Latest / Melmoth The Wanderer / Irtonwood Ghost - Elinor Glyn
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- 0:01Speaker 1: Section one of The Urtonwood Ghost. This is a LibriVox recording.
- 0:06Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
- 0:10Speaker 1: information ought to volunteer, please visit a LibriVox dot org.
- 0:17Speaker 1: The Urtonwood Ghost by Eleanor Glynn, Chapter one, Part A.
- 0:25Speaker 1: Missus Charters arrived at Euston in plenty of time for
- 0:28Speaker 1: the train to Aleton. She was a woman who was
- 0:32Speaker 1: well served, and her footmen had already got her all
- 0:35Speaker 1: that she required, and she retired with a paper to
- 0:38Speaker 1: the farther side of the compartment. You need not wait, Thomas,
- 0:44Speaker 1: she said. There will probably be no one else getting in,
- 0:48Speaker 1: and it is a corridor train. So Thomas touched his
- 0:52Speaker 1: hat and left. Just before the guard gave the signal
- 0:56Speaker 1: to start. A man, evidently a gentleman, opened the door
- 1:02Speaker 1: of the carriage and entered. He had been walking leisurely
- 1:06Speaker 1: up and down the platform, and if she had known it,
- 1:10Speaker 1: had observed her maid and footman looked at her luggage
- 1:14Speaker 1: and ascertained her destination. It was the same as his
- 1:18Speaker 1: own Burtonwood manner. That really charmingly romantic old place. Ada
- 1:24Speaker 1: Hardress and her obedient husband had just taken from the
- 1:28Speaker 1: Walworths for a year. It is too exquisitely ghostly pet,
- 1:34Speaker 1: she had written to esther Charters creaking paneling, underground passages,
- 1:40Speaker 1: haunted library, and a big cedar wood bedroom where the
- 1:43Speaker 1: white lady appears. There is no electric light, and a
- 1:47Speaker 1: person with your sensibilities can be perfectly certain to receive
- 1:51Speaker 1: a thrill. Come and spend Christmas with us, and missus
- 1:56Speaker 1: Charters had accepted won by this alluring day description, and
- 2:01Speaker 1: was now the day before Christmas Eve, on her way thither.
- 2:08Speaker 1: She was a tall, slender woman of twenty eight or thirty.
- 2:12Speaker 1: Perhaps she was not beautiful, but every single thing she
- 2:17Speaker 1: put on seemed to enhance her grace. Rather plaintive and
- 2:23Speaker 1: distinguished refinement appeared to be the note which first struck
- 2:27Speaker 1: strangers about her That Bore Algernon Alexander Charters had joined
- 2:35Speaker 1: friends in another world some three years before this Christmas Eve,
- 2:41Speaker 1: leaving his widow most comfortably provided for. Only an unpleasant
- 2:47Speaker 1: jar had happened not more than a week ago. The
- 2:51Speaker 1: family lawyer had written to inform Master that there might
- 2:55Speaker 1: be serious trouble ahead, and it might even eventualize in
- 3:00Speaker 1: her loss of most of Algernon Alexander's money if a
- 3:05Speaker 1: certain marriage certificate could not be found. The whole fortune
- 3:10Speaker 1: was being claimed by a descendant of the great great grandfather,
- 3:15Speaker 1: who contended that Algernon Alexander himself had enjoyed his ten
- 3:20Speaker 1: or twelve thousand a year unlawfully. It appeared that somewhere
- 3:26Speaker 1: about seventeen ninety five, the rich Alderman Charter's son, delighting
- 3:32Speaker 1: to move in circles above him, had contracted a marriage
- 3:36Speaker 1: secretly with the daughter of a decayed noble who would
- 3:41Speaker 1: have none of him, and the lady, regretting her mistake
- 3:46Speaker 1: too late, had denied all connection with him and willingly
- 3:51Speaker 1: relinquishing her son, whose existence she had concealed and of
- 3:56Speaker 1: whom she was ashamed. She had retired with her father
- 4:00Speaker 1: to Italy, and there, a year or two later, had
- 4:04Speaker 1: died the wife of an Italian count. The abandoned rich
- 4:10Speaker 1: city husband had apparently taken the casual behavior of the
- 4:14Speaker 1: noble lady in a philosophical spirit, doting upon her son,
- 4:20Speaker 1: to whom, although he married again and had a number
- 4:24Speaker 1: of other children, he left the bulk of his great fortune.
- 4:30Speaker 1: This second family seemed to have been complacent people, and
- 4:34Speaker 1: had accepted their fate. But now one of their descendants
- 4:39Speaker 1: had come forward and claimed that the will of John Charters,
- 4:44Speaker 1: expressly stating two mile legitimate eldest son and his heirs,
- 4:51Speaker 1: with no name given, the property should come to him
- 4:55Speaker 1: as the lineal representative of the eldest son of the
- 4:59Speaker 1: second family, there being no proof to be found anywhere
- 5:04Speaker 1: of the first marriage with the lady Marjorie wild Acre.
- 5:11Speaker 1: Missus Charters thought of all these things as she sat
- 5:14Speaker 1: in the train. Her attention had scarcely wandered from them,
- 5:19Speaker 1: even as she glanced up at the intruder into her carriage.
- 5:22Speaker 1: But she did casually notice that he was a thin,
- 5:26Speaker 1: dark man with something rather attractive looking about him, and
- 5:31Speaker 1: after a while she became conscious that his eyes were
- 5:36Speaker 1: fixed upon her, and she felt compelled to look up.
- 5:41Speaker 1: They were too close together, the orbs which met hers,
- 5:45Speaker 1: she decided, though their size and shape left nothing to
- 5:49Speaker 1: be desired. She had a foolish shiver of foreboding and
- 5:53Speaker 1: dislike as she turned away and let her mind revert
- 5:57Speaker 1: to the ceaseless question of where on the face of
- 6:01Speaker 1: the earth this certificate could be and how were they
- 6:06Speaker 1: to find it? Presently, the stranger leaned forward and said,
- 6:13Speaker 1: in a most cultivated voice, which yet had a foreign
- 6:16Speaker 1: accent somewhere lurking in the background, you are Missus Charters.
- 6:22Speaker 1: I believe we are both going to the same house.
- 6:27Speaker 1: May I introduce myself? I am Ambrose Duval. I am
- 6:33Speaker 1: afraid not quite an Englishman. His smile was so pleasant
- 6:39Speaker 1: it made you forget the sinister impression left by his eyes.
- 6:45Speaker 1: Missus Charters was of the world and not easily disconcerted.
- 6:50Speaker 1: She bowed politely, and a conversation began, in the course
- 6:55Speaker 1: of which it became apparent that mister Ambrose Duval such
- 7:00Speaker 1: a name, it reminds one of Claude. She thought, had
- 7:05Speaker 1: met the Haddresses abroad, and had renewed his acquaintance lately,
- 7:09Speaker 1: and was coming down now to this Christmas party. Nothing
- 7:14Speaker 1: could be more polished and smooth than his manner. It
- 7:18Speaker 1: had that easy gliding from one subject to another, which
- 7:23Speaker 1: makes so agreeable a conversationalist. He skimmed all sorts of
- 7:29Speaker 1: interesting topics, and at last arrived at English architecture. Milton
- 7:35Speaker 1: Wood is a very romantic old place, Missus Hardress tells me.
