth it to see the look on Papa's face when she starts on her incantations."
Although she seemed indifferent on the surface, Thomas couldn't help but wonder if Lady Mary might be feeling a little wary of the night's proceedings. After all, the medium was bound to concoct some sort of message given by Matthew from 'the beyond.' In Thomas's opinion, the family were rather too indulgent of Rose's various flights of fancy.
Rose and Mary were soon followed by Edith, Branson, and Lord and Lady Grantham. Thomas and Jimmy exchanged covert looks of surprise when the Dowager arrived with Mrs. Crawley a moment later. Regardless of whether or not the medium failed to deliver, Thomas suspected the Dowager already had a few impertinent remarks up her sleeve.
The medium glided over to the group, gesticulating theatrically. Thomas was worried she would send beads flying everywhere if she wasn't careful. "Welcome everyone! Please, please, gather round!"
The family drifted over to the table, awkwardly hovering behind their chairs as though unsure of whether or not they were meant to sit in them.
"Ah, but we need more seats! Flora, Holly, kindly fetch three more, please!" said the medium to the twins.
"Pardon me, but I don't notice anyone without a chair," said Lord Grantham with an air of authority that somehow fell flat in the current peculiar atmosphere.
If the medium found his tone patronizing, she didn't let on. "For these three young men, of course," she said, waving her hands towards Thomas, Jimmy, and Molesley. At this news, Thomas succeeded in keeping his face impassive while scrambling desperately for a reason to excuse himself immediately. He looked over at the other two; Molesley seemed to share Thomas's trepidation while Jimmy was obviously delighted by the invitation.
"What?" said Lord Grantham sharply. "But, surely…"
"Nonsense, nonsense," said the medium in a sing-songy voice. "We mustn't leave anyone out of the circle if we want to break through to the 'other side.' The more the merrier, I say!"
As the twins ushered them towards the group, Thomas mused that the medium probably did not want bystanders in the room with vantage points from which to better witness her fraud. There was a loud scraping and groaning of chairs as they all sat down. Across the table, Thomas saw that Rose was radiating feverish excitement.
"There is a great deal of energy in this house. I believe I will have little trouble in contacting the spirits who reside here," announced the medium, as though she were about to bestow upon them the greatest of treats. Thomas was in no doubt that she had done her homework on the family.
"I ask all of you to keep an open mind and try not to be alarmed if a spirit makes contact. During this ceremony, it is most likely that you will bear witness to spirits temporarily inhabiting my body. I will convey their messages through both speech and automatic writing. In the past, there have also been instances of tremors, floating objects, phantom noises, and other such instances of paranormal phenomena. Although these happenings may frighten you, it is imperative that you do not break the circle until it is finished. If someone were to break the circle at the wrong moment, it could put us all in peril."
Before this melodramatic introductory speech, most of the faces around the table had merely looked politely interested. Thomas now recognized traces of real fear beginning to creep through the participants. He was almost disappointed that they had been so easily taken in.
"May I answer any questions before we begin?" She might have been a schoolteacher about to commence with a lesson in arithmetic.
"Yes, I wonder if you could tell us why there is a bowl of stale bread on the table?" asked the Dowager.
"During a seance, it is customary to have an offering of food with which to entice the spirits."
"Had we known that the spirits needed to be lured out with refreshments we could have asked Mrs. Patmore to prepare something that would actually entice."
Thomas nearly choked on his own saliva but the medium appeared unfazed. She was probably accustomed to the odd cheeky remark in her line of work.
"If there are no more questions at this time, I would like you to join hands and form a circle," said the medium.
Thomas finally noticed with great dismay that he had been seated in between Jimmy and Lord Grantham. He was well aware of the many uncharitable things he had done in his life, but he was sure he had done nothing so horrible as to warrant forced hand-holding with his palpably uncomfortable employer and the heterosexual object of his unrequited love. He was grateful at least for the fact that Mr. Carson was not present to see his awkward predicament. His face reddened further at the thought.
As the medium began chanting, Thomas felt Jimmy give his left hand a small squeeze. Thomas chanced a glance over at him and received a wink from Jimmy for his efforts. He knew it was meant as only a friendly gesture on Jimmy's part, but it nevertheless made Thomas's blood simmer. There was something that felt entirely illicit and thrilling about holding Jimmy's hand out in the open, surrounded by flickering candlelight and the heady aroma of incense. Though the sight of his own scarred hand still repulsed Thomas, he was seized by a sudden desire to rip off his glove and press the mangled flesh of his palm into the pure unmarred skin of Jimmy's. Jimmy's touch could fix him, make him whole again, he thought wildly.
He was so caught up in the simple euphoria of holding Jimmy's hand that he only dimly registered what was happening around them. A vase levitated off the mantle and the crystal ball began flashing with light. The faces around the table vacillated between horror and glee at the display; the medium seemed to thrive on these anticipated reactions as she called out to the ghosts trying to make their presences known.
Thomas suddenly became aware that he no longer felt overheated, but was growing rapidly colder as though his blood was freezing in his veins. An uncontrollable shivering began to work its way outward from his chest. He looked around, but it seemed no one shared this particular physical response. In fact, their faces had all gone quite hazy. The only thing that appeared physically tangible to Thomas was the fog rolling in from the corners of the room, enveloping them all. He was numb save for the feeling of Jimmy's hand clasped tight in his own…