Chapter Fifty-Eight
Ever since Hugo’s death, Violet had a recurrent dream that she was drowning.
It came in different forms of the same nightmare.
Sometimes she was in the water with Hugo after his body had plunged into the lake, the two of them sinking like stones.
Other times, she was alone, floundering beneath the blue-green surface, searching for him before she too was drawn down into its murky depths.
Some mornings she would wake up with the inexplicable taste of brine on her tongue, which made no sense to her since Hugo had drowned in fresh water, not salt.
The therapist her family had insisted she go to after his death had told her it was normal to dream about drowning after the trauma she had experienced.
“Your mind is trying to make sense of all the emotions. It’s a tremendous endeavor to process losing someone we loved,” her therapist had said. “Your dreams are a reminder of that.”
Although she understood the psychology behind what her subconscious might be trying to tell her, it made the dreams no less upsetting.
It had been several weeks since she’d had one of her nightmares, but the night before she’d run into Sylvia, Violet had dreamt that she was on a boat that had snapped in half.
When she entered Widener, her head swung in the direction of the marble dedication plaque at the left of the entrance.
HARRY ELKINS WIDENER
A GRADUATE OF THIS UNIVERSITY
BORN JANUARY 3, 1885
DIED AT SEA APRIL 15, 1912
UPON THE FOUNDERING
OF THE STEAMSHIP
TITANIC
She’d passed by this plaque hundreds of times.
She knew Harry Widener had perished on the Titanic.
She’d even read a letter from Quaritch to Rosenbach in the days following the ship’s tragic demise indicating that Harry had informed him he had no intention of ever taking the Little Bacon off his person.
“Perhaps it could help with the identification should a body be found with a book inside its dinner jacket,” the bookseller had written.
But what seemed different about this last dream was the fracture of the boat. It wasn’t a new thing to learn that the Titanic had broken in half before it sank to the Atlantic’s floor. But in Violet’s dream, her body had fallen between the parts and become stuck there.
“Did you bring the Ouija board?” Theo had found her in their spot in the stacks. She had not yet taken it out from her bag, just in case he didn’t show up.
“I have it,” she said. She withdrew the box from her tote and laid the board down.
“I almost didn’t come. I have so much work before break.” He looked at her. “But I didn’t want to let you down.”
“You wouldn’t have let me down. I get it. This is nuts anyway.”
“Do you ever think it might be Hugo who’s trying to say something, though? I keep thinking maybe I shouldn’t be here if he’s trying to communicate with you.”
Violet stood there quiet for a second, looking at the board between them. Again, she had this strange feeling about serving as some kind of bridge. The image of her between the two ship parts flashed once more in her head.
“I wish I could say I was feeling Hugo from the other side… that he was trying to communicate to me. But when I’m here in Widener, I actually don’t feel Hugo at all. That’s the thing. It’s actually the opposite. This is one of the few places where I have a little relief from how much I miss him.”
“I guess that makes sense… And asking questions to a Ouija board in the bottom of the stacks at Widener isn’t totally off the mark. Libraries are supposed to be places where we learn things we didn’t know, right?”
“Absolutely,” she agreed.
They sat down and Violet took out the board and unfolded it on the ground, then placed the planchette on top.
“Do you know what you want to ask it?” Theo leaned in.
She nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Violet placed her hands on one side of the planchette and Theo lightly placed his fingertips on the other.
The word “love” was the last word to be spelled out when they were communicating with Harry.
But there had been no other additional information.
Violet needed to be more specific the next time she asked a question.
“Harry Elkins Widener… were you ever in love with someone?”
The planchette jutted toward the corner of the board, just under the drawing of the sun, where it spelled out the word “Yes.”
Theo’s eyes widened. Even he felt the energy moving their fingers across the board.
“What was her name?” Violet asked her second question.
The planchette moved again. This time it moved even faster.
It spelled out the name “Ada.”
“Ada?” Theo looked at Violet. “Does that ring a bell?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve never come across that name anywhere in the archives.”
“Ask if Ada has a last name.” Theo urged her.
Again, they both put their fingers atop the planchette.
“Harry, can you tell us Ada’s last name?”
There were a few seconds of a pause.
Then, the planchette darted quickly to the other corner of the board. Beneath the drawing of a moon, where it spelled out the word “No.”
Theo’s hands jumped off the plastic triangle.
“What was that?” he blurted, annoyed. “We only get half a name? What can we even do with that?”
Violet paused. Theo’s reaction had surprised her. Part of her had felt he had only come to the library to humor her or to be a good friend. But now he seemed truly frustrated in wanting more answers.
“Maybe there’s a reason,” she said. “After all, we are in a library. We have to remind ourselves that the best stories unfold in the most unexpected ways.”
Theo smiled. “Well in that case, let’s try and move the plot along a little faster. Can I ask Harry a question before we leave?”
“Sure. Why not?”
They both put their hands back on the planchette.
“Harry… where can we find out more about Ada?”
The triangle remained static for a moment. Then the lights above flickered. Theo looked at Violet and then the board. Suddenly the planchette dragged toward the letter “K” and then “E,” before landing on “Y.”
“Key?” Theo looked perplexed. “Vi, does that make any sense to you?”
Violet’s eyes widened. “Yes, actually. It does.”
“I know exactly what it means,” she said as they put the board away. “And it confirms my suspicions.”
“Your suspicions about what?”
She knew it was completely forbidden to bring Theo into Harry’s study. He wasn’t a page and the room was off limits to everyone except the library staff. But she had to show him the key.
“I know you said you only had until eight thirty to meet with me tonight, but can you spare a few minutes more? I want to show you the key I think he’s talking about.”
Theo glanced at his watch. “I think my Poli Sci can wait a few more minutes. Show me.”
He followed her down the corridor and to the bank of stairs, winding up until they reached the circulation room.
“Look, here’s the plan.” She pulled him aside.
“We’ll head on over to the study now. I’ll go in there and get the key out of Harry’s desk.
So just come as close as you can to the velvet rope and I’ll show it to you.
” She looked around to make sure they were alone.
“In case anyone comes by and questions what I’m doing in there, I can use the excuse that I wanted to check to see if the flowers on his desk needed more water. ”
“Got it,” he said. He then followed her toward the marble rotunda where Harry’s study was.
Violet dipped behind the rope and went straight toward the desk. Knowing there were security cameras in the upper part of the ceiling, she went toward the flowers and lifted the vase up and looked at the water level then put it down.
Then she quickly went to the desk drawer and pulled out the fob with the two silver keys. She took the one with the birds and dangled it in the air so Theo could see it and then returned it to its resting place.
“You see how much larger this one is, and how ornate it is with the two birds at its end?”
“Yeah, what’s it for?”
“Well, that’s the thing.” Violet motioned him to walk down the main stairs with her toward the exit. “The smaller key is used to wind the watch dial that sits atop Harry’s crystal inkwell. But no one on the library staff knows what the larger one is for.”
“Hmm.” Theo mustered the facts Violet had shared with him. “So… what are you thinking?”
“I think the key unlocks something that’s important to Harry.”
“You think it connects to Ada?” His eyes flashed.
“Yes. And also to what he already told us. Love.”