Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 339: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

_ TS SA Fh teen: Re S Seek . 826 ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS, of the infant was concealed; for it is supposed to have been born dead !” I felt a cold shudder creeping over me}; it was a glanee of mingled horror and terror which 1 threw in the direction of that cupboard; and Beda, perceiving that her narrative had made a strong impression upon me, hastened to exclaim, “ Oh, but we will not give way. to idle fears, dear Miss! There are coincidences for which it is difficult to account ; and that noise last night in that very place—Oh ! it must have been caused by the rats !” I saw that the good-hearted girl was endeavour- ing to sustain my courage because I had under. taken to pass another night in the haunted chamber ; and I saw likewise that she more or less repented having told me the tale. I was re- solved not to recall the overture I had made to occupy that chamber again. I had a certain pride which prevented mo from proclaiming myself to be a coward ; but at the same time I regretted that I should have compromised Beda in the matter. *‘ My dear gir),” I said, “if you have any hesi- tation in sharing these rooms again with me to- night - “Oh, dear Miss,” she ejaculated, * how can you guspect me of such pusillanimity? Granting everything to be true which is alleged by super- stitious rumour, what have we to fear,—we who have done no harm, and whose consciences are pure! Wherever you remain, Miss Percy, I also will remain; and therefore not another syllable on the point! I have a few words to add to make the sad, dismal tale complete. The severe illness which so suddenly overtook Mrs. Ravenscliffe proved fatal at the expiration of a few weeks; and she perished in the midst of a raging delirium.” * And that cupboard, Beda,” I said,—“ was it ever searched ?” “No, Miss—never,” was Beda’s reply. “Ido not exactly know what importance might have been attached to the ravings of the unhappy mother—whether it was supposed that truth really lurked at the bottom of them, or whether it was surmised that her disordered fancy had taken its impressions from the questions put to her at the inquest, I cannot tell: but certain it is that no one sought this chamber for the purpose of in» vestigation or of search; and the local authorities doubtless concluded that they had nothing more to do with the matter—or else the details of the wretched woman’s death were so hushed up that naught transpired beyond the walls of the man- sion, The Squire died soon after Mrs. Ravens- cliffe was consigned to the tomb; and the present Mr. Tremaine—then a minor—suceeeded to the possession of the property.” Beda ceased speaking; and almost immediately afterwards the dinner-bell rang. My toilet had been delayed while I was conversing with Beda and listening to the tale which she told me: I therefore now made haste to finish it; and little more passed between us on the occasion. I de- scended to the drawing-room, whence there was an almost immediate adjournment to the dining- room; and the appearance of a splendid’ repast seemed to put even the most ill-tempered dowager of the company into a good humour. When the ladies retired from the banqueting- apartment and gathered by themselves in the drawing-room, Mrs. Tremaine found an oppor- tunity to entreat that I would alter my intention in reference to the haunted chamber; but I posi- tively declined to do so—and implored that she would still keep the secret, so that no step might be taken by Mr. Tremaine to prevent me from executing my design. Charlotte likewise spoke to me on the subject: and I said to her, “ How is it, my dear friend, that you seek to dissuade me from my purpose? I thought you told me that when ‘you were a little girl you were superstitious, but that since you have grown up “And what I told you was true, Ellen,” in- terrupted Charlotte. “I do not believe in the existence of apparitions; but still I think that the imagination may sometimes play strange and dangerous freaks when subjected to particular in- fluences. And besides, there is something so in- hospitable and even apparently so cruel in suffer- ing you to occupy that chamber eS “On this score you need not blame yourself,” I said, “inasmuch as it is all my own doing, and I have wilfully and steadily opposed your mother’s well-meant dissuasions.” “ Well,” interjected Charlotte, “as for any actual cause of apprehension I do not believe that i6 exists. No one has ever seen the ghosts except those who are determined to believe in them; and those are amongst the most uneducated and super- stitious of the domestics. You know that my parents more than once sleptin the haunted apart- ment: they neither heard nor saw anything to alarm them. tinent— that was four years ago, you know— Lavinia and Emilia were too young to travel and have their studies neglected ; they were then only nine and eleven respectively:—and so they re» mained behind at the Hall.” “ But not alone ?” I ejaculated. *No:—-Miss Barron was of course with them,” answered Charlotte; “and during the period that they were thus together beneath this roof, Miss Barron never heard nor saw anything to terrify her—though I do not think,” added Charlotte, with a smile, “that she possesses so much courage as yourself, Ellen, or would like to sleep in the haunted apartment. But do tell me one thing! What did you mean just now, before dinner, by saying that there was a little discovery you were desirous of making, and that it referred to the cupboard in the corner that is remotest from the door ?” “When I made that remark, Charlotte,” I an- swered, “I was utterly iznorant of the particulars of the legend attached to the haunted room; and I was struck by the singularity of the look which your mother, yourself, and Miss Barron suddenly wore.” ‘And have you since heard the tale ?” inquired Charlotte hastily. “Yes,” I replied. “And now I comprehend wherefore you all three regarded me in so strange & manner when I spoke of that cupboard. Now, if you promise, Charlotte,” I continued, “to keep the seal of silence upon your lips, I will tell you something which will serve to explain the meaning of my words when [ said that there was ai little discovery I wished to make in the cupboard.” *T promise you to keep the seal upon my lips,” replied Charlotte, her looks expressing a deep curiosity. Se oe CORNIELOOO KS, (EC) When we first went upon the Con- . ee es ne eee. ee ee ee