The Rape Of Venice

Chapter 3

A Very Strange Performance

That afternoon Georgina took her guests into Guildford. The drive through the well-​wooded countryside made a pleasant excursion, and it had occurred to her that with such difficult guests as the Malderinis a visit to Guildford caves would serve to while away an hour or so. The caves were a natural formation but had been occupied by primitive man from great antiquity.

Provided with a candle apiece and led by a guide, they traversed the narrow tunnels and halted in the larger chambers, a little awed by the weird effects of their shadows on the rough hewn walls and ceilings. When they were assembled in the largest cave there came a sudden sharp cry. It was uttered by Sheridan's wife as her husband, bored with the caves, had decided to lighten the solemnity which had descended on the party by pinching her bottom.

The dim light hid her blushes, but much embarrassed she stammered out, '1… I thought I felt a ghostly hand touch my cheek.'

Malderini. who was standing near her, shook his head and, speaking in French as usual, declared in his rather high-​pitched voice, 'Maybe it was so, Madame. If you are psychic you may well have felt the touch of the long-​dead in such a place as this. Yours was not the only cry that I have heard these past few minutes. The despairing screams of virgins being dragged to the sacrifice still echo round the walls. I have but to look at yonder archway to see the bearded priests with their long knives and the terror on the faces of their victims.'

'I take it, Sir, that you are drawing on your imagination to supplement your theories as an antiquary about what may have taken place here,' remarked Colonel Thursby, dryly.

Malderini turned sharply upon him, 'Not at all! Not at all! Certain people have the power to see beyond the veil, and I am one of them. Given propitious circumstances I can both look back into the past and foresee the future,'

Georgina, on her mother's side, had gipsy blood, and had inherited the gift of telling fortunes. She said to the Venetian: I, too, have often secured accurate glimpses of the future, but seen outside their context such glimpses can, at times, be pestiferously misleading.'

'More frequent practice should enable your Ladyship to assess their meaning with greater accuracy. What vehicle do you use to make contact with the unseen powers?'

'I used to gaze into a goblet filled with pure spring, water; but, some years ago, I suffered an experience with regard to my own future which was so unnerving that I decided to abandon such seeking after hidden knowledge.'

'Few decisions could be harder to justify, Malderini replied somewhat rudely. 'Psychic gifts are; rare and should be cherished by those who have them, You should renew your contact with the spirit-​world and would be well advised to do so through a human medium. I studied in Paris under the famous Doctor Mesmer and learned from him how to turn the minds of others into far more potent vehicles than crystals, cards and such impedimenta. It is a fundamental of the Secret Art that all occult operations require the exertion of will, and you would find your powers greatly increased if you brought under your control the subconscious mind of some lesser personality.'

'You speak as though you would have us believe you to be a magician,' Sheridan said in a slightly mocking tone.

'If, my friend, by that designation you imply a person who by will-​power can cause phenomena to occur which are ordinarily regarded as impossible, then I may certainly claim to be one.'

'My daughter has compelled me to recognise that some people are gifted with second sight,' the Colonel remarked, 'but I still cannot believe it possible to bring about material happenings solely through the exercise of will, even if given the help of the Devil.'

'Then, Sir, it is high time that someone showed you to be in error,' the Venetian retorted, 'and if you wish, on our return to Stillwaters, I will prove my point by a demonstration.'

'You shall, Sir, by all means,' replied the Colonel quickly, 'I have ever taken the greatest interest in all forms of science, and surely the moving of mountains, or even of molehills, without the application of physical force, must be counted a scientific triumph.'

No more was said on the subject at the time, but they had hardly descended from the carriages before Beckford raised it again by saying, 'I can hardly contain my impatience to witness the demonstration that Signor Malderini has promised us. When and where is it to take place?'

'Without preparations of an involved nature, and an opportunity to refresh my memory on certain rituals, it can be no more than a simple one,' replied the Venetian, 'but that I will give you whenever and wherever you wish.'

.Georgina was loath to pursue the matter. She had an uneasy feeling that no good would come of it; but, in view of Beckford's eagerness and that others in the party were backing him up, she had little option; so she said, 'Now that we are returned, a syllabub will shortly be served in the Orangery for our refreshment. Let us go there and drink it while Signor Malderini performs his promised marvels.'

