The Luminaries

it to you free: in show business, you give an audience exactly what they’ve paid for, and if you don’t, you’ll suffer the consequences of their unrest. It said in the paper that Anna would be here.’
    ‘It said in the paper that she would be present at the
séance
, as my assistant.’
    ‘What have you got on her?’
    ‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.’
    ‘Why did she agree to it? To stay upstairs—alone, and in the dark?’
    Mrs. Wells ignored this question. ‘Miss Wetherell,’ she said, ‘has been learning to play out the patterns of the Tarot, an art at which she has proven to be something of an adept. Once I am satisfied that she has achieved mastery, she will advertise her services in the
West Coast Times
, and at that time you will be very welcome, as will all the citizens of Hokitika, to make an appointment with her.’
    ‘And I’ll be paying through the nose for the privilege, will I?’
    ‘But of course,’ said Mrs. Wells. ‘I wonder that you expected otherwise.’
    Ah Sook was looking at Mrs. Wells, Ah Quee, at Mannering.
    ‘This is an outrage,’ Mannering said.
    ‘Perhaps you no longer wish to attend the party,’ said Mrs. Wells. ‘If that is the case, you need only say so; I shall repay your tariff in full.’
    ‘What’s the point of it? Keeping her upstairs.’
    The widow laughed. ‘Come, Mr. Mannering! We are in the same business, as you have already pointed out; I don’t need to spell it out for you.’
    ‘No. Spell it out,’ said Mannering. ‘Go on. Spell it out.’
    Mrs. Wells did not, however; she gazed at him a moment, and then said, ‘Why did you come to the party tonight?’
    ‘To speak with Anna. And to get a measure of my competition. You.’
    ‘The first of your ambitions will not be realised, as I have now made clear, and you surely must have achieved the second by now. This being the case, I do not see that there is any reason for you to remain.’
    ‘I’m staying,’ Mannering said.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘To keep an eye on you, that’s why.’
    ‘I see.’ Mrs. Wells gazed at him. ‘I think that there is another reason why you decided to attend the party tonight—a reason that you have not hitherto shared with me.’
    ‘Oh? And what might that be?’ said Mannering.
    ‘I’m afraid I can only guess,’ said Mrs. Wells.
    ‘Well, go on—make your prediction. That’s your game, isn’t it? Tell my fortune.’
    She put her head to the side, appraising him. Then she said, suddenly decisive, ‘No; this time I believe I shall keep my prediction to myself.’
    Mannering faltered, and after a moment Mrs. Wells gave her t inkling laugh, and drew herself upright, clasping her hands together over her bosom. Begging Mannering’s leave to depart, she explained that she had hired two barmaids from the Star and Garter to wait on her guests that evening, and the girls had not yet been briefed: they were waiting in the kitchen, very patiently, and she would not suffer them to wait a moment longer. She invitedMannering to pour himself a drink from the decanters set out upon the sideboard, and to make himself very much at home—and with that, she swept from the room, leaving Mannering staring after her, red-faced.
    Once the door had closed behind her, he rounded on Ah Sook. ‘What have
you
got to say for yourself, then?’
    ‘To see Emery Staines,’ said Ah Sook.
    ‘You’ve got some questions for
him
, I suppose.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Dead or alive,’ said Mannering. ‘It’s one or the other, isn’t it, Mr. Sook? It’s one or the other, at this stage.’
    He stamped to the sideboard and poured himself a very stiff drink.

    Mrs. Wells had hired a two-man orchestra, comprising a fiddle and a flute, from the Catholic Friendly Society on Collingwood-street. The musicians arrived a little before seven, their instruments rolled in velvet, and Mrs. Wells directed them to the end of the hallway where two chairs had been set up facing the door. The only songs they knew were jigs and hornpipes, but Mrs. Wells had lit upon the idea that they might play their repertoire at a quarter time, or as slowly as their breath and co-ordination would permit, in order to be more in keeping with the tenor of the evening. Played slowly, the jigs turned sinister, and the hornpipes became sad; even Mannering, whose bad temper had not been assuaged by two fingers of brandy and the cheerful ministration of the Star and Garter barmaids, had to admit that the effect was very