Haunted Hearts

3

The man at Elphi's left made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a strangled laugh before turning it into a cough and muttered an apology.

He then leaned close and nodded with his chin toward Miss Warren as he whispered, "I take it you've had the misfortune of experiencing a séance with that particular young miss before?"

Elphi glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, "Yes... and you?"

"Unfortunately, twice," he whispered. "Fainted within the first five minutes both times."

"Why do you attend," Elphi quietly teased, purposefully misunderstanding him, "if you're prone to fits of the vapors?"

The right corner of his mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile, but before he could reply, Madame Calvert lifted her veil and cast her gaze around the table. "Think of someone who has passed on."

Her eyes settled on Elphi.

Elphi's heart started pounding when Madame Calvert continued in her thick accent, "Have in your mind their name... knowledge about this person, what delighted them, their appearance, and their relation to you." Then, she turned her attention to the man at Elphi's right, "Concentrate on this person. My Lord, you have an image in your mind... the person you're thinking of, she's petit la femme, no?"

"Yes, she was rather short compared to me."

"And... did she wear spectacles, Monsieur?"

He cleared his throat and jerkily glanced around the room before stammering, "Y-yes, but not in public. How did you know?"

Madame Calvert nodded and became silent as she stared at something only she could see for a brief moment. "There's something about flowers—non, a particular flower, my lord, one with many petals."

"Yes, her father owned a flower shop."

"Oui," Madame Calvert smiled, "she is holding out her hands, like this-" she cupped her hands and held them over the table toward him, tipping them down as though to show an object cradled on her palms. "Showing me a lovely red... non, a rose foncé colored blossom. She says,... you would leave them for her in secret."

He clutched the edge of the table and nodded. "Pink Peonies—to symbolize our secret love."

"Was her name Flora... or Lorna?"

"Laura."

"She is with us tonight, Lord Emerson... and she wishes to tell you," a frown creased Madame Calvert's brow, and she pressed her palms flat to the tabletop. Then, she squeezed her eyes shut and tilted her head to the side as she whispered, "I don't understand... repeat it again if you please."

After a moment, Madame Calvert opened her eyes, stared at Lord Emerson, and slowly asked, "Does this mean anything to you? Darkness is required to notice the stars."

A choked gasp escaped Lord Emerson as he covered his mouth with a trembling hand and nodded, "Yes."

Madame Calvert inclined her head, lifting her hand in the air for a moment before whispering, "Laura has left us." She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, then looked at the expectant faces gathered around the table and focused her gaze on Miss Warren.

Her chanting reached a fevered pitch, and before Madame Calvert could ask a single question, Miss Warren fainted and slumped in her chair.

The man to Elphi's left pulled out his pocket watch, clucked his tongue, slipped it back in his waistcoat pocket, and leaned near to whisper low, "Seven minutes. She's improving."