- 7:40Speaker 1: He said, a fine specimen of Tudor style, with additions
- 7:45Speaker 1: of Jacobiane. I am longing to study it. Do you
- 7:49Speaker 1: know its history? Not in the least esther replied My
- 7:55Speaker 1: friend Ada Hardress merely wrote, I should be certain to
- 7:59Speaker 1: see goosts. I love the thought of them, although I
- 8:03Speaker 1: have never been fortunate enough to encounter one, have you?
- 8:07Speaker 1: And she smiled her fascinating, elusive smile that was half
- 8:13Speaker 1: melancholy and half gay. Sir George Seafield, who had already
- 8:19Speaker 1: arrived at Urtonwood earlier in the day, thought Esther Charter's
- 8:25Speaker 1: smile the most divine thing in the world. But then
- 8:30Speaker 1: he was in love, resentfully so at first, then resignedly,
- 8:36Speaker 1: and now abjectly. Ambrose Duval, on the contrary, mused, she
- 8:45Speaker 1: is no fool. For all her gentleness, it is her
- 8:49Speaker 1: capable mouth. Perhaps her innocence about Urtonwood is all bluff,
- 8:54Speaker 1: and she is bent upon the same errand as myself.
- 8:59Speaker 1: I must lose no time. By four o'clock, when they
- 9:05Speaker 1: had reached Aleton, they had each taken stock of the other.
- 9:10Speaker 1: He makes me creep down my back, was missus Charter's comment.
- 9:15Speaker 1: Although I do feel he is attractive. Some more guests
- 9:21Speaker 1: got out of another carriage, and there were greetings and chaff,
- 9:25Speaker 1: and the whole party entered motors and were whirled to
- 9:29Speaker 1: their destination. Here all was holly and mistletoe and everything
- 9:36Speaker 1: to make a real English Christmas, huge log fires in
- 9:40Speaker 1: every grate, and quantities of wax candles tried to make
- 9:45Speaker 1: up for the want of electric light. Nothing could have
- 9:49Speaker 1: looked more like a storybook description of things as they
- 9:53Speaker 1: were once in the good old days. Ada Hardress gave
- 9:58Speaker 1: her friend a most gushing welcome, and contrived that Sir
- 10:03Speaker 1: George Seafield secured a chance for a word with her
- 10:06Speaker 1: in a suitable window seat as they drank tea. You
- 10:11Speaker 1: are cruel to me, he said, looking devotedly at the
- 10:16Speaker 1: lady of his heart, with his keen blue eyes, promising
- 10:21Speaker 1: to be at the junction and never turning up by
- 10:23Speaker 1: that train. I came down from Scotland on purpose and
- 10:27Speaker 1: thought I should have been allowed to take care of
- 10:29Speaker 1: you from Crewe. Here. I can take care of myself,
- 10:36Speaker 1: she protested softly, And I found I wanted to shop
- 10:40Speaker 1: this morning before I left. You think you are capable
- 10:44Speaker 1: of looking after yourself always under any circumstances. I suppose
- 10:51Speaker 1: he hazarded. But of course, and when I feel I cannot,
- 10:56Speaker 1: then I shall tell you, and she smiled. I pray
- 11:01Speaker 1: fate to let the chance come sooner than we think,
- 11:05Speaker 1: he announced fervently. But at this pious hope, missus Charters
- 11:11Speaker 1: only looked sweetly disdainful, and changed the conversation to less
- 11:17Speaker 1: personal things. You want to be a goose, darling and
- 11:22Speaker 1: snub Sir George to death, will you, Ada, hard Res begged,
- 11:27Speaker 1: as she took her friend up the stairs. You are
- 11:30Speaker 1: so provoking with your aloof air, and now wanting to
- 11:33Speaker 1: rest until dinner, when he is dying to talk to you.
- 11:37Speaker 1: But missus Charters was unimpressed. I am really tired, Ada,
- 11:43Speaker 1: And it does englishmen good to be made to wait.
- 11:47Speaker 1: I learned that in America, she said. Algernon took me
- 11:52Speaker 1: there when I wanted to go to Rome, but I
- 11:55Speaker 1: never regretted it. I acquired so many hints from those
- 11:59Speaker 1: clever Oh what a heavenly place, she added. When they
- 12:06Speaker 1: got to the cedar chamber, which had been allotted to her.
- 12:11Speaker 1: Fancy it's not having been spoilt in these modern days,
- 12:16Speaker 1: for it was all paneled and hung with faded orange
- 12:20Speaker 1: silk in its three tall windows and capacious four post
- 12:25Speaker 1: bed end of Section one, Section two of The Urtonwood
- 12:37Speaker 1: Ghost by Eleanor Glynn. This LibriVox recording is in the
- 12:42Speaker 1: public domain, Chapter one, Part B and presently. When missus
- 12:50Speaker 1: Charters was tucked up upon the rather hard sofa, preparing
- 12:55Speaker 1: to have a siesta before dinner, she felt at peace
- 12:59Speaker 1: with all the world. It was not long before she
- 13:03Speaker 1: was sound asleep, and here she had a strange dream.
- 13:08Speaker 1: She felt herself unaccountably moved and perturbed. She had a
- 13:13Speaker 1: sensation of breathless waiting tension while she stood in some
- 13:19Speaker 1: dark place. And suddenly it seemed as though only one
- 13:23Speaker 1: spot in the blackness became illuminated. And then she saw
- 13:28Speaker 1: an old escretoire. There was nothing else, no furniture, no room,
- 13:34Speaker 1: nothing but this old writing bureau, standing in space, and
- 13:39Speaker 1: there on it lay unfolded a yellow parchment upon which
- 13:45Speaker 1: seemed to have fallen some drops of fresh blood. Esther
- 13:51Speaker 1: woke with a sensation of supernatural excitement and fear. And
- 13:56Speaker 1: then she reasoned with herself, could anything have been more foolish?
- 14:02Speaker 1: A dream with no incident, no personages, no action to
- 14:07Speaker 1: cause such a feeling there was something uncanny about it, though,
- 14:14Speaker 1: what if the room were really haunted? She was not
- 14:18Speaker 1: sure she liked it, after all. She got up quickly
- 14:23Speaker 1: and rang for her maid, glad to have company and lights.
- 14:28Speaker 1: But all the while she dressed, she saw nothing but
- 14:32Speaker 1: the escritoire, the parchment, and the three drops of blood.
