“In a past life?” asked Alice.
Visibly disturbed, but not by Alice’s sarcasm, the fortune-teller suddenly sat up.
“Ambergris, vanilla, and leather,” whispered Alice.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your perfume. You love the East. I can read certain things about people too.”
“Ah, yes. You have a gift; it’s true.” She paused. “But what is more, you carry a story without even realizing it.”
“Don’t you ever stop smiling?” asked Alice teasingly. “Is that how you lull your prey into a false sense of security?”
“I know why you came to see me,” the old woman continued, ignoring Alice’s question. “It’s funny when you think about it.”
“You heard my friends daring me to do it?”
“Well, yes, I did. But you’re not an easy person to dare. Your friends have nothing to do with it.”
“What, then?”
“The solitude that haunts you and keeps you awake at night.”
“That doesn’t sound very funny to me. Go on. Tell me something astonishing. It’s not that I don’t enjoy your company, but I’ve got a train to catch.”
“No, it isn’t funny. You’re right . . .” Her voice had grown quiet and thoughtful. She gazed into the distance, and Alice felt like she had been abandoned.
“You were going to say something?”
“What is funny,” she said, speaking normally again, “is that the most important man in your life, the one you’ve been looking for without even knowing it, was walking behind you just a few moments ago.”
Alice couldn’t resist the desire to turn around and look, but when she turned she only saw her friends waving to say it was time to go.
“Is it one of them?” Alice asked. “Eddy or Sam or Anton?”
“Listen to me, Alice. Don’t just hear what you want to hear. I told you that the man who will matter the most in your life was just behind you. He’s not there anymore.”
“And where is my Prince Charming now?”
“Patience, my girl. You’ll have to meet six other people first.”
“Six? That’s an awful lot.”
“An amazing journey, I’d say. You’ll understand one day, but it’s late and I’ve revealed everything you need to know. And since you don’t believe a word I say, the consultation is free.”
“No, I’d rather pay.”
“No need. We’ll call our time together a chat between old friends. I’m glad I got to see you, Alice. I wasn’t expecting it. You’re somebody very special, or at least, your story is.”
“What story?”
“We don’t have time for that, and besides, you won’t believe me. Go on, or your friends will blame you for making them miss the train.”
They both fell silent, and then exchanged smiles before Alice returned to her friends.
“You should see the look on your face! What did she tell you?” asked Anton.
“I’ll tell you later. Have you seen the time?” Alice hurried past them and toward the exit off the pier.
“She’s right,” said Sam. “The train leaves in twenty minutes.”
They all began running. The ocean breeze mixed with a fine rain.
Eddy took Carol by the arm. “Watch out. The ground is slippery,” he said, leading her in the race for the station.
The weak glow of the streetlights led the way as they headed up the road. In the distance, they could see the lights of Brighton station. They shouted to the railway official as they ran up to the platform. He held his lantern high and motioned for them to board the nearest carriage. The men helped the women up, and Anton was still on the running board when the train began to move forward. Eddy grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him inside.
“A minute later and we would have missed it,” gasped Carol.
Eddy turned to Alice. “Poor thing. You’re as white as a sheet,” he said.
Alice said nothing. Immersed in her thoughts, she watched Brighton disappear into the distance. She was thinking about what the woman had told her.
“So, are you going to tell us about your glorious future?” asked Anton, interrupting her reverie. “After all, we almost had to sleep out in the cold because of you.”
“Because you stupidly goaded me,” snapped Alice.
“Did she tell you anything crazy?” asked Carol.
“Nothing I didn’t know already. Those people are just con artists. With a decent sense of observation, some intuition, and self-assurance, you can string anybody along.”
“But you still haven’t said what she told you,” insisted Sam.
Anton intervened out of mercy. “We’ve had a wonderful day. Let’s leave it at that. I’m sorry, Alice. We shouldn’t have insisted. You didn’t want to, and we were all a little too . . .”
“Silly. And I was the worst of us,” apologized Alice in return, her voice softening. “But I have a much more pressing question. What are you all doing for Christmas Eve?”
Carol was going to see her family in St Mawes. Anton was having dinner with his parents in town. Eddy had promised his sister he’d spend the evening with her because his nephews were expecting Father Christmas, and his brother-in-law had already rented him a costume to wear. It was difficult to turn down because his brother-in-law had often helped Eddy out of a tight spot without ever telling Eddy’s sister. Sam had been asked to lend a hand at a charity event that his boss had organized for the children in the Westminster Orphanage.
“What about you?” Anton asked Alice.
“Oh, I’ve been invited to a party.”
“Where?” he insisted.
Carol gave him a discreet kick in the shin before taking a packet of biscuits from her handbag and passing it around, proclaiming she was hungry as a horse. She glared at Anton as he nursed his wound in outraged silence.
The train’s acrid smoke swept across the platform as it pulled into Victoria station. In the streets outside, a thick smog from the city’s coal-burning fireplaces gripped the neighborhood and floated in the depressed yellowy glow of the sodium streetlights.
They all took the same bus. Alice and Carol were the first to get off—they lived just a few streets apart from each other.
“If you’d like,” Carol said as they were parting ways on Alice’s doorstep, “I mean, if you change your mind about the party, you’re welcome to spend Christmas with us in St Mawes. My mother has wanted to meet you for such a long time. I often mention you in my letters, and she’s intrigued to know more about what a ‘nose’ does exactly.”
“Oh, I’m not very good at talking about what I do,” said Alice, thanking Carol for the kind offer.
She kissed her friend good night and headed upstairs. She could hear the footsteps of her neighbor Mr. Daldry on the staircase ahead of her, and waited a moment on the landing so she wouldn’t run into him.
It was almost as cold in her flat as it had been outside. Alice kept her coat and mittens on as she filled the kettle and put it on the gas, only to discover she was out of tea. She took a few dried rose petals from her worktable and crumbled them into the teapot before pouring the hot water over them and settling into bed. She picked up the book she had abandoned the night before. Suddenly, the room went black.
Alice put down her book, climbed up on her bed, and peered out of the skylight. The electricity had gone out in the entire neighborhood. Often such cuts lasted until morning. She got down off the bed and stumbled round the flat, patting around in the dark, trying to find a candle, but the little stub of wax by the sink reminded her there were none left.
She tried in vain to light its practically nonexistent wick, but the flame only vacillated a moment before going out.
How frustrating. Alice wanted to note down the ideas she had about the smells of the sea wind, the salt water, and the pilings eaten away by the spray. If she went to bed now, she would never fall asleep. She hesitated a moment before sighing and heading across the landing to ask her neighbor for help.
Daldry came to the door holding a candlestick. He was wearing cotton pajama bottoms and a turtleneck sweater under a navy-blue silk dressing gown. His face had a strange pallor in the glow of the candlelight.
“I’ve been expecting you, Miss Pendelbury.”