In the lofty Orangery a semi-​circle of basket chairs was set among the brass-​bound tubs in which grew the bushes with their small, unripe, but decorative fruit. Malderini asked for some slips of paper to be brought, then, as they sipped from their cups of well-​iced wine beaten up with thick cream, he said:

'Four or five of you will oblige me by writing questions on these pieces of paper. They must be questions the answers to which might reasonably be supposed to come within my knowledge. I shall then mesmerise the Princess Sirisha and, when her mind has become completely under my control, put your questions to her. As you are aware, in her normal state she has the unhappiness to be deprived of the pleasure of conversing with you because she can speak no tongue other than her own. But, while she is in a state of trance, I shall imbue her with powers which she does not ordinarily possess. Having written your questions add to them the word French, English, Italian or German, and she will give you the answer in which ever language you have selected.'

There was a subdued murmuring as the papers were passed round, Colonel Thursby, Beckford, Sheridan, his wife, and Droopy Ned all wrote out questions. Malderini glanced through them and agreed them to be reasonable ones, then he led his wife to a vacant chair at one end of the semi-​circle, stepped a few paces back from her, and asked that complete silence should be observed. As the hush fell, he lifted his plump, heavily be-​ringed hands, and began to make a succession of slow complicated passes in front of his wife's face.

After a few minutes her eyelids drooped and closed, her breathing became irregular, her limbs jerked spasmodically and her head rolled about on her shoulders. Suddenly she became rigid, remained so for several moments, then as suddenly relaxed. She gave a heavy sigh and sat up. Her eyes opened again but they now held only a blank stare.

Taking one of the papers from his pocket, Malderini gave her in her own language a translation of the question written upon it. There was a tense moment while the muscles of her throat contracted and her mouth opened and shut soundlessly, as though in a desperate but futile effort to speak; then the words came, slowly at first but coherently, and in Italian she gave a perfectly sensible answer to the question.

The Venetian repeated the process with the other questions and to each she replied in the language requested on the paper. Her English and German were noticeably less good than her Italian and French, but Malderini had clearly implied that the power with which he intended to imbue her came from himself; so it was natural that her vocabulary in these languages should be limited to his own.

It was a most impressive performance and, when the last question had been answered, Clarissa exclaimed, 'How truly marvellous! Could you, Signor, perform such miracles with any of us?'

Malderini regarded her fixedly for a moment, then he shook his head. 'Not with anyone, Signorina. I need to be in close rapport with my subject. But, with people who are psychic, such a bond is not difficult to form, and I can tell at a glance anyone who would prove a suitable subject.'

'May one ask how?'

'By their aura. It was not without reason that the old Masters always depicted the Saints with golden haloes. All of us carry with us such an indication of our basic characteristics, as auras vary in colour. Those of born warriors are bright red, those for whom all things grow readily, apple-​green. A yellow aura denotes a religious nature and a magenta aura a person given over to evil.'

'Do you really mean that you can see such auras-​that we have them now, about our heads, at the present moment?'

'Yes; with what is termed “the third eye”. That is the focal point of psychic perception, and it lies beneath the bone in the centre of the forehead. Everyone has it but in most people it is rudimentary. Very few develop it, as I have done by long training, to a state at which I can use it consciously. Both Lady Georgina's aura and yours are blue, indicating the possession of psychic qualities. Hers is the stronger but, with either of you, I could, in quite a short while, establish a rapport.'. Clarissa's blue eyes lit up. 'I find the subject fascinating. Would it be asking too much that before you leave Stillwaters you will experiment upon me?'

He bowed. 'If you will later name a time and place, I shall be happy to do so, Signorina. But now I must arouse the Princess Sirisha from her trance.'

Roger had watched the proceedings with a jaundiced eye. His conviction that the Venetian had made use of his wife the previous evening to swindle them at cards filled him with a lively suspicion that this was another case of secret collaboration between the couple; yet he had to admit to himself that the whole procedure had followed the pattern of a skilled mesmerist operating on a medium. In any case, having seen, exhibitions of hypnotism by disciples of Dr. Mesmer in Paris, and on one occasion a woman who, while in a trance, had made a shocking spectacle of herself by writhing about in what were obviously erotic paroxysms, he was fully determined to prevent Clarissa exposing herself to anything of that kind.