- 14:38Speaker 1: You look pale and pathetic, Sir George Seafield told her,
- 14:42Speaker 1: with tender anxiety in his voice, as they went in
- 14:46Speaker 1: to dinner, What has happened? I want to know. But
- 14:51Speaker 1: it was not until about the first entree that he
- 14:54Speaker 1: could get her to unfold her dream. Her other hand
- 14:59Speaker 1: neighbor was the attractive whole foreigner who had come down
- 15:03Speaker 1: in the train with her, and who had no intention
- 15:06Speaker 1: of allowing her legitimate partner to monopolize the conversation. He
- 15:12Speaker 1: listened attentively as she described minutely her strange incident to
- 15:18Speaker 1: Sir George, bending forward so as not to lose a word,
- 15:22Speaker 1: much to that gentleman's disgust. I hate the brute, he thought,
- 15:29Speaker 1: Why cannot he attend to the woman he has taken
- 15:31Speaker 1: in what very strange dream? Mister Ambrose Duval said, And
- 15:39Speaker 1: where was the escritoire? You have no idea, not in
- 15:43Speaker 1: the least, replied Esther. It was all in space. But
- 15:49Speaker 1: why the blood? And then a thought struck her. Of course,
- 15:54Speaker 1: she exclaimed, this is some vision sent to tell me
- 15:58Speaker 1: where I am to find a moment most important document.
- 16:02Speaker 1: How stupid of me never to have thought of it
- 16:04Speaker 1: before a document, both men asked. But while Sir George's
- 16:10Speaker 1: eyes only expressed deep admiration for the lady herself, mister
- 16:16Speaker 1: Ambrose Duvals had a concentrated eagerness to hear her words.
- 16:21Speaker 1: That was arresting. Why should this interest him so, wondered
- 16:27Speaker 1: Sir George, and it caused him to feel puzzled and irritated.
- 16:33Speaker 1: Missus Charters was no chatterer and not in the habit
- 16:37Speaker 1: of imparting her private affairs to strangers. So she laughed
- 16:42Speaker 1: and changed the conversation now to lighter things, dividing her
- 16:46Speaker 1: time equally between the two men, until the ladies rose
- 16:50Speaker 1: to leave the room. Sir George Seafield was incensed. Why
- 16:56Speaker 1: had his good friend Ada Hardress asked this foreigner to Burtonwood,
- 17:01Speaker 1: and why had she put him next to Esther, the
- 17:04Speaker 1: lady of his heart. I believe she is rather drawn
- 17:08Speaker 1: towards the jack anapes, he angrily thought to himself, and
- 17:13Speaker 1: with difficulty kept from sparring with him as they sat
- 17:17Speaker 1: over the port ada. Where did you meet mister Duval,
- 17:23Speaker 1: missus Charters asked as a group of women hung over
- 17:27Speaker 1: the big drawing room fire. He seems an interesting creature,
- 17:33Speaker 1: doesn't it he? Several of them chimed in mysterious and delightful.
- 17:39Speaker 1: One affirmed so good a looking. Another announced his eyes
- 17:46Speaker 1: are too close together. Old miss Harcourt said in her
- 17:50Speaker 1: sententious way, I shan't play bridge with him. We met
- 17:55Speaker 1: him in Hungry last summer. The hostess at last got in.
- 18:00Speaker 1: It seems absurd, but he was an hotel acquaintance. Only
- 18:04Speaker 1: he knew such a lot of people we did. He
- 18:06Speaker 1: seemed like an old friend, and we saw him often,
- 18:09Speaker 1: and he was always cheery and nice. He has relations
- 18:13Speaker 1: in England that he has come to look up. I
- 18:15Speaker 1: am so glad you find him attractive. I do myself.
- 18:19Speaker 1: He has been too charming. This last fortnight, when we
- 18:22Speaker 1: were up in town for Christmas shopping, he had just
- 18:25Speaker 1: arrived from Paris, and I have never had so delightful
- 18:28Speaker 1: a companion, So I asked him down for Christmas, he said,
- 18:31Speaker 1: he would be lonely and is so absorbed in the
- 18:34Speaker 1: study of old houses. Then some one began to play
- 18:39Speaker 1: the piano and the group broke up, and soon the
- 18:42Speaker 1: gentleman joined them, and a general move to the big
- 18:46Speaker 1: oak paneled hall commenced when the younger members started a
- 18:50Speaker 1: valse while the Fidlooths three, who had come down from
- 18:53Speaker 1: London to entertain the yule tied guests, played merrily. Sir
- 19:00Speaker 1: George Seafield was detained by the host for a second
- 19:03Speaker 1: and had the chagrin to see Missus Charters whirling in
- 19:07Speaker 1: the arms of the foreigner. He shut his firm jaw
- 19:11Speaker 1: with an ominous snap. I am dashed if I'll put
- 19:15Speaker 1: up with it, he muttered, and went and claimed the
- 19:19Speaker 1: next turn. The moment the pair paused for breath, How
- 19:24Speaker 1: cross you look tonight, Sir George, missus Charters said, as
- 19:28Speaker 1: they danced, My last partner was so agreeable and sympathetic.
- 19:34Speaker 1: I wanted to wring his neck. Was all the answer
- 19:37Speaker 1: she got, and then he added, as they stopped and
- 19:42Speaker 1: wandered off to a distant sofa in the gallery, I
- 19:45Speaker 1: am sure he is up to no good. I'd watch
- 19:48Speaker 1: the silver if I were Jack Hardress. It is really
- 19:53Speaker 1: remarkable to what depths of spite men will descend about
- 19:57Speaker 1: one another, Esther laughed as they sat down. No woman
- 20:02Speaker 1: would be so transparent, and all just because mister Duval
- 20:06Speaker 1: is a foreigner and has good manners and does not
- 20:09Speaker 1: show moods. And she leaned back provokingly among the cushions.
- 20:17Speaker 1: You like him, Sir George asked, indignantly, and then aggrievedly.
- 20:24Speaker 1: But any one can see that if you are going
- 20:27Speaker 1: to be unpleasant, missus Charters said, I shall leave you
- 20:32Speaker 1: and dance with him again. He valses divinely. Sir George's
- 20:38Speaker 1: eyes blazed. If you do, I will wring his neck.
- 20:42Speaker 1: I could easily, he blurted out, absurd brute force, and
- 20:49Speaker 1: she smiled plaintively. Englishmen are so crude? How you do
- 20:55Speaker 1: tease me? Esther, Sir George said, and then stop suddenly?
- 21:02Speaker 1: Who told you you might call me that? Missus Charters
- 21:06Speaker 1: frowned a piece of impertinence. But here her voice faltered,
- 21:13Speaker 1: for she saw that her companion was no longer listening
- 21:17Speaker 1: to her. His eyes were fixed with an intense interest
- 21:22Speaker 1: upon a picture which hung upon the wall. Opposite them
- 21:25Speaker 1: the portrait of a lady in late eighteenth century dress,
- 21:30Speaker 1: with a rather high waist and flowing white draperies, while
- 21:35Speaker 1: her hair fell in ruffled, unpowdered curls. It was not
- 21:40Speaker 1: by any celebrated artist, but was a pleasing picture, and
- 21:45Speaker 1: as Esther's eyes took it in, she knew why Sir
- 21:49Speaker 1: George was so absorbed, for it bore a most wonderful
- 21:54Speaker 1: likeness to herself. By Jove, was all he said. It
- 22:01Speaker 1: certainly might have been painted from me, She allowed, who
- 22:07Speaker 1: can it be? But they could not find out. The
- 22:13Speaker 1: host whom they questioned did not know. He happened to
- 22:18Speaker 1: be passing that moment and joined them with his foreign guest.
