The Laudanum Ladies’ Society is out two weeks from today and to whet your appetite here’s an excerpt. In this scene, Gwen and Jenny have accepted an invitation to present their tincture to the enigmatic and glamorous Miss Salisbury in the hope she will become a buyer.
Miss Salisbury’s house looked unassuming from the outside, but stepping over the threshold, Gwen discovered an exotic building that looked as if half the treasures of India had been poured into it. It was also extremely hot with the largest scuttle of coal she had ever seen standing beside a blazing fire that threw out heat like a furnace. The temperature of the parlour was a stark contrast to the sleet that lashed the windows. Already prone to waves of heat crashing over her without warning, Gwen had to resist the urge to unbutton her cuffs and loosen the bow at the neck of her blouse.
Miss Salisbury sat in a high-backed basket chair, hands folded in her lap as Gwen and Miss Rosewood gazed openly around. She wore an odd, embroidered garment – halfway between a smoking jacket and a sultan’s robe – over the top of a violet, velvet day dress.
‘I collected a lot of these myself on my travels as a younger woman,’ Miss Salisbury said, inclining her head to the display of red and black vases with figures partaking in some of the most depraved acts that Gwen had ever seen.
‘I am a big collector. I collect all sorts of interesting things, you know. And interesting people.’
She gave Miss Rosewood a penetrating look, then turned her gaze to Gwen, who sat back on her sofa, rigid with nerves, not in the least part caused by the tiger skin on the floor, which stared at her malevolently with black glass eyes. With Miss Salisbury’s talk of collecting, Gwen had a horrible vision of both her and Miss Rosewood pinned down like butterflies on a page. She suppressed her shiver, reminding herself that impressing Miss Salisbury was vital, and that the interesting people she collected might in turn be interested in the product Gwen and Miss Rosewood had come here to sell.
‘I propose that you give me a demonstration of your remarkable concoction and I will see for myself what it is like,’ Miss Salisbury said, with almost no preamble. ‘I assume you have brought it with you.’
‘Of course,’ Gwen murmured. She dipped into her handbag and held out the small bottle. Miss Salisbury reached out and plucked it from her fingers then held it up to the light.
‘You haven’t used much since we last spoke,’ she observed, passing it back.
Gwen hid her surprise, but couldn’t resist looking at Miss Rosewood, who raised her brows. Miss Salisbury hadn’t had much of a glimpse of it at the time. Her eyesight and memory were clearly acute.
‘No, I haven’t felt the need. I have been sleeping better.’
Miss Salisbury ticked a finger at Gwen. ‘Oh, come now, Mrs Walters. You and I both know that this is used not for aiding sleep but for provoking pleasure. Don’t try to pretend otherwise.’
‘It’s a sleeping draught,’ Gwen protested, though even she could hear the doubt in her voice. Under Miss Salisbury’s gimlet glare, she dropped her head. ‘Or I should say it started as a sleeping draught. The side effects were unexpected but quite fascinating.’
‘Thank you. I do hate my intelligence being underestimated. It is bad enough when the culprit is a man, but women should aspire to be truthful with each other. Now that we have cleared that up, do you have a preferred method of consumption?’
‘In a glass of water, as we did when you visited,’ Gwen answered. She looked at Miss Rosewood for support, but the younger woman appeared to be deep in thought, staring at a striking mahogany wood statue of a woman wearing an elaborate headdress and not much else.
‘Water is dull, Mrs Walters.’
‘We talked about that ourselves,’ Miss Rosewood interposed.
‘We considered ginger wine,’ Gwen added.
‘You are clearly unused to the idea of selling a product, so let me offer you some advice: you charged a shilling, but if you make the experience itself attractive, you can charge four or five,’ Miss Salisbury said.
‘I can’t imagine Mrs Dowson paying that,’ Gwen argued.Miss Salisbury gave her a disdainful look. ‘Women like Mrs Dowson, or that poor unfortunate whose husband beat her, should not be the extent of your ambition.’
The book is published on 28th July in ebook, paperback and audiobook and is available to preorder here mybook.to/LaudanumLadiesSoc
Elisabeth Hobbes Writes History 