He pondered the matter further while Malderini made the passes necessary to bring the Princess back to normal, and it struck him that as the Venetian had spoken to her throughout in her own language, although he appeared to have been giving her only a translation of the written questions, he might instead quite well have been furnishing her with the answers she should make to them. But that did not account for the fact that she had given the answers in four languages of which she was supposed to be entirely ignorant. That meant that, if a deception had been practised, she was as fluent in them as Malderini himself; and it was difficult to believe that if she could speak them she deliberately cut herself off from communication with everyone except her husband, solely to be able to aid him in occasional hoaxes such as this. Furthermore it did not appear, at first sight, that the couple had anything to gain by practising this type of deception.

That amicable but hardened materialist. Colonel Thursby, also had his suspicions. When the Princess had fully recovered, he said in Italian: 'We all owe you our thanks, Signora, for having aided your husband in his demonstration.'

He had hoped that by a spontaneous reply she would give herself away, but her face remained expressionless. Not even a slight movement of her lips suggested that she had been near falling into the trap.

Malderini turned angrily on the Colonel: 'You know very well, Sir, that in her normal state my wife understands no language but her own. And I resent your use of the word “aided”. She was no more than an unconscious instrument of which I made use to display my powers.'

'Your pardon, Signor; your pardon.' The older man waved an airy hand. 'Having but a few moments back heard her speak Italian with such fluency, I had temporarily forgot that she was not one. As for my use of the word “aided”, I meant only to thank her for having allowed you to throw her into a fit so that you might attempt to prove your assertions.'

'Attempt!' repeated Malderini. 'Again, Sir, you are ambiguous. Do you suggest that I have failed to do so?'

'You can hardly claim to have brought about the seemingly impossible by the sole use of your will-​power.'

'How else do you suggest that the Princess Sirisha was able to speak in tongues unknown to her, and reply to questions normally beyond the range of her knowledge, except as a puppet animated by my will?'

There are other ways in which…'

'Papa!' Georgina interrupted anxiously. 'I pray you carry this discussion no further.'

'Oh, come!' countered Beckford. 'Surely your Ladyship will not insist on our terminating so promising a debate.'

'I was about to say,' went on the Colonel, 'that it would ill become me to challenge the integrity of my daughter's guest; but, as a scientific man, my conscience permits me to go no further than adopt a course at times resorted to by the Scottish Courts. That is to declare that I must continue to regard the existence of occult power as-“Not proven”.'

Malderini hunched his bulky shoulders and glared at the Colonel. 'You have said either too much or too little, Sir. You must either withdraw your implication or frankly accuse me of having used ventriloquism to deceive you.'

For Georgina's sake, Roger stepped quickly into the breach. In the honeyed accents of sweet reason, he said: You are mistaken, Signor. Colonel Thursby implied only what, I think, several of us feel. Astounding as your demonstration has been, its nature was not of the kind we expected. There was, I recall, some talk of moving mountains or molehills, solely by the use of will-​power, and you must agree that we have not been witnesses to a substitution of will-​power for physical force.'

'Well said,' murmured Droopy Ned, and Beckford chimed in, 'I, too, am of that opinion.'

'Ladies and Gentlemen'; the Venetian made a slight bow to the company in general. He seemed to have suddenly become quite amiable again. 'I must admit there is something to be said for the point Mr. Brook has made. Very well. I am prepared to give you proof that will-​power can be substituted for physical force. You will no doubt have heard of levitation, as practised by the mystics of India. If, while standing at some distance from the Princess Sirisha, I can cause her to leave the ground and cross a room without visible means of support, I take it you will acknowledge my claim to occult power?'

There was a nodding of heads and excited murmur of assent; then he went on: 'To perform such an operation is no light, undertaking. I must spend several hours preparing myself, and to fast before it is essential. If it is to take place tonight the ' Princess Sirisha and I must deny ourselves the pleasure of dining with you. Moreover, I feel that I am entitled to some compensation for the doubts which some of you have cast on my powers.' Turning to Colonel Thursby, he added: 'What will you wager me that I prove unable to carry out this undertaking?'

