The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 111: what you’re looking at

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100 THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. awe-inspiring in the motionless attitude of those panoplies. Indeed, for an instant Zoe could acarcely divest herself of the idea that they would either advance towards her, or that a voice would emanate from behind the barred aventayles of the helmets. : Speedily ing her self-possession, Lady Ooyarian Meredith approached the suits of armour, and inspected them. She endeavoured to lift ane of the closed visors: but it resisted the force of her delicate hand,—doubtless because the nails forming the rivets on which it moved, were com- pletely rusted in their settings. Turning away from these panoplies, Zoe advanced farther into the chapel. It bore all the evidences of neglect : the walls were covered with damp—the tall, slen- der, sculptured shafts which sustained the pointed roof, were green with mildew. Some of the win- dows were totally deficient in glass; and the wind swept through them. At the farther extremity was an organ, placed in a gallery: but the yellow reed-like arrangement of the frontage was so dingy with collected dust, and perhaps with damp like- wise, that the original vividness of its colouring could no longer be discerned. A dilapidated stair- case led up towards the gallery: but the balustrade of bronze, elaborately worked with beautiful de- vices, remained perfect, though utterly dimmed and disfigured by the encrusted rust. There were ecveral large pictures suspended to the walls: the frames were ruined—the canvases was torn, or else had given way with the effects of time and neglect ; and the subjects of the paintings were unrecog- nisable. While gazing about her, and holding up the light in the manner that would best aid her in thie survey, Zoe perceived that a portion of the floor of the gallery had given way; and she could thus look up into a part of the interior of the organ. While thus gazing in that direction, Zoe heard the wind come rushing in through the broken windows with renewed force; and as it swept gustily into the chapel, those strange sounds were more audibly renewed than before. An idea struck Zoe: a light flashed in unto her mind :—she comprehended those sounds in an instant. They were caused by the wind rushing up through the dilapidated floor of the gallery, and passing through the pipes of the organ. According to the gusty variations of the wind, so were the sounds produced,— solemnly swelling or plaintively wailing; and thus the mystery was explained. Zoe could now affurd to smile at the apprehen- ston which had brought Irer forth from her cham- ber; and she said to herself, “Doubtless my fancy in respect to the figure which I have twice seen in the gallery, would be explained with equal ease if accident or research were only to place me on the right track. The causes of these superstitious fears prove to be nothing more than mere natural ones when their mystery is fathomed—in the same way that a ghost, with its white extended arms, seen by the roadside of a dark night, turns out when approached to be merely a sign-post.” Lady Octavian Meredith began to retrace her way through the chapel; and once more did she find herself in the vicinage of the two suite of armour. She now paseed them without the slightest dread; and she was about to draw back the cur- tain, when she was startled by a sound as of a door opening close by. She looked back ; and she te. held a figure muffled in a cloak, and wearing what seemed to be a low slouching hat. Again did a scream well nigh part from Zoe's lips; and it was a marvel that the light did not fall from her hand : but a second glance revealed to her the counte- nance of M. Voiney. He was standing in evident astonishment at beholding the Lady Octavian there; and she, feeling that her position was an awkward one, resolved to be candid at once. “ Monsieur Volney,” she accordingly said, “ you are naturally amazed to behold me in this chapel: but I beseech you to suffer me to explain.” “YT am certain,” responded the French genile- man, with that courtesy which he was always ac- customed to exhibit towards Zoe, “that your lady- ship can have none but a justifiable motive for being abeent from your chamber at this hour.” Zoe at once proceeded to explain how her ear had caught a succession of sounds which had at first alarmed her—and how, being worked up to an intolerable degree of excitement, she had issued from her room in the hope of ascertaining the source of that which had filled her with apprehen- sion. She went on to observe that she was un- illing to disturb any one—and that, in all probability, if she had failed to discover the cause of those sounds, she should have kept the secret to herself. “‘ Because,” she added, “ nothing makes a person appear more ridiculous than the confession of having given way to superstitious terror.” She then proceeded to explain how she had dis- covered that the pipes of the organ were the sources of the sounds which had alarmed her. “T agree with your ladyship,” said M. Volney, who had listened with deep attention to Zoe's narrative, “that it is always better in such cases to proceed to an investigation at once. But tell me frankly, Lady Octavian Meredith,” he con- tinued, fixing his regards scrutinizingly upon her, — is this the only source of alarm which you have experienced since you have been in the Chateau P” Zoe blushed —and for an instant looked confused : but the next moment recovering her sel{-possession, she said, “I will answer you frankly, M. Volney; and if I had intended to suppress certain circumstances which I am now about to reveal, it was only be- cause I dreaded to appear ridiculous in your eyes.” “Speak, Lady Octavian,” said the French gen- tleman, still regarding her with a visible interest, and with a strong, even painful curiosity. Zoe proceeded to explain how she had twice seen a figure gliding rapidly and noiselessly along at the extromity of the passage, and at about the same hour on the two consecutive evenings. “Ts your ladyship sure,” inquired M. Volney, “that these were not the phantoms of mere imagi- nation, influenced by the knowledge of the legend attached to the Chateau P’” * It is possible that the second occurrence might thus have been the result of fancy,” answered Zoe 3 although in my own mind I can scarcely arrive at such a conviction. But thet in the first in- stance it was quite otherwise, I can positively affirm, inasmuch as it was not until the following morning I became acquainted with the legend, when one of my maids was accidentally led to narrate it.” COMIC DOG (CO