TALES FROM MORTIFER HOUSE - Part Six - The Study

 

Eleanor decided she needed to gather together all the things she had found so far. Obviously she needed to keep these discoveries secret. Thankfully she had found a lockable wooden trunk, complete with key in the out house that she could hide under her bed. That way she could keep the contents concealed together out of sight.  She looked through everything she had discovered, the post card, the photo of the woman and children, the mysterious note, the missing posters for Stitchy, the illegible letter and finally the coded journal page. 

She knew she really needed to find a way to decipher the code if she was to be any nearer to unravelling the unrest that so clearly was disturbing the house. But even then would she really be any closer to a resolution? She bit her lip as she sifted through the trunk contents, at the moment she didn't feel she knew anything at all.

She had wondered during recent sleepless nights whether to confide in Angus, but deep down she knew he would not really be any help at all and would probably just declare her completely mad.  She also had a nagging doubt that he was somehow involved and perhaps confiding in him was not the most sensible thing to do. 

The noise of Angus shouting and the front door slamming brought her sharply to focus, she snapped the trunk shut, stood up and pushed it out of sight with her foot. 

Peering out of the window she could just make out Angus striding towards the big metal gates on the driveway, in the fading daylight. Who knew what time he would be back, this was a perfect opportunity to get into the study and search, primarily for a book to help her crack the code, although she really didn't hold out any hope about this and secondly any clues at all that would help her gain knowledge about the past events of the house and what could be causing the 'haunting' if indeed that was what it was.

Eleanor came down the flight of stairs between her bedroom and the floor below, where the study was. She could hear singing from the girls up in their attic room and then faint giggling, they seemed occupied and happy which she was relieved about given the traumas of recent events. 

In the distance she could hear a low rumble of thunder and watched through the landing window as a couple of vivid flashes of lightning streaked across the darkening sky. She hoped the storm would pass around them otherwise the girls would be clamouring for her and end her chances of searching the study. Usually Eleanor would have gone up to the attic and told the girls to settle in bed but she had other things on her mind right now. She approached the study door with trepidation, wondering if Angus had locked it as he so often did. Fortunately the handle turned and the door swung open, holding her breath Eleanor stepped inside. 

The red walled study smelt of stale tobacco and damp, it was not a good combination and she wrinkled her nose as the fetid fumes invaded her nostrils. Ordinarily she would have opened a window, as she often did on the rare occasion that caused her to visit when Angus was away, but she just felt a need to get in, search and get out as fast as possible. After all, she had no idea how long she had to look before Angus returned, she hoped for an hour or two but could not rely on that.  

She took a deep breath, which she immediately regretted, the damp smokey atmosphere invaded her lungs causing her to supress a cough. With her hand over her nose and mouth she found the nearest lamp and lit it carefully with a taper she kindled from the fire. Shadows loomed across the walls making the room even more eerie and uninviting. She set the lamp on the mantle of the fireplace, the fire casting its own faint red glow as the coals shifted and settled. The mantle clock ticked quietly to itself and the odd rumble of thunder could be heard as the rain began to fall.

Eleanor looked around the room, she had no idea where to start and had no idea exactly what, if anything, she would find. She was a logical person and decided to start with the bookcase at the very left of the fireplace wall, then she would work around the room methodically inspecting every book, every drawer, every hidey hole she could think of. The bookcase was very tall, almost to the ceiling, the only way she could reach it was by standing precariously on a chair. She wobbled and very nearly fell but managed to steady herself by clinging to the top bookshelf.  She was afraid the bookcase would come away from the wall and she tumbling with it and wondered momentarily how on earth she would, if perchance she survived, explain how she had ended up in that predicament. Fortunately the bookcase was solidly fixed to the wall and didn't move an inch. 

Eleanor heaved a sigh of relief and began to explore the books. Here on the top shelf it was extremely dusty and a little damp feeling also, she could smell the mustiness of the old books as she pulled each one out by its spine. She bitterly regretted the lack of a housekeeper who would surely be on top of all the jobs that so badly needed doing in Mortifer. 

There were lots of medical books, books on animals, novels, reference books and poetry, although the latter made Eleanor laugh to herself, she certainly did not see Angus as a poetry lover nor for that matter his father Charles, from what little she knew of him anyway. Perhaps they had belonged to Emma, she had loved reading and regularly devoured books in a matter of days .

She took each book out and shook it open, half expecting to find further letters or some sort of clue to help her, but her search was proving fruitless. The lower shelves contained satirical periodicals, maps and old paperwork none of which were any help. Soon she had exhausted every shelf in the study and even the little shelf above the door, but had not found a single book about codes or any further information to help her in her quest to regain the peace for Mortifer House. 