- 22:23Speaker 1: They had only taken the place from the Walworsts for
- 22:26Speaker 1: a year, he said, and the walworst had bought it
- 22:29Speaker 1: just as it stood, from some one else. It had
- 22:33Speaker 1: changed hands once or twice, and he could not remember
- 22:37Speaker 1: now which were the original owners. It is supposed to
- 22:42Speaker 1: be a portrait of the ghost, I believe, he told them.
- 22:46Speaker 1: Some old retainer informed Ada. When we came, the white
- 22:50Speaker 1: lady who haunts the library in the cedar chamber where
- 22:54Speaker 1: I sleep, cried Esther with a note of distress. Oh, Jack,
- 22:59Speaker 1: I believe I am half afraid. I'll come and watch
- 23:03Speaker 1: outside your door. If you are, said Sir George, then
- 23:07Speaker 1: you can call me if you feel frightened in the night.
- 23:10Speaker 1: I will tackle any ghost for you. I should glory
- 23:13Speaker 1: in the act. I do not doubt it, laughed the
- 23:17Speaker 1: host and discreetly walked on, but mister Ambrose Duval stayed behind,
- 23:25Speaker 1: examining every turn of the brush in the picture with
- 23:28Speaker 1: a critical eye. Esther had grown very quiet. Sir George
- 23:33Speaker 1: noticed she suddenly felt again that strange sense of excitement,
- 23:39Speaker 1: a cold, unpleasant feeling of tension and dread, and she
- 23:44Speaker 1: looked up into his face with an appealing pair of
- 23:48Speaker 1: soft gray eyes. Let us go and dance again, she said,
- 23:54Speaker 1: I want to get warm once more. I feel cold,
- 23:59Speaker 1: and Sir George joyfully encircled her slender waist and held
- 24:03Speaker 1: her close as they rejoined the dancers and whirled about.
- 24:09Speaker 1: Who sleeps next to me? Missus Charters asked as a
- 24:14Speaker 1: laughing group of women went up to bed about one
- 24:17Speaker 1: in the morning. But she heard with secret dismay that
- 24:22Speaker 1: the only other room in this quaint square wing was
- 24:25Speaker 1: a sitting room with a little oratory attached. You always
- 24:31Speaker 1: have said you adored ghosts and weird things. Missus Hardress said, oh, dearest,
- 24:37Speaker 1: I would not have put you in the cedar chamber,
- 24:41Speaker 1: so I do, of course, returned Esther rather halfheartedly. She
- 24:48Speaker 1: was a proud woman and ashamed to show her fears.
- 24:53Speaker 1: Everything looked most bright and comfortable when she got to
- 24:57Speaker 1: her room and her devoted elderly the maid had waited
- 25:01Speaker 1: up for her, and now put her to bed with
- 25:03Speaker 1: every care. So tired out with her dance, Esther forgot
- 25:10Speaker 1: her sense of uneasiness, and soon sank to sleep again
- 25:15Speaker 1: between the slippery, fine sheets, while the dying fire made
- 25:20Speaker 1: flickering light in the vast room. But in the gray
- 25:26Speaker 1: dawn she awoke in mortal fright, for she had dreamed
- 25:31Speaker 1: again of the dark space, the escritoire, the parchment, and
- 25:37Speaker 1: the drops of fresh blood. End of section two, Section
- 25:51Speaker 1: three of The urten Wood Ghost by Eleanor Glynn. This
- 25:55Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain up to two
- 26:01Speaker 1: part A. Next day was Christmas Eve, and much occupied
- 26:07Speaker 1: with all sorts of bygone amusements, in which a Christmas
- 26:11Speaker 1: tree for the children figured in the late afternoon, every
- 26:15Speaker 1: one was particularly gay and cheerful. Only Ester Charters felt
- 26:20Speaker 1: heavy as lead. Her dream haunted her. It had certainly
- 26:26Speaker 1: some meaning. It was the second time she had experienced it,
- 26:31Speaker 1: and the certificate, the loss of which might make such
- 26:35Speaker 1: a difference to her, could quite well look like the
- 26:38Speaker 1: parchment on the desk. But why there should be any
- 26:43Speaker 1: connection with it and this house of which she had
- 26:46Speaker 1: never heard until her friends had taken it, she could
- 26:50Speaker 1: not imagine. And if there was some strange thread in
- 26:54Speaker 1: it all, why should the picture of the ghost be
- 26:57Speaker 1: like herself? The money she could be deprived of had
- 27:01Speaker 1: been Algernon's money and had not come to her through
- 27:04Speaker 1: her own family at all. So it would be more
- 27:07Speaker 1: sensible and seemingly in sequence if the ghost looked like
- 27:12Speaker 1: him or one of her sisters in law. But she
- 27:16Speaker 1: could not shake off the unaccountable depression she was filled with,
- 27:21Speaker 1: and she tried to divert herself with mister Ambrose Duval's
- 27:25Speaker 1: in spiriting conversation, to the rage of Sir George, who
- 27:29Speaker 1: had left Scotland on purpose to be present at this
- 27:32Speaker 1: party and press his suit, feeling full of hope that
- 27:36Speaker 1: she would show him some grace, but for some reason
- 27:41Speaker 1: all had been at sixes and sevens between them, and
- 27:44Speaker 1: this hateful foreign man appeared to be the cause. Towards
- 27:50Speaker 1: the end of the day, Sir George's temper had got
- 27:53Speaker 1: the better of him, and he had finally gone off
- 27:56Speaker 1: and talked to another woman in pique and disgust. And
- 28:01Speaker 1: so once more the night came and Esther was left
- 28:05Speaker 1: alone in the cedar room. Now the conduct of the
- 28:10Speaker 1: foreign guest had excited suspicion as well as fury in
- 28:14Speaker 1: the breast of Sir George, and he had watched him
- 28:17Speaker 1: unconsciously most of the day. The brute had come to
- 28:22Speaker 1: Urtonwood with some purpose. He now felt sure of that
- 28:29Speaker 1: such extreme interest in all the rooms and the furniture
- 28:32Speaker 1: was overdone, if it were really an innocent fancy for
- 28:37Speaker 1: old things. The library in particular seemed to have attracted him,
- 28:42Speaker 1: and he even contrived to be shown the famous cedar
- 28:46Speaker 1: chamber while he said most insinuating and admiring things to
- 28:51Speaker 1: its present occupant. They had gone there a company of
- 28:55Speaker 1: four or five after lunch. Old Miss Harcourt among them,
- 29:00Speaker 1: torn from her bridge. I would not sleep here for
- 29:04Speaker 1: the world, she said, I wonder how you can, esther.