'Providing we can agree conditions,' the Colonel replied, 'anything in reason. Would a hundred guineas suit you?'

Malderini shrugged, 'I had been told, Sir, that you were a rich man, and I have ample funds. The sum you suggest is a paltry one.'

Taking a pinch of snuff, Colonel Thursby flicked the spilt grains from his cravat with a lace handkerchief, and said casually, 'Make it five hundred if you wish.'

'I'd be happy to share the stake,' said Beckford eagerly.

'And I,' nodded Droopy Ned, raising his quizzing glass.

'I will take each of you for that sum, in addition to my five hundred with Colonel Thursby,' Malderini replied to them with a confident smile.

Sheridan's red face had been getting still redder with suppressed excitement. Suddenly he burst out, I too, must be in on this. Tis a feat unheard of outside travellers' tales. I'll stake five hundred that you'll not succeed in it.'

His young wife threw him an agonised glance. Her parents had been most averse to her marrying a man of Sheridan's reputation and more than double her age. As a condition they had stipulated that he should produce fifteen thousand pounds to be tied up with five thousand that had been previously settled on her, believing that he could not possibly lay his hands on such a sum. To their consternation he had managed to do so; but the whole of the jointure had since gone into the property at Polesden and, large as his income was, his unbridled extravagance kept them perpetually hard up. But he was an inveterate gambler, and now ignored her silent appeal not to join in the wager.

Malderini took his bet, then looked at Roger, 'And you, Mr. Brook?'

Roger shook his head. The canniness inherited from his Scottish mother had saved him from the vice of gambling, and he rarely risked money on chance, except for comparatively modest sums at friendly games of cards. With a bow, he said:

'I thank you, no. The two thousand guineas already wagered should surely be sufficient to compensate you for missing your dinner. And someone must act as an unprejudiced observer to ensure that the conditions agreed are correctly carried out. Let that be my part.'

There ensued a discussion on conditions. Malderini asked that a room should be entirely cleared of furniture, that its walls should be stripped of pictures, and any chandelier taken down from its ceiling; then that its floor should be swept clean of every particle of dust. Later, he conceded that sufficient chairs for the party should be brought back into the room, but he was adamant on the point that the curtains of the windows must be drawn and no artificial light allowed. He stated that the Princess would wear a pure white sari, and they could not contest his argument that, as. it was high summer, the light filtering between the drawn curtains would still be ample for them to follow her movements. He stipulated that in no circumstances should anyone attempt to touch her, and protested that, without undergoing a fast of several days' duration he could not expect to raise her more than about nine inches from the ground. But he agreed to remain at least three feet distant from her throughout, and was prepared to accept Roger, Georgina and Clarissa as judges. Finally, it was settled that if two of the judges were satisfied that, while travelling three yards in a straight line, from right to left in front of them, the Princess' feet had been clear of the floor, he should be declared the winner of the wager.

Georgina said she thought the small yellow drawing-​room would be the most suitable place to hold the séance, then she asked Roger, as one of the umpires, to give the necessary instructions to the servants and later assure himself that they had been fully carried out. Soon afterwards the party broke up, and dispersed to rest or to write letters until it was time to get themselves ready for dinner.

Having found the groom of the chambers and given him his orders, Roger decided that he would pay his postponed visit to the children; so he made his way upstairs and along to the East Wing which, after years of disuse, had, with the advent of the baby Earl, become again a hive of activity.

The day- nursery was large enough for a dozen children to romp in, yet on Roger's entering it the room seemed quite crowded. The two babies had just been brought in from their, afternoon airing and each was having its outer garments removed by its own nursemaid. A smiling mulatto woman who had acted as foster mother to little Susan since her birth was preparing to give her the breast, and near one of the windows plump, bustling Nanny Bellows, who ruled this domain with a rod of iron, was discussing some point of infant regime with Clarissa.

All five women stopped what they were doing as Roger came in, and bobbed him a curtsey, but the moment Mrs. Bellows straightened up she shook an admonitory finger at him. 'I've told you afore, Sir, this is no time to come pestering my little ones. It's in the morning you must make your visits, or when they've woke up from their sleep in the afternoon; not when we're getting them ready to have their suppers.'

