The London Séance Society: A Novel

Beck returns to the Society, and he and Morely go to the library to ask Vaudeline and Lenna what should be expected at the séance that night. Vaudeline explains the seven-step sequence through which ghosts are summoned and interrogated. She also warns them of the potential dangers of the ceremony, which include the possibility of summoning the wrong spirits, allowing violent spirits into the body, and being unable to expel such a spirit. After locking the women back in the library, Morely returns to his study, takes out a vellum-bound book, and makes a quick note. He then goes back to fetch the women for the séance.

When Morely finally returns to collect them and bring them to the séance, Vaudeline seduces Morely as planned, allowing Lenna to sneak behind him and bludgeon him across the face with the candlestick. Morely falls but is still conscious. He grabs Vaudeline’s ankle and prevents her escape. At Vaudeline’s behest, Lenna flees and locks Vaudeline and Morely in the room together, then runs to the room of the carriage driver, Bennett. He tells her that he was a friend of Evie’s; she got him the job at the Society.