Once Jefferson was out of the window, Dan rushed over to it. He lived one story up, so surely Jefferson could not just jump. But, when he looked, he saw no sign of the ghost on the ground whatsoever. It was dark, and there were many shadows in which to hide. He touched his neck and it was sore. It would be sore for days, perhaps. Not that he would know. No one had ever strangled him before, because no one had ever had the audacity to.

Dan knew that, if he called for Simon, they could get the police down there. He was certain his window had been locked that day, so they had to find out how Jefferson had gotten in, and stop him from doing it again. Hell, they would have to station a man in the street to keep watch if they had to. His room was not a den for ghosts and goblins and criminals. Such things, surely, could not be allowed.

But, while Dan was thinking, he remembered that Simon had not believed him the last time. And the police? They were even less likely to. He would have to figure it out the following day, so he went over to his chest of drawers to get out his night shirt, but when he opened it, the drawer was completely empty.

Cursing, Dan checked the other drawers. Empty. Empty. Empty. His shirts were all gone. His pants were all gone. His coats, his socks, his shoes, his scarves, his cravats, his ties … all of them were gone, gone, gone, gone, and gone. With a final swear, he slammed the last drawer closed. Even his nightshirt! It was not like he would have worn that out in public, never mind at the gala evenings. It was an insult to injury, and Simon would murder him if he ever found out.

After a while, Dan decided to wear his clothes to bed that night, including his shoes, just to be safe. He did not bathe in the morning, because he was afraid that his last outfit would disappear while he was disrobed. He felt sweaty, uncomfortable, and he was probably smelly as a reult. He knew that he would have to go to see Nolwazi that day, so he put on his cologne, hoping it would cover anything up.

At some point, Dan asked himself when it was that he had decided he was going to visit Nolwazi.

He might well have come to such a decision on his own, honestly. While he had told himself the night before that he would never go to visit her again, it was not like him to leave such a thread of his life dangling, especially not a thread that had first woven itself in when he was only a youth. So, he told himself he was going to see her because he wanted her to explain herself further. But, in honest truth, it had less to do with his own feelings than he would have admitted. In truth, the instant Jefferson had told him to apologise to Nolwazi, he had known he would obey.

Dan was, despite of his station, an employee of the Aquamarine, which was Jefferson’s domain, and so, like any good subject, he would do as Jefferson commanded. So, when he eventually went to see Nolwazi later that day, she admitted him into her bedroom as soon as he showed up.

“You’ve had a night of it,” Nolwazi said, looking over Dan’s wrinkled clothes.

“Yes … at the hands of your teacher, no less,” Dan responded. “He came to my room last night and …” He stopped, because Nolwazi did not need to know about his humiliation. Resisting the urge to touch his throat, he continued. “All of my clothes are gone now, except what I was wearing yesterday. So forgive me if I look a little worn.”

“He must have been in a bad mood to confront you,” Nolwazi said.

“Probably! Oh, and it seems this is all about my giving a scarf to little Isabella Sokhulu,” Dan said.

“She’s not so little,” Nolwazi said. “And you gave her what?”

“That hardly matters. It was a kindness,” Dan responded.

“She’ll take any crumb she can get …” Nolwazi said.

“Are you jealous of her now?” Dan asked, and when Nolwazi shrugged in response, he continued. “Until yesterday, I was so deeply in love with you I did not see other women as women.”

“You are still angry with me?” Nolwazi asked.

“Of course I’m still angry with you,” Dan responded.

***

Tell us: What do you think is going to happen next?