Chapter Fifteen
Fortune
It was easier to comply with everyone’s
wishes but I had little faith in so-called fortune tellers. Matthew and I were
clearly the guinea pigs for this form of entertainment but I wasn’t
particularly bothered either way since I didn’t believe in the validity of it.
Whether the reader said good or bad to me or about me was not of any particular
concern.
The library was dark when I entered as if
the novels themselves were whispering their secrets. Matthew Eaton was leaving
sheepishly as I entered. ‘She’s good, but a bit spooky,’ was his only comment.
At the far end of the hall there was a
shadowy figure seated in a lazy chair, apparently hunched behind a curtain. Her
voice was raspy and deep.
I hesitated as I approached.
‘Do I… do I get to see you?’
‘Reveal myself to you? No dear, I work
better incognito.’
‘Oh.’
I sat down.
‘You are a sceptic dear.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You do not believe in these dark arts.’
‘Um… no, not really.’
‘I can hear disbelief in your voice. Why have
you come here then?’
‘Out of politeness.’
‘Mmm… I see.’
‘My employer requested it.’
‘Oh. Is he the tall, dark and very handsome
one?’
I laughed.
‘Um… you could say that, I suppose so.’
‘Mm… let’s see. Do you have anything to
offer me my dear?’
‘What? Oh, you mean a question?’
‘Questions come later. I mean a donation.’
‘Oh.’ I thought she had been paid but I
searched the pocket hidden in my waistband and found some gold coins which I
placed on the table.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
A long pause precluded her first
observation.
‘You are slightly conflicted.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘You
are not an easy person to understand. Most of my clients come in here,
shivering. Why aren’t you cold?’
‘It’s summer.’
‘It
is quite drafty in here. You are afraid of something or someone.’
‘I don’t think so. I try not to be afraid
of anyone.’
‘Nevertheless, there is someone, a man who
has you perplexed.’
‘Prove it,’ I said.
‘These are not things that can be proven.
My words simply are or they… are not. In this case, they are.
I nodded casually.
‘You are solitary but dependent… do you…
do you teach a child in this mansion?’
‘Yes.’ I hesitated.
She jumped on my answer.
‘You see, I was right, solitary but
dependent. You seek love but you do not know it when you see it.’
I paused, trying to work out her previous
comment before thinking about the next one.
‘Don’t you mean independent?’
‘No, dependent. You have grown dependent
on others, more than you ever thought you would…’
I screwed up my face, more than a little
irritated.
‘You could say what you said to just
about any young woman.’
‘Not in this house. In this house, you
have a rival.’
I
couldn’t believe she’d picked up Nicola Ingram.
‘A rival? For what?’ I challenged her to
spell it out.
‘For the affections of another.’
I was silent.
‘Do
you disagree with an elderly lady?’
‘If that is what you say you are,’ I
added. I was starting to get suspicious. The older woman had hidden her large
hands behind gloves as she took my coins, just a little too swiftly to be well
mannered.
‘In your circumstances, you have many
choices.’
‘Really?’ I asked sarcastically.
‘You have not had an easy upbringing. I
can see that in your face. Now, if you wish to know more, I must read your
palm.’
‘Whatever,’ I said under my breath,
exasperated.
I held my hand out to her across the
table.
‘Mmm….
Normally I can see lines for marriage and children but I…. I have to… ah, there
they are. I see both in your future although in truth, your destiny is not
clear since both of these are a matter of choice.’
‘I believe you,’ I said.
‘I look into your hand and it does not
reveal your inner most secrets. I wonder what is in your mind as you sit there
and what rests in your heart. Are you happy? Are you sad? You see, with a hand
like this… it is hard to tell, you do not reveal your true feelings to anyone.
Although, I see a great fondness that you have here and here (she pointed to a
random line on my palm) for children,’ she whispered eerily. ‘You had a harsh
childhood and in a way, to make up for that, you are extra kind to the children
that come into your life.’
I really had started to twig that this whole
scenario was some sort of a set up. Obviously, this fortune teller had been
given information about me in advance. For fun, I decided to play along with
the joke.
‘May I ask you a question?’
‘Of course Anne, that is what I am here for.’
‘What… what I really want to talk about is…
a man…’
‘Ah, the tall, dark and handsome one? The
one who is your employer?’
‘No, the one who was seated next to me
recently at dinner.’
The
voice behind the curtain sounded more agitated.
‘Do you have feelings for this person?’
‘I believe so.’
‘Not for the dark, handsome one?’
‘Oh, I have feelings for him too; feelings
of irritation, anger and annoyance! Shall I add to those feelings Nathanial
Rochester?’
I pulled the curtains apart to reveal
Nathanial and Jess, who was seated on his knee, doing her actress voice as she later told me, with prompting of questions
quickly scribbled by Nathanial on pen and paper.
Both of them laughed uproariously as I
stood up, smiling ever so slightly.
‘Don’t tell the others, Anne,’ Jess pleaded.
‘We always play practical jokes at these
dinner parties. Please don’t spoil it, Anne. Didn’t you think it was funny?’
Nathanial asked.
‘It was quite funny, Nathanial, but let me
give you a tip. Big hands give you away.’
I think I’d caught on to the practical joke
about half way through and I hadn’t in all honesty found it as hysterical as
they did, but I suppose it wiled away the evening. Of course, if Nathanial
thought his obnoxious questions would reveal my inner most thoughts, he was
sadly mistaken. From the start - well, almost - I’d guessed it was him.
