‘Ah,’ she said, ‘sweet and holy, sweet and holy. The blessed ones are waiting for you, Mr. Darnley, I feel convinced of it. I almost think I see one near you now, but alas, I have not quite reached the percipient plane as yet. But do go to dear Mr. Minch, and he will tell you her name and all about her, and what she wants to say to you. I have had the strangest, most marvellous experiences myself. My own sweet sister Margaret is always hovering round me, Mr. Darnley. She died when she was only six days old, and grew up in the spirit world. I recognised her distinctly, as soon as dear Mr. Minch described her.... Golden hair, he said, tall, blue eyes, high forehead, graceful figure. Then, to make _quite_ sure, I said, “Does your name begin with M?” and Mr. Minch asked the sweet spirit, and told me it said “Yes.” Then, of course, I knew. “Margaret,” I cried--just like that--“is it Margaret?” And it _was_ Margaret; she had come to tell me that I must go on bravely, and everything would come right. Now, wasn’t that a holy, happy experience, Mr. Darnley? Oh yes, you must go to Mr. Minch. Go to-morrow night at eight. He has a public circle then, and crowds of dear poor creatures go to him for help and comfort, and he heals them all--not only people like you and me, Mr. Darnley, but all the poor sweet cooks and housemaids.’ Kingston was not quite so strongly impressed as Mrs. Mercer-Laporte had hoped by the reappearance of the somewhat immature sister Margaret. Yet, though he derided himself for such weakness, he could no longer resist the absurd temptation to put things to the test. He was quite fixed in his determination to see Mr. Minch, if it were only to laugh at him; and filled up the rest of the evening by cross-examining Mrs. Mercer-Laporte on all the other pink and purple spirits by whom she was apparently accompanied wherever she went. Gundred, who looked on the entertainment as a tiresome duty, calling only for one’s second-best gown, was surprised to see her husband so much amused and interested. When he deliberately went across the room after dinner to sit once more by Mrs. Mercer-Laporte, Gundred was quite startled by such a display of enthusiasm. However, she quickly noticed that Mrs. Mercer-Laporte had pink eyelids and a long bony neck; her astonishment subsided into contemptuous tolerance, and then passed into a pious pity. She thought how nice it was of Kingston to be so unnecessarily kind to the poor thing, perhaps the weirdest of Aunt Minna’s weird collection of guests. Gundred called back her attention to her own behaviour, and set herself once more to giving an example of nice deportment to this mob of people who clearly had no notion what decent clothes or manners might mean.