Unfinished (Historical Fiction) - By Harper Alibeck Page 0,47

pages of her outline. “But even after news of their deception was well-known, well-to-do women such as Lilith Stone and, in particular, her mother, Margaret, frequented mediums for seances.”

“Like the 1910s version of The Psychic Friends Network?” She looked up quickly, but couldn't catch the source of the question. Probably Miles Loring, the resident grad student blowhard. He made every 20th Century America seminar difficult, but today, her day to present research on the role of spiritualism in the women's rights movement in the 1910s, he would become the academic equivalent of Zuul from Ghostbusters.

Where was the Sta-Puf Marshmallow Man when you needed him?

“Not quite,” she replied, controlling her expression and voice. A bored tone would hit its target better than anger, and his dark brow furrowed, clearly displeased with her lack of a reaction.

“So why would Lilith Stone, a well-established women's rights crusader and a confirmed skeptic, go to a séance? And especially one with Evangeline Wolf, of all people?” Relief flooded her and she nearly mouthed a silent “thank you” as Seth Hines asked the question.

“And,” he added dryly, turning to Miles, “did Miss Cleo give you a bad reading, Miles? At $3.99 a minute, I hope you got your money's worth. Or did you dial the wrong 1-900 line and get Miss Cleo by accident?” A ripple of tittering floated around the table.

“I've never called one of those – ”

“Jill, please continue.” Dr. Andrew Miller-Konitz, their professor and chair of the history department, took command. Jill glanced at him, all grizzled and grandfatherly, overgrown ear hair and eyebrows that spiraled out like a chia pet on steroids, and shot him a grateful look. Then she glared at Miles, her bright blue eyes locked with his dark orbs, and resumed her presentation.

“Good question, Seth. We don't know why she went. That's one question I need to answer when I do research next year in the archives in Toronto. She left her letters there, and not here in Boston, where she was born and raised. It would have been easier to uncover more.”

“No kidding,” Miles said flatly. He stretched his short, thick legs and cracked his neck, tongue rolling between his teeth and cheek, and let out an enormous, overly dramatic sigh.

Everyone ignored him. “I've been to Cambridge and toured the townhome where Evangeline Wolf held her seances and talked to some Unitarian archivists to ask about the link between Lilith and spiritualism, but there isn't much to go on.”

Seth nodded and gestured for her to continue. Warm, kind brown eyes countered Miles' assholery. Wavy chestnut hair, just long enough to be a bit mussed. Broad shoulders strengthened by volleyball and biking. Strong arms stretched across his t-shirt covered chest, and she swallowed, hard, as she wondered how his calloused hands would feel on her –

Dr. Miller-Konitz cleared his throat. “Jill?”

“Yes?” She inhaled and shook her head slightly, clearing her thoughts. “Yes. So, Lilith Stone. We know that she visited Evangeline Wolf twice, in fact. Once with her mother and once, later, just before she moved from Boston to Toronto and assumed her exile. There may be documents indicating she visited a medium one other time, with her purported lover, Esther Nourse, but I won't know that for some time. Need to get in the archives and dig through the documents.”

Out of the corner of her eye she watched Seth. Friends since they both entered the Ph.D. program in History two years ago, Jill had spent most of that time trying not to be attracted to him. Avoiding him had been easy.

But lately, not so much.

All that had changed was her availability.

She liked men and, it turned out, so had her fiance.

Sometimes you can have a little too much in common.

“Hello? Jill?” Miles glared at her. “I asked a question.”

“Sorry. What's that?”

“You said 'purported.' Esther Nourse may or may not have been her lesbian lover?”

She nodded. “Right. I have records documenting their friendship. I know they had some sort of bond going back to high school, and that Nourse lent her money for a trip to San Diego. That trip came about a year before she went into her hermit stage.”

“So why assume they were lovers?” Seth asked.

“I'm not. Lilith Stone never married, and because there are no records of her having a relationship with any man, some scholars believe she and Nourse had a 'Boston marriage.' The relationship would have been considered a dear friendship in their time. One detail I've found: Lilith visited a Dr. David Burnham