- 29:08Speaker 1: You must have nerves of iron and a conscience of
- 29:11Speaker 1: snow like purity. It makes me feel creepy, even in
- 29:14Speaker 1: broad daylight. I am not afraid, affirmed missus Charters, raising
- 29:21Speaker 1: her head. From there, the group had returned to the library,
- 29:27Speaker 1: and here mister Duval pointed to an old escritoire which
- 29:31Speaker 1: stood in one window, unused now as a writing table.
- 29:37Speaker 1: Its surface seemed a good deal warped from the sunlight
- 29:41Speaker 1: which had come in upon it, probably for many years.
- 29:47Speaker 1: This could be the one you told us about in
- 29:49Speaker 1: your dream, mister Duval said, furtively, watching her face, and
- 29:57Speaker 1: Esther recognized that it was indeed the same, with a
- 30:02Speaker 1: sharp thrill, But she laughed a little nervously as she
- 30:07Speaker 1: evaded a direct reply. Mister Duval was examining it closely,
- 30:13Speaker 1: passing smooth, finely moving fingers over all its sides and top.
- 30:19Speaker 1: There is probably some secret spring, he said. It would
- 30:25Speaker 1: be amusing if your dream came true and it disclosed
- 30:29Speaker 1: deparchment and the drops of blood. But for some reason
- 30:35Speaker 1: Esther did not wish him to find it. If there
- 30:38Speaker 1: was any spring, she would examine it herself another time,
- 30:43Speaker 1: with Ada alone. And Sir George, watching now intently, felt
- 30:50Speaker 1: all sorts of queer ideas come into his head. By
- 30:55Speaker 1: the time they said good night, the feeling that there
- 30:58Speaker 1: was something going on underneath grew so strong that he
- 31:03Speaker 1: determined not to undress or go to bed. He is
- 31:07Speaker 1: going to have a try at opening that old bureau.
- 31:10Speaker 1: I'd make any bert, he said to himself, And I'll
- 31:15Speaker 1: balk him if I can, and discover what is up.
- 31:19Speaker 1: So he pretended to be tired and go on to
- 31:22Speaker 1: his room when the other men moved to the smoking room,
- 31:26Speaker 1: which was in a side wing, after the ladies had left,
- 31:31Speaker 1: But in reality he waited until he thought the butler
- 31:35Speaker 1: would have extinguished the lights in the library and the
- 31:38Speaker 1: middle part of the house, and then he lit his
- 31:42Speaker 1: candle and softly crept down and stretched himself upon a
- 31:46Speaker 1: sofa rather behind a screen, while the dying embers of
- 31:50Speaker 1: the fire gave a mysterious glow all over the rest
- 31:54Speaker 1: of the room and in the cedar chamber. Esther, tired
- 32:01Speaker 1: out and rather saddened at the estrangement which she felt
- 32:06Speaker 1: had grown up in the day between herself and her
- 32:09Speaker 1: hitherto Ardent would be lover got hastily to bed. It
- 32:15Speaker 1: was her own fault. She knew she had been most
- 32:19Speaker 1: capricious and talked far too much to the foreign man,
- 32:23Speaker 1: whom she realized now she rather disliked. Underneath. She had
- 32:29Speaker 1: been foolish and nervous and jumpy to day, and she
- 32:33Speaker 1: felt quite ashamed of herself. But in a very short
- 32:38Speaker 1: time she grew sleepy, and all became a blank, until
- 32:44Speaker 1: with startling vividness, for the third time, the dream returned again,
- 32:52Speaker 1: and to it was added a dim figure which seemed
- 32:56Speaker 1: to beckon to her and compel her to rise and follow.
- 33:01Speaker 1: From her warm, soft bed, it seemed that she crept
- 33:05Speaker 1: across the room to a panel beside the fireplace, fascinated
- 33:11Speaker 1: but without fear, following the ghostly shape, which, when it
- 33:17Speaker 1: turned its face looked so strangely like herself. And the
- 33:23Speaker 1: panel glided back, disclosing a dark opening, and still she
- 33:29Speaker 1: was impelled to enter its black depths, and all the
- 33:33Speaker 1: while she felt herself descending a narrow stair. A dim
- 33:38Speaker 1: iridescence seemed like a nimbus to encircle the head of
- 33:43Speaker 1: that faint wraith, which was leading her on where Meanwhile,
- 33:52Speaker 1: in the library, Sir George was almost dozing off to
- 33:56Speaker 1: sleep on his sofa in the shadow of the screen.
- 34:02Speaker 1: The clock had struck two, and the fire had burnt
- 34:05Speaker 1: so very low that hardly even a glow now illumined
- 34:10Speaker 1: the room. But a broad shaft of moonlight came in
- 34:14Speaker 1: from the top part of the window, to which the
- 34:17Speaker 1: shutters did not reach. It was composed of small panes
- 34:22Speaker 1: with a coat of arms emblazoned in the center, and
- 34:26Speaker 1: the beams of the moon threw some weird shades upon
- 34:30Speaker 1: the floor and upon the old escritoire, which happened to
- 34:34Speaker 1: stand in its path of light. Sir George thought to
- 34:39Speaker 1: himself that he had, after all, perhaps been mistaken. The
- 34:45Speaker 1: foreigner had probably gone to bed with the rest, and
- 34:48Speaker 1: he too would turn in. When just as his meditations
- 34:55Speaker 1: reached this far, he heard the faintest noise of the
- 34:59Speaker 1: door opening, and some one with stealthy footsteps cautiously advance
- 35:06Speaker 1: up the room. He felt, rather than saw, that it
- 35:11Speaker 1: was Ambrose Duvolt. As he sprang to his feet, he
- 35:16Speaker 1: was securely hidden in the black shadow of the screen.
- 35:22Speaker 1: The man went softly to the shutter of the moonlit window,
- 35:26Speaker 1: and with quiet, nervous hands undid its old fashioned bolt,
- 35:31Speaker 1: letting in a still broader shaft of light, which now
- 35:35Speaker 1: allowed every detail of the old bureau to be seen.
- 35:40Speaker 1: Then he came eagerly to its side, and Sir George
- 35:44Speaker 1: held his breath and leaned forward, not to miss anything
- 35:49Speaker 1: of what might be going to happen. Mister Duval seemed
- 35:54Speaker 1: to be feeling the lid, which he opened with care,
- 35:58Speaker 1: and then a search began for the secret spring, And
- 36:02Speaker 1: once or twice as he looked up, as if for inspiration,
- 36:07Speaker 1: his face seemed like a fiend's in the ashen light.
- 36:13Speaker 1: At last he appeared to have discovered something. A drawer
- 36:17Speaker 1: flew open with a jerk, and he gave a sharp
- 36:19Speaker 1: exclamation of pain. Some part of the steel spring had
- 36:24Speaker 1: evidently wounded his hand, but his hesitation was only momentary.