Mr. Pitt's despatch, having relieved Roger of all responsibility in the Venetian business, had put him in a high good humour. With a laugh, he cried, 'It's not them I come to see, but you. Surely you must know that.' Then he threw an arm about her shoulders and gave her a resounding kiss on her apple-​red cheek.

"For shame, Mr. Brook!' she exclaimed, torn between a desire to laugh with him and to preserve her dignity in front-​of the grinning maids. 'One day you'll have to answer for such taradiddles; and to put wrong ideas into the heads of these lazy baggages is no way for a gentleman to behave. 'Forgive me, Nanny,' he smiled.' 'Twas no fault of mine that my visit was delayed. I'll do no more than wish them good appetite, then relieve you of my presence.'

'Be quick about it, then. What an outcry you would make did a clowning bear break in on you while sitting over your port of an evening; but for the babes 'tis every bit as bad a thing that you should peer and posture at them just before their meal.'

Roger went first to his daughter. She was just six months old, a fine healthy child, with his blue eyes and Amanda's auburn hair, which gave her a good prospect of beauty. But she was a solemn little thing, and when he chucked her gently under the chin she gave no more than the suggestion of a smile.

He turned to his godson. The ten month-​old Earl of St. Ermins was a sturdy fellow, and with a tipsy rush of feet could already stagger a few paces unaided. Like Georgina and his father he was dark, and from them he had inherited both gipsy blood and that of King Charles II. The combination almost certainly predestined him to become a rake, but Roger felt that to be no great matter for concern, provided that the boy also inherited the good humour, generosity and sound common sense of his mother and his royal ancestor. He already gave signs of a merry nature, for when prodded in the stomach he uttered gurgles of delight and gamely strove to clutch at Roger's offending finger.

Clarissa laid a hand on Roger's arm. 'Please Roger! Desist, I beg. If you excite him so he'll not be able to keep down his supper.'

'Very well, then'; he turned to smile at her. 'But what are you doing in Nanny Bellows's domain?'

'I still count myself responsible for Susan,' she replied quickly, 'and about that I'd like speech with you, when you have the leisure.'

In his more cheerful mood, he now felt that he might as well get the interview over that he had been shirking; so he said, 'I am at your disposal now, M’am, if you wish.'

Tm mightily obliged, Sir'; she lowered her eyes, and added, 'In that case, let us leave the children to be fed and bedded.*'

After a word or two with Nanny Bellows, she led the way from the room and Roger, giving a gay little wave which included all the nurses, followed. Side by side they walked away from the nursery regions, then along a broad corridor, Suddenly Clarissa threw open a door and signed to him to pass her. Till then, he had had no idea whereabouts in the house she slept, but this was obviously her bedroom. Before he had time to turn she had given him a push and closed the door behind them.

'M'dear!' he protested lightly, as he turned to face her. 'Is it really necessary to compromise yourself like this? Strap me! Despite the fact that you are looked on much as though you were my niece, tongues would wag mightily did it become known that we'd chosen your bedroom as a place to talk, in.'

She was probably unconscious of it, but the dark mahogany of the door against which she stood made a perfect background for her. The pale gold hair fell in heavy ringlets on one side of her oval face. The purity of her milk and roses complexion was almost dazzling in the strong light thrown from the window opposite. Her arrogant little nose stood out imperiously above her tilted chin and long slender throat. Beneath the crossed fichus of her bodice, the corset that gave her an absurdly small waist, and the voluminous skirts of sprigged muslin, was a figure that Roger knew to be perfection; for less than six months earlier he had seen her naked.

' 'Tis the only place in which we can talk with certainty that we'll not be interrupted,' she said quickly.

'And what,' he enquired with a lift of the eyebrow, is there in a discussion about my little Susan that demands such privacy?'

'Susan is concerned in this deeply concerned. Her future well being may depend on it. But that is not all. Tell me honestly, Roger. Are you in love with Georgina?'

"No more and no less than I was when I first knew her, as a boy; no more and no less than I will be on the day I die.'

'That, then, is a thing apart. It proved no barrier to your marrying Amanda; so should prove none to your marrying again.'

