Reed walked into the room, leaving the door ajar behind him. He carried a lamp in one hand. In the other he held a pistol.

"Still asleep, I see." He moved closer to the bed, holding the lamp aloft. "Or perhaps you are merely pretending, eh? Either way, it does not matter. This unfortunate business will soon be finished."

He had almost reached the bed. For some reason he paused. Caroline held her breath, watching as the lamp-light illuminated the folds of her green gown. She had done her best to pad the bodice and skirts with the wadded-up sheet and some pillows. But she knew that the ruse would not hold up long under close scrutiny.

"What a pity that you allowed yourself to be seduced by Hardesty to the extent that you would be drawn into a great scandal," Reed said, moving forward again. "Have you no care at all for your reputation? You succumbed to your weak, feminine nature, just as Sarah did, I suppose. I can-not begin to describe to you my anguish and my rage when I discovered on our wedding night that Sarah was not pure. Her lover had died, you see. She never told me about him. But on our wedding day she wore a mourning brooch de-voted to him on her beautiful white gown»

He reached the bed and halted.

"When I realized how she had deceived me, I went mad. I am certain that some dark spirit from the Other Side took possession of me, forcing me to wrap the scarf around her beautiful throat, forcing me to tighten it until she—"

He broke off suddenly and appeared to collect himself.

"Later I was grief-stricken, horrified by what I had done. I knew I had to get rid of the body so that no one would know what had happened. Shortly before dawn, I dressed her in her best walking gown and carried her across the street into the park. I took the brooch, and later I replaced her lover's photo and hair with her own. But by then it was too late. She had already begun to haunt me"

Caroline saw him reach toward the pillow she had propped over the space where her head would have been if she had still been inside the gown.

"But you are the one I have been waiting for, the one who can contact my Sarah on the Other Side. I know that now. When you reach through the veil, I will explain to her that I was not myself on our wedding night, but rather a man possessed. She will forgive me and leave me in peace."

He pulled aside the pillow.

"What's this?" Reed stared at the empty dress. He appeared frozen in disbelief.

She would never get a better opportunity, Caroline thought. Clutching the white satin skirts, she pushed open the wardrobe door, jumped down and ran for the door.

Reed turned slowly, as though confused.

"Sarah? It cannot be. Sarah."

Caroline dashed through the door and found herself in a shadowy hallway. A weak wall sconce cast just enough light to allow her to see a row of closed doors on either side of the corridor.

Frantically she looked in both directions, searching for the main staircase. But all she saw was the endless series of doors.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Reed had snapped out of his momentary shock and disorientation. He was giving chase.

"Come back, Sarah."

She had to choose a direction.

Instinctively she turned to the right and fled down the hall toward the dimly illuminated window at the far end. If she did not come across the main staircase, perhaps she would at least find a flight of servants' stairs.

"Sarah, stop. You must let me explain. I was not the one who killed you. I was possessed."

Caroline glanced over her shoulder and saw Reed in the shadows behind her.

"Tell me what I must do to be free of your spirit," he raged. "You are driving me mad."

The gun thundered in the hallway. Caroline heard wood paneling splinter somewhere nearby. She had almost reached the end of the corridor and still saw no sign of a staircase. Maybe she ought to try one of the doors she was passing. If she could get inside and find a way to secure it, she could buy a little more time.

She would also be trapped again.

"Sarah."

Reed's gun roared. The glass window in front of her exploded.

A door slammed open in the middle of the hall behind Caroline.

"Reed," Adam shouted. "Halt or you're a dead man" «Hardesty» Reed stopped, whirled and raised the gun, aiming at Adam, who was no more than a few steps away.

"No," Caroline screamed. At that distance, Reed could not possibly miss.

She saw Adam's arm move in a swift, tight motion, as though he were throwing an object.

Steel gleamed in the lantern light for an instant.

Reed jerked violently. The gun in his hand fired one more time but the shot must have gone wide of its mark be-cause Adam did not falter.

Reed crumpled facedown onto the floor and lay very still.

Adam kicked the gun aside and looked at Caroline. "Are you hurt?" he asked in a voice that seemed to emanate from the coldest rings of hell.

"No" Clutching the bridal skirts, she drifted slowly back along the hallway. "No, I am all right, Adam. He did not touch me."

He held out one arm. She ran to him in a swirl of ghostly white satin. When she reached his side, he pinned her tightly to him.

He held her fiercely for a long moment. Then he re-leased her to crouch beside Reed.

Caroline had been certain that Reed was dead. But he groaned when Adam turned him face up. For the first time, Caroline saw the hilt of the knife that was buried in Reed's chest.

Reed opened his eyes and stared up at Caroline. "Sarah. You have haunted me all these years. Now, at last, I will join you on the Other Side."

Reed closed his eyes. He did not open them again.

FORTY

The following afternoon they sat together in the library at Laxton Square. Adam poured brandy for Wilson, Richard, Elsworth and himself. Caroline, Julia, Emma and Milly contented themselves with tea.

He examined Caroline's face covertly while he replaced the decanter. Her eyes were shadowed, and the strain of last night's harrowing events etched her face but he could see that her strong, resilient spirit still burned with a bright flame. She was recovering nicely.

He was not nearly so certain of his own progress in that regard. He suspected that he would have nightmares of those last few moments in the corridor of Wintersett House for years to come.

If he had arrived only a few minutes later or if he had not eventually stumbled onto that flight of servants' stairs..

Don't think about it. You'll go mad.

He swallowed some of the potent brandy and sat down behind his desk.

"It was the fact that Toller and Delmont were each involved with both Reed and Elsworth that complicated the situation," he said to the others. "It seems that Elsworth here had established a relatively straightforward business connection with a number of mediums, including Toller and Delmont."

"But that was all there was to the arrangements" Elsworth took a sip of brandy and lowered the glass. "I make it a practice never to become romantically involved with my business associates. In my experience such liaisons always lead to financial disaster."

Caroline looked at him. "Did you know that Mr. Reed had established a more intimate sort of connection with both Delmont and Toller?"

"I had my suspicions," Elsworth admitted. "It seemed to me that Reed was a little too generous in allowing Toller to advertise her rather amateurish services with those ridiculous demonstrations of the planchette at the Society's headquarters. But I also suspected that the arrangement was rapidly coming to an end. Reed was paying more and more attention to Delmont."

"Did he ever approach you to request a séance in hopes of contacting his dead wife?" Julia asked.

"No." Elsworth swirled the brandy in his glass. "I made it clear from the outset that I do not claim to be able to con-tact the dead. My powers are of another sort altogether."