- 36:30Speaker 1: With frantic eagerness, he now drew forth a roll from
- 36:33Speaker 1: the secret place. It looked to Sir George like an
- 36:38Speaker 1: old yellow parchment, and as Ambrose Duval bent to scrutinize
- 36:43Speaker 1: it with devilish satisfaction upon his face, there dropped from
- 36:49Speaker 1: the cut on his hand some drops of blood. The
- 36:54Speaker 1: scene was the exact reproduction of Missus Charter's dream end
- 37:03Speaker 1: of section three, Section four of The Urtonwood Ghost by
- 37:14Speaker 1: Eleanor Glynn. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain,
- 37:20Speaker 1: Chapter two, Part B. This was the moment Sir George
- 37:27Speaker 1: felt for him to interfere, but before he could take
- 37:31Speaker 1: more than a step, he was arrested by seeing the
- 37:34Speaker 1: thief raise his head and then start and grow livid,
- 37:38Speaker 1: shaking with abject terror as he gazed into a far corner,
- 37:44Speaker 1: the parchment dropping from his nerveless fingers back onto the
- 37:48Speaker 1: old desk, and Sir George, following the direction of his eyes,
- 37:54Speaker 1: also experienced a thrill which even in him, was not
- 37:59Speaker 1: unmixed with something akin to fear, for both men could
- 38:04Speaker 1: just distinguish, slowly and noiselessly advancing towards them, out of
- 38:10Speaker 1: the shadows from a part of the room where there
- 38:13Speaker 1: was no door, the tall, slender figure of a woman
- 38:18Speaker 1: in a rather short waisted white garment with ruffled curls
- 38:22Speaker 1: of unpowdered hair. She seemed to be ethereal and unreal,
- 38:29Speaker 1: but when she got into the moonlight, the likeness was unmistakable.
- 38:34Speaker 1: The face was the same as the picture in the
- 38:36Speaker 1: gallery which the host had told them represented the Urtonwood ghost.
- 38:44Speaker 1: The great gray eyes were wide and staring, like the
- 38:47Speaker 1: eyes of a corpse, and the whole figure moved slowly,
- 38:51Speaker 1: with a gliding motion, unlike life. My God, is it ester,
- 39:00Speaker 1: Sir George gasped to himself as he waited the turn
- 39:03Speaker 1: of events. If it were his well beloved, then she
- 39:08Speaker 1: must be walking in her sleep. If the denizen of
- 39:12Speaker 1: some other world, then something strange and awful might develop
- 39:17Speaker 1: when she got to the escritoire. In either case, his
- 39:22Speaker 1: best course would be to watch and be ready to spring,
- 39:26Speaker 1: for he fully realized the securing of the parchment was
- 39:30Speaker 1: to Ambrose Duval for some reason, a matter of desperate need.
- 39:38Speaker 1: The figure advanced, growing more clear as it reached the goal.
- 39:43Speaker 1: Duval was now crouching an almost inert mass some paces
- 39:49Speaker 1: drawn back in mortal fright. The lady, whoever or whatever
- 39:56Speaker 1: she was, put out a transparent looking hand, and in
- 40:00Speaker 1: the moonlight, and seizing the parchment, was gliding back again
- 40:05Speaker 1: from whence she came. But Ambrose Duval gave the hiss
- 40:09Speaker 1: of a snake as he saw the precious paper being
- 40:12Speaker 1: taken from his grasp, and with a wharf articulate cry
- 40:16Speaker 1: of rage and terror bounded forward, But Sir George was
- 40:22Speaker 1: quicker than he, and ere he could reach the ghost
- 40:26Speaker 1: or woman, he found himself pinioned in the Englishman's strong arms.
- 40:32Speaker 1: Then the two men struggled, Ambrose Duval with mad fear
- 40:37Speaker 1: in his breast at this new foe, and Sir George
- 40:41Speaker 1: with cool determination to frustrate his opponent's ends. As they
- 40:47Speaker 1: tottered together, they both saw, with an indescribable thrill, the
- 40:52Speaker 1: figure disappear, as it were before their eyes, into the
- 40:56Speaker 1: darkness of the wall, and they knew they were alone.
- 41:02Speaker 1: Was she a ghost or real flesh and blood? That
- 41:06Speaker 1: was a question which neither could decide. But now that
- 41:12Speaker 1: there was no more reason to protect esther if it
- 41:15Speaker 1: were she, Sir George let mister Duval go. He was
- 41:21Speaker 1: breathless from rage and fright, and he staggered to a chair.
- 41:27Speaker 1: How dare you attack me like this? He exclaimed, furiously,
- 41:31Speaker 1: drawing a revolver from his pocket and pointing it at
- 41:35Speaker 1: his foe's face. But Sir George, far more perturbed at
- 41:40Speaker 1: the thought of what might have become of his lady Love,
- 41:43Speaker 1: took no notice of him. He walked over to the
- 41:47Speaker 1: fire and poked up the dying embers, which threw up
- 41:50Speaker 1: a last small flame, giving enough light for him to
- 41:54Speaker 1: find his candlestick, which he had put down beside the
- 41:58Speaker 1: sofa in the gloom, be on the shaft of moonlight.
- 42:03Speaker 1: Mister Duval followed him, still livid from fear of the
- 42:07Speaker 1: supernatural and mad with rage at his failure and loss.
- 42:12Speaker 1: You shall answer to me for this now with your life,
- 42:16Speaker 1: he snarled. In that case, you will be hanged for murder.
- 42:22Speaker 1: Sir George retorted coolly, you had better go quietly in
- 42:26Speaker 1: the morning before I denounce you as a thief. I
- 42:30Speaker 1: am no thief, mister Duval protested violently. How dare you
- 42:36Speaker 1: attack a guest in our friend's house in this murderous fashion.
- 42:40Speaker 1: It is I who can denounce you. You must give
- 42:43Speaker 1: me satisfaction for this. I shall do nothing of the kind,
- 42:48Speaker 1: said Sir George. I should not think of fighting a
- 42:52Speaker 1: duel with a thief. Just take my advice and go
- 42:56Speaker 1: in the morning without a scandal and prosecutor scheming tricks. Elsewhere.
- 43:01Speaker 1: I have seen all you did, remember, and can describe
- 43:04Speaker 1: it well. Then the two men glared at one another.
- 43:09Speaker 1: There in the old library, the one candle illuminating their
- 43:14Speaker 1: angry faces, and the great shaft of moonlight lighting the
- 43:19Speaker 1: rifled escritoire. And then Sir George calmed himself. You can
- 43:26Speaker 1: take what course you please, he said, I am armed too,
- 43:32Speaker 1: and he drew his small derringer from the pocket where
- 43:35Speaker 1: he had been holding it. I am rather a good
- 43:38Speaker 1: shot sometimes, so we may hit each other, but there
- 43:42Speaker 1: is no use in it, and rats like you are
- 43:45Speaker 1: fond of life. This reflection seemed to carry weight with
- 43:50Speaker 1: mister Duval, unflattering as it was, for it is one
- 43:56Speaker 1: thing to shoot at an unarmed man, and quite another
- 43:59Speaker 1: to find him possessed of a pistol too. With what
- 44:04Speaker 1: dignity he could, mister Duval now drew himself up and
- 44:08Speaker 1: prepared to leave the room. You have won this time,
- 44:14Speaker 1: he said, between his teeth. But some day I will
- 44:18Speaker 1: level things up. I am quite indifferent about that, Sir
- 44:23Speaker 1: George answered, hurriedly. Get up now and get away by
- 44:27Speaker 1: the earliest train. I shall give you so much start now.
