Leonora - Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE

EMILY'S DIARY ENTRY

3RD JANUARY 1908

Good morning Leonora,

I'm so looking forward to tonight. Mrs Hargrove has invited me to attend a séance. Naturally, Vlad will be coming with me, but I've told him to be on his best behaviour. He can be so critical when it comes to the occult. It's not that he doesn't believe in the paranormal, his family are strong believers, but he is very wary of charlatans who bleed the grief-stricken and vulnerable dry of their finances. I don't think Mrs Hargrove is that way inclined.

When she was on the telephone last night, she said that she sensed spirits around me and called me a “natural sensitive”. Vlad blamed the double brandy that I had in my hand, but he was only being playful.

I was supposed to be meeting Henri at the art gallery today, but the masterpiece that I have been waiting for isn't quite ready yet. His excuse was that “one cannot hurry excellence”. In other words, he drank himself silly and woke up on the studio floor drenched in his own urine. He's such a charmer. Being the understanding soul that I am, I have given him the weekend to finish it. Not the bottle, but the painting.

I am a woman of my word though, I'll be paying the publishing house a visit this afternoon, it's time for me to be introduced to our dear Polly Jenkins.

E.B.