Chapter 7: Eleanor and Louisa in the Library
Martin did object, on the grounds that he didn't want Eleanor around at all. But Louisa managed to persuade him it was harmless, it would keep her mother out of the way, and that she made her mother promise not to smoke her cigarettes in Tremethyk House.
Eleanor stayed at the Crab that night and the following day, Martin and Louisa drove out with her to the house.
Mr. Robinson showed Eleanor up to the bedroom prepared for her. Louisa made her carry her own bags rather than have the elderly butler do it. They were both pleased with the décor, including the four poster bed with its regal gold and ruby red embroidered canopy.
The butler advised them both to familiarize themselves with the upstairs. "It's easy to get lost if you don't know the house." Then he accompanied Martin, who busied himself inspecting all the rooms, especially checking the wallpaper.
"If there's any Victorian era green wallpaper anywhere it's got to be taken out," Martin told him. "It was very popular in the era when this wing was remodelled and it's known to contain toxic levels of arsenic. I once had a bad experience with a patient who was delusional after being exposed to it in her home. If people have reported experiencing supposedly haunted phenomena that could be one cause."
"I assure you, sir, Sir Matthew, being a chemist, was well aware of the hazards and had such wallpaper removed many years ago," the butler told him.
After lunch in the dining room, Martin headed to the basement to explore and look for signs of leaks and mould.
Louisa was eager to spend time in the library, having just seen it for a few minutes during her first visit to the house. She pushed open the heavy carved wooden door, as if peeking into a forbidden chamber, reminding herself that she was the lady of the house now and had every right to be here. As much as she found her mother annoying, she was eager to show off the place to her.
It was dark inside, no doubt to keep the light from fading the books and furnishings in the little used room. Louisa felt for a wall switch, and clicked it on. The room, illuminated by a crystal chandelier, was even more impressive than she remembered.
It was lined floor to ceiling with walnut bookshelves, full of leather bound volumes of varying ages, with sliding ladders to reach the upper shelves, and a large antique globe in one corner. A small crimson velvet sofa, pair of matching wing chairs, and a Tiffany floor lamp sat beside the Italianate marble fireplace, which contained a neat pile of logs clearly unused for some time. The ceiling was painted with classical figures in panels with gilded edges. The windows were actually stained glass, with no need for shades at all. What little natural light that came through was like coloured gemstones. The centre of the room was dominated by a long mahogany table with heavy matching chairs. A Chinese vase and small brass banker's lamps sat atop the table.
With the door closed behind them, outside noise was muted. The only sound was the ticking of the gilded clock on the mantelpiece. Louisa scanned the shelves, full of science and medical books of course, but also old volumes of Dickens and Hardy that looked like they might be first editions, and other intriguing items.
"Look," Eleanor said, pulling out a few books from the dark wooden shelves. "Some of these have got to be worth a fortune!"
She began putting stacks of books of local history, legends, and folklore on the table, carefully flipping them open and leafing through, practically jumping from one to another. Louisa was also fascinated by those, and before long she had pulled up a chair and was engrossed in a history book, while Eleanor was studying a compendium of herbal medicine.
Time passed and the ticking of the clock seemed to slow down. Louisa found it hard to lift her head to look at it. The chandelier began to dim, then brighten a bit, then slowly dim again. Tiny sparks seemed to form up by the ceiling. They floated around and hovered over the table, casting a strange yellow green light. She heard her mother's voice, sounding slow and deep, and looked toward her, straining to turn her head. Eleanor was staring at one of the wingback chairs and when Louisa looked there she saw a grey haze that looked like… like… an old fashioned figure dressed in grey.
Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! Suddenly the clock struck 4, the grey figure was abruptly gone, the lights were on again, there were no sparks, the ticking sped up to normal, and down the hall Louisa could faintly hear all the clocks in the Clock Room striking together. As soon as the striking stopped, Mr. Robinson opened the library door and announced that Dr. Ruth Ellingham had arrived and cream tea was being served in the dining room.
How can it be 4 o'clock, Louisa thought. It feels like I've only been in here for 20 minutes, but now it's three hours later. "What just happened? Did you see anything?" she asked.
"I most certainly did," Eleanor replied, a little shaken herself. "There was a grey lady sitting in the chair. I said hello to her. Didn't you hear me?"
They walked down the hall to the dining room, still talking excitedly about it. Martin and Ruth wanted to know what happened.
"We had some lost time," Louisa said. "I swear we sat down at 1 o'clock and we were reading and then suddenly it was three hours later, and everything was slowed down and there were sparks flying around and there this, this, strange haze in the corner. Is that what happened to you?" She turned to her mother.
"Something like that. I felt like everything got foggy and, yes, like it was all slowed down, and we definitely lost some time, I don't remember any sparks, but maybe there were, then there was this woman sitting in the corner - a real live grey lady ghost! You saw her, didn't you, Lou Lou?"
"I'm not sure. I saw something, a grey haze, that maybe it kind of looked like a woman. I just don't know."
They were talking fast, trying to compare experiences, so Ruth slowed them down to try to get the details.
Martin was dismissive. "You both fell asleep in a quiet stuffy room and were dreaming, and now you're trying to match up your dreams with each other. If the lights dimmed, it's because the wiring needs to be updated, just like at West Cliff House. And you remember, Louisa, the old man who lived there was convinced he was seeing the ghost of his late wife but it was all due to the poor condition of the house and his vision problems. These are perfectly rational explanations."
"I do think you have a point, Martin, that they may be unconsciously matching up their details to each other," Ruth said. "However, what they experienced feels real to them and shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. It's possible their experience was due to mould on the pages of the old books, which produced something akin to a psychedelic experience, enhanced by the stereotypical spooky old house feeling."
"We did have a lot of old books open on the table," Louisa conceded.
"The books should be aired out and exposed to sunlight to be safe," Martin said.
"That's probably not good for valuable old antique volumes," Ruth observed. "Probably best if you got a professional restorer to take a look at them."
Eleanor dismissed the mould theory. "You can rationalise all you want, but I know what I saw. There's a lot more going on in this house than just some mouldy old books. I've been in touch with a team of ghost hunters and I think we should invite…"
Tensing his fingers and rubbing the scar on his arm, Martin cut her off. "Absolutely not! I don't need a bunch of superstitious lunatics taking over this place."
Eleanor looked to Louisa to persuade him. Louisa still felt bad about her mother's insinuation that she was getting too posh now, so she took him aside and tried appealing to him. "Well, Martin, I think it's just harmless entertainment. People love a good scare. I know you already agreed to let her stay in the house, and if we indulge her just this one time then she'll owe us a big favour and we can get her to head on back to Spain once it's over."
Ruth chimed in. "It might actually be interesting to observe how people persuade themselves that psychological and material phenomena are of supernatural origin. And besides, sometimes things don't have an easy explanation."
She confided in him. "I was always sceptical about people claiming that deceased loved ones appear to them right after they've passed on, but then it happened to me. A few years ago I had a dream that Joan came in my bedroom to tell me her grandson had arrived and now it was her turn to say goodbye. I found out later that day that Joan had died suddenly, on the very day that James was born. I simply can't explain that away."
Martin scowled and blustered but reluctantly agreed, adding that it was on the condition Eleanor and her guests didn't make too many demands on the Robinsons and didn't get in the way of the renovations.
"Thank you, Martin," Louisa said.
"Yes, thanks Martin," Eleanor added. "I'm so glad you're okay with it, because I've already invited them. They'll be here at the weekend."
To be continued…
