"'The sanitary engineer from Cannes has examined everything. The drainage is simply perfect––––'"
This quotation displays the ways in which the scientific developments of imperialism fail to explain observable truth and subsequently induce fear in this narrative. Miss Elderson's hyper fixation on the drainage reflects her belief that there is a physical, scientifically provable cause to Lota’s maladies. As noted in a prior annotation, the drainage represents England's industrial advances in the wake of growing Imperialism. By ensuring the drainage is to standard, Ms. Elderson believes there is no reason for Lota's health to be in decline. Because there is no scientific reasoning as to why Lota’s health would be in decline, she believes there is no significant risk. As Helen points out, Lota's health is observably declining despite the scientific reasoning as to why. The way in which the most developed scientific reasoning fails to explain observable truth induces fear within the characters of this narrative, as they are unable to attribute a cause to the effect they are clearly seeing.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Chapter III. “Herself.” Annotated Text in Haunting Imperial (Non)Sense: What Cannot be Captured in the Victorian Ghost Story. 1894. https://editions.covecollective.org/edition/haunting-imperial-nonsense-w....