- 44:31Speaker 1: I have other and more important matters to attend. To go,
- 44:36Speaker 1: and he almost drove Duval to the door and up
- 44:39Speaker 1: to his room. Then, when he had seen him safely
- 44:43Speaker 1: shut in. He paused to think what was the next
- 44:47Speaker 1: thing to be done? To awaken Jack Hardress and his wife,
- 44:52Speaker 1: and ascertain if Esther were safe in her cedar chamber.
- 44:56Speaker 1: Seemed to be the best move, so, to some difficulty,
- 45:01Speaker 1: he found his host's apartment and knocked firmly at the door. Yes,
- 45:08Speaker 1: what is it, Jack Hodgess called out sleepily, and AIDA's
- 45:14Speaker 1: frightened voice piped, Oh, who is there? Then, Sir George
- 45:20Speaker 1: explained in as few words as he could, when the
- 45:23Speaker 1: host and hostess, clothed in dressing gowns, appeared in the passage,
- 45:29Speaker 1: and they, all three carrying lights, set off for the
- 45:33Speaker 1: cedar room. But here was deathly silence. No answer came
- 45:40Speaker 1: to their knocks, nor could they enter. The door was
- 45:44Speaker 1: locked from within. A sickening, icy hand clutched at Sir
- 45:49Speaker 1: George's heart. What had happened? Some ill had befallen Esther.
- 45:57Speaker 1: If we both rushed the door together, we can break
- 45:59Speaker 1: the locked jack, he said desperately. We must not delay
- 46:04Speaker 1: an instant now, And the two men hurled themselves against
- 46:09Speaker 1: the stout panels, But though they shivered, they held. Then
- 46:16Speaker 1: with the strength of despair, Sir George made a rush
- 46:19Speaker 1: by himself, and the bolt gave and he fell headlong
- 46:24Speaker 1: into the room. But alas AIDA's two candles, which she
- 46:30Speaker 1: held high, revealed no occupant. The bed had been slept
- 46:35Speaker 1: in and left hastily. The clothes were turned back, but
- 46:40Speaker 1: there was no sign of Esther. The three people looked
- 46:45Speaker 1: at each other with blanched faces. What mystery was here?
- 46:52Speaker 1: Sir George began hastily to examine the walls. It followed
- 46:57Speaker 1: his common sense told him if the door were locked
- 47:01Speaker 1: from within, his beloved lady had left the apartment by
- 47:05Speaker 1: some other means. The windows were out of the question.
- 47:10Speaker 1: They were too high, and besides were closed and the
- 47:14Speaker 1: orange curtains drawn. There must be some secret panel, and
- 47:20Speaker 1: Esther must have walked in her sleep. But how weird
- 47:24Speaker 1: it all was, and he was filled with dread and
- 47:27Speaker 1: foreboding as he felt each part of the wall. We
- 47:33Speaker 1: must discover the entrance. Jack, he said, I saw missus
- 47:39Speaker 1: Charters with my own eyes in the library, or her ghost,
- 47:43Speaker 1: and she disappeared at the end of the room. Now
- 47:47Speaker 1: with terrified eagerness, the three set to work, feeling and
- 47:52Speaker 1: tapping each cedar panel while Ada Hardress called continually esther
- 47:59Speaker 1: esther answer, if you are there and can hear us?
- 48:03Speaker 1: But only silence greeted them, And as the hopelessness of
- 48:09Speaker 1: their task made itself felt, a sickening fear grew and
- 48:14Speaker 1: grew in each of their hearts. What if she had
- 48:19Speaker 1: fallen down some deep secret place, some oubliate, and were dead,
- 48:25Speaker 1: they might pull all the house down and be too late.
- 48:31Speaker 1: End of section four, Section five of The Irtenwood Ghost
- 48:43Speaker 1: by Eleanor Glynn. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
- 48:49Speaker 1: Chapter two, Part C. At last, Ada, almost weeping from
- 48:56Speaker 1: grief and fright, subsided upon the sofa, while her husband
- 49:01Speaker 1: and Sir George, rigid and gray with anxiety, faced each
- 49:06Speaker 1: other to decide what to do. Wake the servants and
- 49:11Speaker 1: send for a mason and carpenter. Sir George said, and meanwhile,
- 49:17Speaker 1: can't we get an axe and some tools. I will
- 49:20Speaker 1: tell the woodwork down myself when I have an implement.
- 49:25Speaker 1: Missus Hardress went off to wake the household and send
- 49:28Speaker 1: for the required men, and get a doctor too. Sir
- 49:33Speaker 1: George called, and when some tools were found by a
- 49:37Speaker 1: frightened footman and brought he set to work with such
- 49:41Speaker 1: a will that at last a steel bolt was discovered,
- 49:45Speaker 1: and the paneling giving way. By the fireplace, a very small,
- 49:51Speaker 1: narrow door was disclosed in the stone work. The bolts
- 49:55Speaker 1: in connection with it were stiff and rusted with age,
- 50:00Speaker 1: and how a delicate woman could have moved them was
- 50:03Speaker 1: a profound mystery. The door gave way without much difficulty,
- 50:09Speaker 1: and here, by the light of a lamp held high,
- 50:13Speaker 1: the very narrowest passage was revealed, which in three paces
- 50:17Speaker 1: developed into a stair. It was so extremely narrow that
- 50:22Speaker 1: Sir George was obliged to force his broad shoulders through
- 50:26Speaker 1: with great difficulty, until he came to the descent, which
- 50:30Speaker 1: seemed to twist and then go along straight once or twice,
- 50:35Speaker 1: not a winding to its stair. And suddenly, at a
- 50:39Speaker 1: sharp turn he could see the steps rising again on
- 50:43Speaker 1: the opposite side. But there in the space beneath lay
- 50:48Speaker 1: the figure of a woman in white. With an exclamation
- 50:52Speaker 1: of anguish, he saw that it was esther, but was
- 50:56Speaker 1: she dead? He handed the lamp to Jack Hardress, who
- 51:01Speaker 1: was behind him, and in a second he was beside
- 51:04Speaker 1: his love and raising her in his arms with difficulty.
- 51:08Speaker 1: In the confined space, and even in the excitement, he
- 51:13Speaker 1: noticed that she still clutched in her hand the paper
- 51:17Speaker 1: which seemed to have been the cause of all the
- 51:20Speaker 1: tragic events of the night. He detached it from her
- 51:24Speaker 1: fingers and saw that the blood drops had smeared her hand.
- 51:28Speaker 1: As he put the paper in his pocket and lifted
- 51:31Speaker 1: her in his arms to carry her back, a bruise
- 51:35Speaker 1: marked where her forehead had struck a projecting stone in
- 51:39Speaker 1: the wall. Perhaps she was only stunned and not dead.
- 51:44Speaker 1: This hope gave him the strength of a lion, and
- 51:47Speaker 1: he clasped her close. But their exit was no easy task.
