Usually, Mrs Bannister lectured, and then ‘talked’ to Esther, demonstrating how easily the two of them could communicate with each other. Then Esther would ‘make a speech’ herself, spelling the words to Mrs Bannister, who would relay them, sentence by sentence, to the audience. Sometimes Esther would answer questions, using the same relay system. But it did not really matter what she did, as long as she was available to stand there on the platform – deaf, mute, blind, and yet on the other hand young, shapely, and beautiful. For Esther, at seventeen, had blossomed into a startling loveliness that was stunning in its impact.

She was every woman’s longed-for child, every man’s favourite daughter – or the secret focus of his desires. Everywhere, people came to watch, to hear – and to give.

It was good to be so well known, so widely acclaimed, thought Mrs Bannister; it was good to be a ready-made hit, wherever one went … When she talked to the newspapers (and that was on very many occasions), Mrs Bannister used to describe their activities as ‘focusing attention on the needs of the blind’: when she addressed an audience, she borrowed the phrase of their first benefactor, the man with twenty thousand dollars to give away, and called for thank-offerings for the gift of sight. She called for them, and she got them: the money flowed in all the time, from scores of different sources – collections, donations, bequests. Men dug deep into their wallets, women peered into their purses, children rifled their own money boxes – all for Esther Costello. It was astonishing how people responded to this simple urge to give.

They lived comfortably, she and Esther: after all her trouble and worry, after the expenses she had been put to, after all the hard work, Mrs Bannister felt entitled to a reasonable standard of luxury … True, she had passed a lot of the money on, to various blind charities; but the rest – and that was plenty – was still there, in the ‘fund’.

She hadn’t made up her mind about the fund. It might all be distributed – later. It might serve as the nucleus of some kind of trust. It might just be a bank balance for the two of them.

After all, Esther would never be able to earn her own living. She had to be taken care of. One might almost say that this was the first priority, that the ‘needs of the blind’ started right here, at home. Mrs Bannister was still comfortably placed, but it was better to be on the safe side, to build a wall that could never be broken down. She owed it to Esther, in fact, to take no chances with the future.

She went through into the girl’s bedroom, to make her ready for the meeting.

The meeting that night was like any other meeting – which meant that it was a heart-warming success from the start. The hall was full, even though an entrance charge was made ‘to defray expenses’; Mrs Bannister now advertised these meetings under the headline ‘Esther Costello Answers Your Questions’, and the appeal of this promised miracle seemed irresistible. The audience applauded Mrs Bannister’s brief introduction (she had cut this down to the minimum, since Esther’s story was so well known): they sat still as mice while the two of them demonstrated their methods of talking to each other; they responded generously when, during ‘question time’, Esther’s brave accomplishment became evident.