'Not if I had the desire to do so. But I have not.'

Her mouth began to work, betraying her acute agitation. Suddenly she burst out, 'I know it to be unmaidenly! I am utterly ashamed! But, since you will not speak of this, I must. Amanda gave your child into my care. Only by invoking the law can you take her from me. It was Amanda's dying wish that we… that I… that you… Oh, Roger, can we not make a home for Susan together?'

'M'dear,' Roger said gently, 'Deeply honoured as I am by your continued attachment to me, I had hoped that our six months' separation would have caused you to feel differently. We went into all this shortly after poor Amanda's death. I told you then that I'd prove a most disappointing husband to you. For one thing, I am too old, and for another…'

'Too old!' she interrupted scornfully. 'What nonsense! You are but twenty-​eight, and I'm near twenty.'

'I do not mean in years; but mentally. The life I've led this dozen years past, the deceits I have been forced to practise, the sometimes terrible decisions I've had to take, the cynicism engendered by a roving existence in which many women have played a part, all make me unfitted to take a young bride and bring lasting happiness to her.'

'Roger, I'd take you at your word, but for one thing. When I came to your room that night in Martinique, you at first spurned me; yet later, in the dawn, you declared me to be the loveliest thing you had ever looked upon, and vowed that when I'd been married for a while you'd seize on the first chance to seduce me.'

'I admit it; although I added that I'd attempt to only did your marriage prove an unhappy one. Yet I was a fool even to say so much, and did so mainly from an urge to restore your self-​respect. I'd have done better to maintain that your beauty left me cold. Then you might by now be married. You were the toast of the Island, and could have taken your pick of the young 'officers in the garrison or a score of wealthy planters. That you should have thrown these chances away, and continue to be obsessed with a passion for anyone so unworthy as myself, fills me with acute distress.'

' 'Tis no fault of yours, and I have no regrets. Yet I resent it that you think me good enough only to become the wife of some young captain whose dearest wish was to get back to England so that he might once more enjoy his fox-​hunting; or that I would demean myself to become a rich man's darling. I care not how many women you've slept with; or how often your secret work has forced you to lie and cheat. To me you are still worth all the other men I've ever met put together. Amanda did me a great kindness in rescuing me from a poverty-​stricken existence with my Aunt; but, unwittingly, she also sealed my fate. Although I did my utmost to conceal it while she was alive, from the very day we met my heart became yours.'

'Clarissa! I beg you to say no more,' Roger protested unhappily. 'Did I intend to marry again, it would be you I'd ask; for you have much more than beauty. I'll never forget the high courage you displayed during those dark days when we were captives of the pirates, and later of the revolted negro slaves in San Domingo. But in due course I shall go abroad again, and in circumstances which would make it impossible for me to take a wife with me. I may be away from England, except for rare brief visits to report to Mr. Pitt, for years. What sort of a. life could that be for you?

'There is no question of your returning to your Aunt. Georgina has told me that she is more than willing for you to make your home here, and if you are set on being a mother to little Susan, I'll be greatly in your debt. But I insist that you should not regard the child as a tie upon you. As I promised, I have arranged with my bankers to make you a suitable allowance; so you are free at any time to live where you will and, should you marry, Georgina will do for Susan what you would otherwise have done. Here, at Stillwaters, you will meet many men; not Captains with little but their pay, or men of fortune with little but their money, to recommend them. They will be of the stamp of Beckford and Droopy Ned, Wealthy, cultured, ambitious, titled, and able to give you the position in the world that you deserve. I beg you to put me from your thoughts, and face life anew with an open mind.'

For a moment there was a tense silence, then Roger added, 'This obstinacy can bring you nought but unhappiness. I have done my utmost to dissuade you from it, but since you are adamant and I am too, it seems there is no point in our discussing it further. That being so, I request your permission to leave your presence.'

With a sigh, she stood away from the door. 4Go then, and I beg of you do not despise me too much for having laid my heart bare to you once again. I'd not have done so could I have found some more material way in which to show my love for you.'

Touched to the depths, he could think of no words with which to reply; so, stooping, he took between his fingers the frilled hem of her overskirt, bowed his head low, and kissed it. Then, silently, he left the room.