With hand on hips Eleanor scoured the room, all that was left to inspect was Angus's desk.  The roll down top was up and the desk was strewn with papers, bills, letters and all manner of detritus. She just looked without moving anything for the first few minutes, she really didn't want Angus to suspect she had been snooping in his private things, after all the man was entitled to his privacy. 

Eleanor reached for the first drawer as the portraits of Emma, Charles and Jane on the wall above the desk caught her eye. She looked away guiltily and opened the top drawer slowly almost afraid of what she might discover. Actually it was all pretty inconspicuous, letter openers, a penknife, magnifying glass, bits of string copies of The Cheltenham Looker On and the Illustrated London News.  

Really nothing out of the ordinary, much to her disappointment. The next drawer down mostly seemed to house a collection of pipes,tobacco and tapers.  The bottom left hand drawer was deeper and merely contained yet more letters and papers. 

The bottom right drawer appeared to be locked but Eleanor had already found keys in her earlier search and she tried several with no luck. One key fitted but the drawer still would not open, it seemed jammed or maybe fixed shut. The very last place that Eleanor looked was in the little cupboards that were at either side of the desk. The left hand one contained a couple of bottles of drink and two glasses. 

The right hand one seemed to only have a few legal papers in it but as the light was quite dim Eleanor had to reach right into the corners to check nothing had been missed. She felt something give under her hand and there was an audible 'click' 

At first she couldn't work out what had happened, she feared she had somehow broken the wall of the cupboard but then she realised with astonishment that the right hand drawer had sprung open. Eleanor felt a rush of excitement - a secret compartment!  

Quickly she went to fetch the lamp so she could see better. Inside the drawer was a bottle of absinthe, she shook her head, no wonder Angus was never around in the evenings and never coherent either.  Further exploration turned up a bunch of photos of women in various stages of undress, a prickle of sadness struck her although she wasn't sure why as she had long suspected Angus's interest in other women. She dropped the photos back where she had found them. Right at the very bottom of the drawer was a brown covered ledger. The front inside cover declared that the ledger belonged to Charles Edwin Mortifer.

It was nothing remarkable and at first glance it appeared to be a day to day record of letters to tradesmen requesting household maintenance to Mortifer. There were also copies of detailed bills that Charles had submitted to those who had required his services as a french polisher, which until his disappearance had been his trade. Personal letters to local friends and family members were also transcribed within mostly inviting them to one of his parties where Stitchy would be in attendance.

A little further into the ledger it became more like a diary, some of the writing was a little faded but Eleanor read with delight about Charles talking of Emma and their children, Angus and his sister Jane. He spoke of their love of staying up and playing in the gardens at summer parties and how Stitchy had become adored by them all. Life sounded almost idyllic. 

A noise from upstairs startled Eleanor and she immediately froze, the ledger slid off her lap with a bump. It was pitch black outside and she realised she had quite lost track of time, it seemed the storm had abated too. There were no more noises and she breathed more easily, at least Angus was still out. Shining the lamp towards the clock she saw it was a little after eight she had been in the study for a good two hours, longer than she had intended for sure. She really needed to settle the girls to sleep as she was certain that the noise that startled her had come from their room, but equally she longed to read more of the diary entries. Reluctantly she decided she would have to put it back and return at a later date to finish reading it. 

As Eleanor picked up the ledger she realised that the back section of it was written almost entirely in code. The same code as the sheet she had discovered in the rug. The last page was missing and she was absolutely convinced that if she had that piece to hand that it would fit perfectly against the jagged edge of where it had been torn out...

Inside the back cover written in large capital letters were the words. 'May God have mercy on my soul and all those who reside in Mortifer House'

Just reading that made Eleanor shiver. She absolutely had to crack the code. it was imperative as she was sure it would help her get some answers. 

She carefully packed the ledger back into the secret compartment and closed it up with a small click, she absolutely had to cover her tracks, she did not want to alert Angus to her activities in any way. 

She extinguished the lamp and stepped out into the hallway, carefully closing the door behind her. The hall was dark and unwelcoming, the small lamp in the corner flickered making the shadows lurch and recede almost as if they contained some hidden monster. A sudden draft blasted up the corridor and at the same time Eleanor felt 'something' behind her. Goosebumps stood up on her arms as she heard a whisper in her ear "Florence knows"

Exasperated Eleanor cried out "Florence knows what? What does that mean?" 

But the presence was gone in an instant, she found herself staring directly at the portrait of Florence Ophelia Mortifer and in that moment Eleanor knew that somehow, some way, she had to visit her in the asylum.

Sarah Russell 2022