All Bedlam Courses Past (part two hundred two)

All Bedlam Courses Past

Chapter Eight

Things Relative

(part two hundred two)

The cabin was not satisfactory, it had too much glare from the sun for the little balcony to be of use. All the doors and windows had needed to be open.

Do you mean to the inner passage, as well?

No. She would not have that. But between her room and my own, my little window open, while I stayed with her, and then she did not want     Or, Arnulfa restated, she asked the door closed, because when she meant to sleep for the night

Again, the interviewer forestalled a line the witness was taking.

Mrs. Demrose’s days during the excursion were spent alike. Mr. Demrose would help her to sit outside, and remain with her until she wished to lie down again. They were above the good saloon and could hear the music in the evenings.

Had Mrs. Demrose any difficulty with her heart? Was it only the gout she suffered?

Her heart was excellent. Arnulfa said this, after a pause that her interviewer deemed unsuspicious.

What medicines did her doctor prescribe?

The mineral waters. Arnulfa produced them; one sort was for drinking, the other for bathing the foot. There was a tincture, a separate bottle, brown, labeled Vita-Seren, the Anti-Ulceration Tonic, Caruthers Bros., Phila, Penn. [Grecian lady on label with wings, shield, spear. Mr. Shute visited druggist on Meade Ave, K. Schnitz, confirmed product and manuf.]

The spirits, the demeanor, of Mrs. Demrose were always excellent. She was not teetotal, neither was Mr. Demrose. Arnulfa herself, being in service, touched no wines or liquors. Mrs. Demrose consumed punch in hot weather, perhaps as much as a pitcher. Yes, she had, on the ninth of June.

All necessaries were furnished in the main cabin, and its attached rooms, and Mrs. Demrose had gone in her wheeled chair on a tour of the decks, their first day. That had annoyed her, yes, this was from knowing Mrs. Demrose Arnulfa’s opinion, and she, Mrs. Demrose, had eaten one meal in the first-class dining room, because a rain shower had come, and Mr. Demrose had persuaded her the air below was better.

No, the air was very bad the whole time, a bad smell, and heavy. No, those were exactly the occasions Mrs. Demrose had left the cabin, and no others.

“And it may be time to introduce the deposition of Miss Buckley,” Phelan said.

“A genuine one, under oath?”

“Why…” The lawyer found Élucide’s tone sharp, his rabbity drawing back from his papers suggested.

“Some of these other remarks are under oath as well, if you like,” said Monaghan.

“I had the impression we were coming up on the crucial hour…that 7:00 p.m. you say is attested to. By only Arnulfa? And that we would proceed from there to the irregularity. You didn’t want to talk about the stairs, and you didn’t want to talk about Regina’s bedtime. Is Myra your witness, then?”

“Up to a point,” Monaghan answered.

214

Bedlam

All Bedlam Courses Past (part two hundred three)

(2025, Stephanie Foster)