But the Doge did not cast any thunderbolts or wave his arms in the air. His face took on a sad expression and his head sank down on to his chest.
‘I know,’ Prospero said in a quiet voice. ‘I have always known. One of you will betray me.’
And with that he got up and walked out of the door without saying another word.
‘Teacher! As long as I’m here, you have nothing to fear!’ Caliban roared furiously and looked at Kriton, who was standing beside him, with an expression of such intense hatred that the goat-hoofed preacher of amorous passion recoiled in horror.
Columbine’s heart was aching with compassion. She would have gone dashing after Prospero, if only she dared. Then he would know that she at least would never betray him!
But the door slammed shut adamantly. Columbine knew only too well what lay beyond it: a sparsely furnished dining room, then a large study crowded with massive furniture, and after that – the bedroom that she dreamed about so often at night. You could get straight out of the study into the corridor and then into the hallway. That was the inglorious route that Columbine herself had followed twice as she left those sacred halls, crushed and confused . . .
‘Vill zere be no zeance?’ Rosencrantz asked, fluttering his white eyelashes. ‘But ze Toge said today voz a perfect evening for talking vith ze spirits of ze dead. A starry sky, a fat moon. It is a shame to miss zuch a shance!’
‘What do you say, dear?’ the Lioness of Ecstasy asked Ophelia gently, as if she were a little child. ‘After all, we really have been waiting so long for the full moon. What can you feel? Will we be able to establish contact with the World Beyond today?’
Ophelia smiled in confusion and babbled in her thin little voice: ‘Yes, today is a special night, I can feel it. But I can’t do it on my own, someone has to lead me. I need a calm, confident pair of eyes so that I don’t lose my way in the fog. Only Prospero has eyes like that. No, ladies and gentlemen, I simply can’t do it without him.’
‘So we’re going home then?’ asked Guildenstern. ‘That’s stupid. The time’s just been wasted. I’d have been better off studying. The exams are soon.’
Some people were already on their way to the door, but the new member walked over to Ophelia, took her by the hand, looked straight into her face and said quietly: ‘Well now, my d-dear young lady, look into my eyes. That’s right. Good. You can trust me.’
God only knows what Ophelia saw in his eyes, but she suddenly became calm, the wrinkles disappeared from her clear little forehead, and her smile was no longer confused, but radiant.
‘Yes,’ she said with a nod. ‘I trust you. We could try.’
Columbine almost choked on her indignation. A spiritualist seance without Prospero? Unthinkable! Just who did this svelte gentleman think he was? He was an impostor, an upstart, a usurper! And this would be an even worse betrayal of the Doge than careless talk with a newspaper reporter!
However, the others did not appear to share her sense of outrage, in fact they seemed intrigued. Even Caliban, the Doge’s devoted minion, asked Prince Genji in an almost obsequious voice: ‘Are you sure it will work? Will you be able to summon the spirits? And will they name the next Chosen One?’
Genji shrugged.
‘Why, naturally it will work. They’ll show up, as meek as lambs. And we’ll find out soon enough what they have to t-tell us.’
He calmly seated himself on the chairman’s throne and all the others rushed to take their places, with their fingers spread out wide.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Petya, turning to look at the outraged Columbine. ‘Sit down. Without you there’s a link missing.’
And so she sat down. It was hard to go against everyone else all on your own. And of course, she felt curious as well – would it really work?
Genji clapped his hands rapidly three times and it suddenly went very quiet.
‘Look only at me, Mademoiselle,’ he told Ophelia. ‘You must shut down the other f-four senses and leave only hearing. Listen to the silence. And you, gentlemen, do not distract the medium with extraneous sounds.’
Columbine looked at him in absolute amazement. How quickly this man, who had only just appeared in the club, had imposed his authority on all the others! No one had even attempted to dispute his leadership, and yet he hadn’t done anything special, and he had spoken no more than a few words. Then the recent grammar-school girl remembered how in one lesson their history teacher, Ivan Ferdinandovich Segiur (all the girls in seventh class were in love with him), had told them about the role of strong personalities in society.
There were two types of strong personalities: the first was full of energy, highly active, he would out-shout anyone, override and bedazzle them and drag them after him, even against their own will; the second was taciturn and at first glance seemed rather inactive, but he conquered the crowd with an aura of calm, confident power. The strength of leaders of this kind, wise Ivan Ferdinandovich had asserted, with the glint of his pince-nez fascinating the female pupils, derived from a natural psychological defect – they felt no fear of death. On the contrary, everything they did seemed intended to tempt or summon death to them: quickly, come and take me. Grammar-school girl Mironova’s breast had heaved under her white apron and her cheeks had blazed bright red, she found what her teacher said so exciting.
Now, thanks to Segiur, she realised why a person like Prince Genji had wanted to join the ‘Lovers of Death’. He really must be an exceptional personality, truly desperate and capable of acting in extreme ways.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked Ophelia.
She was already in a trance: her eyelashes were drooping, her face was blank, her lips were moving faintly.
‘Yes, I’m ready,’ she replied, still speaking in her normal voice.
‘What was the n-name of the last Chosen One, the one who hanged himself?’ Genji asked quietly, turning to Guildenstern, who was sitting beside him.
‘Avaddon.’
Genji nodded and said to Ophelia: ‘Summon the spirit of Avaddon.’
For about a minute nothing happened. Then Columbine felt the familiar cold breeze that always took her breath away blow over the table. The flames of the candles fluttered and Ophelia threw her head back as if it had been pushed by some invisible force.
‘I’m here,’ she said in a hoarse, muffled voice that sounded very like the voice of a man who had hanged himself. ‘It’s hard to talk. My throat’s crushed.’
‘We won’t torment you for long.’ It was strange, but as he talked to the spirit, Genji stopped stammering completely. ‘Avaddon, where are you?’
‘Between.’
‘Between what and what?’
‘Between something and nothing.’
‘Ask what he’s feeling now,’ the Lioness whispered excitedly.
‘Tell me, Avaddon, what feelings are you experiencing now?’
‘Fear . . . I’m afraid . . . very afraid . . .’
Poor little Ophelia started shaking all over, her teeth even started chattering, and her pink little lips turned purple.
‘Why did you decide to leave this life?’
‘I was sent a Sign.’
Everybody held their breath.
‘What Sign?’
The spirit didn’t answer for a long time. Ophelia opened and closed her mouth without making any sound, her forehead wrinkled up as if she was trying very hard to listen to something, her nostrils distended. Columbine felt afraid now that the medium would start talking meaningless gibberish, as she had during all the latest seances.
‘Howling . . .’ Ophelia exclaimed hoarsely. ‘A terrible, eerie howling . . . A voice calling me . . . It’s a Beast . . . She has sent a Beast for me . . . I can’t bear it! One more line, just write the last line, and then no more, no more, no more. Oh, where am I? Oh, where am I? Oh, where am I?’