“I just mean that there are times when it can be avoided.”
“So these things are not destined to happen.”
“Not exactly. They can be in our paths … but if we are aware of them, we can stop them happening.”
“How interesting!”
“It is just one of those gifts one is born with. You, my dear Miss Tremaston, are at this stage at a turning point in your life. That much I can sense immediately.”
I thought: She knows my mother has died and she will have heard how devoted we were. She probably guesses there will not be a great deal of money. It is a natural assumption.
She went on: “It may possibly be that I can help you.”
“I think it is a matter which will evolve naturally.”
“Maybe. But I want to help you.”
“It is very kind of you.”
“We are meant to help each other. We have been divinely endowed for that purpose and must not forget it. My dear Miss Tremaston, I know you need help. That is why I was so anxious that you should come to see me. You need help … urgently. When we have finished tea, I shall take you to my private sanctum. I have seen so many people there … and I believe have benefitted them. I am convinced that now I can be of help to you.”
I was both repelled and fascinated. There seemed to be something false about her and yet I could almost believe in her powers.
We left the tea tray and she led me up a short staircase to a room which had similar leaded windows and the same kind of heavy drapes, but being slightly higher, it was a little lighter. The first thing I noticed was the table covered with a green baize cloth and on a wooden stand was a large glass ball.
Mrs. Carling was standing close to me.
“It helps,” she murmured, “if you will take a seat here. I shall sit opposite.”
I sat down.
“Give me your hand.” She held mine across the table.
“Ah, I feel the waves coming over to me. We are in tune. My dear, I am going to be able to help you.”
Her heavy breathing was disrupting. I kept my eyes on the glass ball.
“Oh … I am aware of it now. My dear child, it is very close. You are threatened. Oh yes, it is there. I cannot but see it … I feel it … it is very close … oh, very close. How glad I am that I decided to speak to you. Oh yes … yes. It was time.”
I watched her while she laid her hand on the ball. She was staring into it.
“Danger,” she whispered. “Danger.”
“Where?” I asked. “From what?”
“I cannot quite see. It’s there … vague … menacing. No … I cannot quite see. But I know it is there.”
“You mean at Leverson Manor?”
She was nodding. “Enemies,” she said. “They are lying in wait … watching … waiting. Oh yes, this is a warning. No time to lose. You must go. Soon … it will be too late.”
“But what is this danger?”
“It is there … hovering over you. I see this black cloud. It is evil. I can tell you nothing more … only that it is there … near. It comes nearer … nearer. It is almost upon you. It is here … in this place. This is where danger awaits you. You must get away from here. You must not delay. There is still time.”
She fell back in her seat, breathing heavily. “No more,” she murmured. “No more … but it is enough.”
She leaned forward once more and looked into the ball.
“It is gone,” she said. “There is nothing more. You have had your warning. That is enough.”
Her breath was now coming in short gasps. “It is always so,” she muttered. “It is exhausting.”
I said: “Do you mean that you see me threatened … in that piece of glass? Then you must have seen who …”
She shook her head. “It is beyond our understanding. I see symbols. I sense that you are in danger. You have just suffered a great loss. You are alone … bewildered. This I knew when I first met you. And I knew, too, that there was some menace. You are in dangerous waters. That is all I can tell you, and you can avoid this danger by leaving this place. It could only happen here.”
I said: “Should I go back to the Manor and tell them that you have advised me to leave?”
She smiled slowly. “They would laugh. Lady Constance thinks that it is Lady Constance who rules the universe, not Almighty God. His ways are mysterious and a closed book to such as she is. Do not tell them you have seen me. Pack your bags. Make excuses if you must, but do not tell them what you have learned from me. You will not be understood.”
I rose unsteadily to my feet. I was considerably shaken by the experience even though I was inclined to be sceptical. This dark room seemed sinister and my strange companion was almost convincing me that I was in the presence of the supernatural.
I even felt then that my decision was being made for me. The thought occurred to me that I might be receiving guidance from my mother. If it were possible for her to come back to help me, I knew she would do so.
Then my thoughts had turned to Lady Constance. I knew that she hated me and wanted me gone.
“I can see you are distressed,” said Mrs. Carling. “Don’t be, my dear. You have had your warning. You and I clearly have been brought together for a purpose. Go back to London without delay and in a short time you will know what you have to do. This is not the place for you. That much is clear. The danger is here.”
“I am so uncertain. If only my mother were here … but then, if she were, none of this would have arisen.”
“It is no use saying if, my dear. Life moves on. What is to be will be.”
“Then perhaps I cannot avoid this … calamity which is waiting for me.”
“You can. You can. That is at the root of it. That is why I knew I had to see you. I had to look into the future for you. It was meant. I sensed it the moment I saw you … no … before— when I heard you were here. Go back, pack your bags … leave while there is time.”
I murmured: “I have to think about it.”
She smiled at me resignedly. “Your fate is in your hands. It is so with us all.”
I felt I had to get away.
I said: “Thank you, Mrs. Carling, for all you have done to help me.”
“I had to do it. It was my duty. The best repayment you can make is to get yourself out of danger.”
As I walked away from the cottage, the feeling that I had had a glimpse of the future began to recede. In the open air normality returned.
How had I allowed myself to be duped—even momentarily— by such a theatrical performance? Surely I, of all people, should know when people were playing a part. Of course, there was a certain atmosphere in the house. There was hostility towards me in the Manor. Perhaps I should go. My presence was obviously offensive to Lady Constance.
Mrs. Carling was right in one thing: I should leave Leverson Manor, but not because of any imminent danger. Mrs. Carling had been playing a part as surely as I had seen my mother do many times. There was a certain power in having knowledge which others did not possess. Mrs. Carling certainly had convinced herself that she had.
I went straight up to my room.
My problem was beginning to solve itself. I faced the facts. I was unwanted in some quarters of Leverson Manor and welcome in others.
But Mrs. Carling was right. I should get away. Yet when I encountered Charlie and Roderick that evening, I realized that I could not announce my impending departure without some reasonable excuse other than that an old woman who was possibly a little unbalanced had read my fate in a crystal ball.
I spent a sleepless night and awoke with the conviction that I must find a suitable excuse, and Charlie should be the one to receive it. He must understand Lady Constance’s aversion to me and surely he must have some guilty feelings about bringing me into the household. If I told Roderick that I intended to go, he would find all sorts of reasons why I should not. Charlie must realize the position and perhaps agree that, much as he wished to carry out my mother’s instructions to look after me, bringing me into his household was not the best way of doing it.