- 51:53Speaker 1: The space had been narrow enough for one person here
- 51:56Speaker 1: and there, and was impossible for a man with a
- 52:00Speaker 1: woman in his arms. Jack Hardress retreated before them, holding
- 52:05Speaker 1: the lamp high, and when Sir George came to a
- 52:08Speaker 1: turn that he could not pass, he was obliged to
- 52:11Speaker 1: lay his precious burden down and to let jack Hardress
- 52:15Speaker 1: pull her through by the arms. And then he lifted
- 52:18Speaker 1: her up again, And so at last all three were
- 52:24Speaker 1: safe in the cedar room, where a thrilled and excited
- 52:28Speaker 1: group awaited them, including the doctor, who had now arrived
- 52:34Speaker 1: the room was cleared of all but ada, Sir George
- 52:37Speaker 1: and Esther's maid, while the doctor bent over the inanimate form.
- 52:42Speaker 1: At last he looked up and announced that no, she
- 52:46Speaker 1: was not dead. And never were more grateful words sent
- 52:51Speaker 1: up to Heaven than Sir George's fervent thank God she
- 52:58Speaker 1: was not dead, then his dog darling, and soon she
- 53:01Speaker 1: might open her dear eyes and look into his own.
- 53:06Speaker 1: He could afford to wait in the passage now, as
- 53:09Speaker 1: he told the good news to the rest of the
- 53:12Speaker 1: alarmed guests, And presently the doctor and missus Haddress came out,
- 53:20Speaker 1: and he heard that his beloved was conscious and would
- 53:23Speaker 1: soon be well. She must have walked in her sleep,
- 53:27Speaker 1: the physician said, and her head struck a stone, But
- 53:32Speaker 1: it was the stifling air which made her faint, though
- 53:35Speaker 1: no doubt she was stunned too by the blow. If
- 53:39Speaker 1: you had been an hour later in finding her, I
- 53:42Speaker 1: think she could not have lived. And so, after all
- 53:48Speaker 1: there were rejoicings on that Christmas morning, which seemed as
- 53:52Speaker 1: though it were going to dawn so tragically, and in
- 53:57Speaker 1: the excitement of it all, no one thought then to
- 54:01Speaker 1: remark upon mister Ambrose Duval's departure by the one and
- 54:06Speaker 1: only early train. His note of farewell to his hostess
- 54:12Speaker 1: was a masterpiece and caused Sir George to smile as
- 54:16Speaker 1: she handed it to him to read. Late in the afternoon,
- 54:22Speaker 1: he was allowed to see his loved lady in AIDA's
- 54:25Speaker 1: own sitting room, alone and in peace. She was lying
- 54:31Speaker 1: upon the sofa with a bandage round her forehead, and
- 54:34Speaker 1: her small face looked ghastly pale against the blue silk cushions,
- 54:40Speaker 1: but her eyes shone, and she stretched out her hands
- 54:44Speaker 1: as he bent upon his knees to be near her. George,
- 54:50Speaker 1: you wor good to me, she whispered, and I can't
- 54:56Speaker 1: take care of myself. But she could not say any more,
- 55:01Speaker 1: because he stooped and kissed her lips. And for some
- 55:05Speaker 1: while they were too happy to talk of even a
- 55:08Speaker 1: subject so interesting as her dream and the adventure it produced.
- 55:14Speaker 1: But at last they became sane enough to examine the
- 55:18Speaker 1: parchment which proved to be the certificate of marriage between
- 55:22Speaker 1: John Charters, Bachelor and Marjorie Wildacre Spinster, celebrated at a
- 55:30Speaker 1: little village in Leicestershire in the year seventeen ninety five.
- 55:37Speaker 1: So the Urton Wood ghost had stood Esther in good stead,
- 55:42Speaker 1: for here was her fortune secured beyond any doubt. But
- 55:48Speaker 1: who then was mister Ambrose Duval? And what was his
- 55:54Speaker 1: connection with the affair? And why did Esther herself resemble
- 56:00Speaker 1: the picture of the Urtonwood ghost. These were questions which
- 56:04Speaker 1: it would take time to discover the answers of what
- 56:09Speaker 1: does anything matter? Exclaimed Sir George after a while, since
- 56:15Speaker 1: I have enough for us both, and since you cannot
- 56:18Speaker 1: take care of yourself, you are going to let me try.
- 56:24Speaker 1: It was not before the happy pair returned from their
- 56:27Speaker 1: honeymoon that all the mystery was unraveled. The lawyers had
- 56:32Speaker 1: been busy investigating the while. It appeared that Lady Margery
- 56:37Speaker 1: Wildacre had lived at Urtonwood, which was her old home,
- 56:42Speaker 1: her father having sold it when they went to Italy.
- 56:46Speaker 1: She had had a daughter by her second husband, the
- 56:49Speaker 1: Italian count, who eventually married the great grandfather of Esther,
- 56:54Speaker 1: thus carrying the likeness into her family. And Esther often
- 57:01Speaker 1: loves to weave a romance round her dream and imagine
- 57:05Speaker 1: how influenced by this far back ancestress's unquiet spirit she
- 57:12Speaker 1: must have been drawn to go to the Irtonwood Christmas
- 57:15Speaker 1: party and participate in the events which followed. The poor
- 57:21Speaker 1: lady she decided to think, repenting of her heartlessness to
- 57:25Speaker 1: her Charter's son had brought the dream to her great
- 57:29Speaker 1: grandchild and led her through the secret passage to claim
- 57:34Speaker 1: her own so that she, the Lady Margerie, might rest
- 57:40Speaker 1: in peace. You see, George, she probably loved the Italian
- 57:46Speaker 1: count esther told her husband, and wanted their descendant by
- 57:52Speaker 1: him to benefit too. That is why she directed me.
- 57:56Speaker 1: But I cannot help being sorry for poor mister devol
- 58:00Speaker 1: Loathsome foreigner was all, Sir George said. His real name
- 58:07Speaker 1: was Charters, and he was the claimant of the fortune,
- 58:11Speaker 1: but he chose to take his mother's name, she had
- 58:14Speaker 1: been a frenchwoman, the better to pursue his investigations. Unsuspected,
- 58:20Speaker 1: he had got hold of some letter among his branch
- 58:23Speaker 1: of the family papers which referred to the certificate being
- 58:27Speaker 1: at Urtonwood and Lady Margerie's residence there, and hearing that
- 58:33Speaker 1: his chance acquaintances, the Hardresses, had taken this place, he
- 58:38Speaker 1: cultivated them in order to have access for his search,
- 58:43Speaker 1: determining when he found the certificate he would destroy it
- 58:48Speaker 1: and then with certainty prosecute his claim, But Fate takes
- 58:54Speaker 1: care of things and arranges what she thinks best, and
- 59:00Speaker 1: even the thoroughly English Sir George Seafield is obliged to
- 59:06Speaker 1: own that there are more things in heaven and Earth
- 59:10Speaker 1: than are dreamed of in our philosophy. End of Section
- 59:17Speaker 1: five and end of The Urtenwood Ghost by Eleanor Glynn.
- 59:25Speaker 1: Thank you for listening.