I find some elements of the plot of May Sinclair's novella The Flaw in the Crystal contrived and confusing.
The final resolution of Agatha Verrall's dilemma in particular seems unconvincing and unsatisfactory. She finds a solution to her difficulties that leaves some questions unanswered and some issues unaddressed.
Agatha Verrall's dilemma
We left Agatha Verrall in a situation where she is damned if she uses her gift to heal people remotely and damned if she doesn't.
Taking away people's suffering means becoming possessed by her subjects' former mental states: the psychic connection is a two-way street. The links that she creates between herself and her subjects may be also be cross-contaminated such that one subject can get at another.
Cutting ties with people who have been healed means that their mental anguish returns. This entails watching them suffer and coming under both internal and external pressure to resume the healing.
It would be an ideal solution to this predicament if Agatha could only use her Power without anyone involved experiencing any unpleasant side-effects.
This is much easier said than done, but Agatha eventually finds the way. Things get worse before they get better though.
Agatha Verrall cuts the tie with Harding Powell
Agatha Verral decides that saving Rodney Lanyon is more important than anything else. This entails sacrificing Harding Powell's health by cutting the tie that binds him to her.
Harding puts up a big fight, hanging on desperately and tearing down the psychic walls she builds as fast as she can build them, but eventually with help from the Power she loosens his hold, casts him out and escapes from his malign influence.
Harding reverts to his former state. Poor Milly is distraught again and begs for the help that she knows Agatha can give.
Agatha Verrall sees the light
Agatha has always had the conviction that the Power she taps is benevolent. So, if it is so high, holy, sacred and pure, how can something like this awful mess happen? Why has her gift brought so much suffering to people?
She suddenly sees it all:
“For now the whole marvellous thing was clear to her. She knew the secret of the gift. She saw luminously, almost transparently, the way it worked.“
She realises that the trouble must all be her fault. The Power will work well only when the user is balanced, objective and in an elevated state, uninfluenced by human feelings. The healer must be like a flawless crystal and operate from a much higher level than most people can reach.
Agatha realises that she is a flawed crystal: she is not selfless; her motives are not pure. Her feelings for Rodney and her attempts to use her gift to bypass and suppress them have undermined her efforts and made her vulnerable to outside influences. She has also abused her powers by using her gift to get at Rodney and remove his inclination for her company.
We are asked to believe that if it had not been for Agatha's attempts to keep herself and Rodney safe from each other, the healing of everyone would have been permanent and trouble-free and there would have been no energies going into reverse, no pushing, pulling, pressure and dangerous undercurrents. In other words, the Power works harmlessly and effectively in measurable proportion to Agatha's selflessness and the purity of her intentions.
So Agatha has only herself to blame for all the problems and suffering. What will she do now?
The end of the story
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novella The Parasite, which I believe was the inspiration for May Sinclair's story, ends with the death of the person responsible for all the trouble, and so in a way does The Flaw in the Crystal. As opposed to the literal death of Conan Doyle's evil witch Helen Penclosa, the death here is of what is presented as Agatha Verrall's flawed, lower self.
Agatha decides that she must sacrifice all personal interest in Rodney. With the approval of and help from the Power, this is what she does. She is safeguarded forever from wanting his company.
The story ends with Agatha Verrall dismissing Rodney, who will soon stop longing to see her, and facing a future in which she will operate as a flawless crystal vessel for a holy Power rather than as a human being.
We are not told whether or not she will continue to heal people without first asking their permission.
The final article in the series will cover some remaining material of interest.
This edition of The Flaw in the Crystal has a picture of the author on the front cover:
