The subject of sequestration of the person came up in speaking of a
recent lawsuit, and each of us had a story to tell--a true story, he
said. We had been spending the evening together at an old family mansion
in the Rue de Grenelle, just a party of intimate friends. The old
Marquis de la Tour-Samuel, who was eighty-two, rose, and, leaning his
elbow on the mantelpiece, said in his somewhat shaky voice:
“I also know of something strange, so strange that it has haunted me all
my life. It is now fifty-six years since the incident occurred, and yet
not a month passes that I do not see it again in a dream, so great
is the impression of fear it has left on my mind. For ten minutes I
experienced such horrible fright that ever since then a sort of constant
terror has remained with me. Sudden noises startle me violently, and
objects imperfectly distinguished at night inspire me with a mad desire
to flee from them. In short, I am afraid of the dark!
“But I would not have acknowledged that before I reached my present age.
Now I can say anything. I have never receded before real danger, ladies.
It is, therefore, permissible, at eighty-two years of age, not to be
brave in presence of imaginary danger.
“That affair so completely upset me, caused me such deep and mysterious
and terrible distress, that I never spoke of it to any one. I will
now tell it to you exactly as it happened, without any attempt at
explanation.
“In July, 1827, I was stationed at Rouen. One day as I was walking along
the quay I met a man whom I thought I recognized without being able to
recall exactly who he was. Instinctively I made a movement to stop. The
stranger perceived it and at once extended his hand.
“He was a friend to whom I had been deeply attached as a youth. For five
years I had not seen him; he seemed to have aged half a century. His
hair was quite white and he walked bent over as though completely
exhausted. He apparently understood my surprise, and he told me of the
misfortune which had shattered his life.
“Having fallen madly in love with a young girl, he had married her,
but after a year of more than earthly happiness she died suddenly of an
affection of the heart. He left his country home on the very day of her
burial and came to his town house in Rouen, where he lived, alone and
unhappy, so sad and wretched that he thought constantly of suicide.
“'Since I have found you again in this manner,' he said, 'I will ask
you to render me an important service. It is to go and get me out of
the desk in my bedroom--our bedroom--some papers of which I have urgent
need. I cannot send a servant or a business clerk, as discretion and
absolute silence are necessary. As for myself, nothing on earth would
induce me to reenter that house. I will give you the key of the room,
which I myself locked on leaving, and the key of my desk, also a few
words for my gardener, telling him to open the chateau for you. But come
and breakfast with me tomorrow and we will arrange all that.'
“I promised to do him the slight favor he asked. It was, for that
matter, only a ride which I could make in an hour on horseback, his
property being but a few miles distant from Rouen.
“At ten o'clock the following day I breakfasted, tete-a-tete, with my
friend, but he scarcely spoke.
“He begged me to pardon him; the thought of the visit I was about to
make to that room, the scene of his dead happiness, overcame him, he
said. He, indeed, seemed singularly agitated and preoccupied, as though
undergoing some mysterious mental struggle.
“At length he explained to me exactly what I had to do. It was very
simple. I must take two packages of letters and a roll of papers from
the first right-hand drawer of the desk, of which I had the key. He
added:
“'I need not beg you to refrain from glancing at them.'
“I was wounded at that remark and told him so somewhat sharply. He
stammered:
“'Forgive me, I suffer so,' and tears came to his eyes.
“At about one o'clock I took leave of him to accomplish my mission.
“'The weather was glorious, and I trotted across the fields, listening
to the song of the larks and the rhythmical clang of my sword against my
boot. Then I entered the forest and walked my horse. Branches of trees
caressed my face as I passed, and now and then I caught a leaf with my
teeth and chewed it, from sheer gladness of heart at being alive and
vigorous on such a radiant day.
“As I approached the chateau I took from my pocket the letter I had
for the gardener, and was astonished at finding it sealed. I was so
irritated that I was about to turn back without having fulfilled
my promise, but reflected that I should thereby display undue
susceptibility. My friend in his troubled condition might easily have
fastened the envelope without noticing that he did so.
“The manor looked as if it had been abandoned for twenty years. The open
gate was falling from its hinges, the walks were overgrown with grass
and the flower beds were no longer distinguishable.
“The noise I made by kicking at a shutter brought out an old man from
a side door. He seemed stunned with astonishment at seeing me. On
receiving my letter, he read it, reread it, turned it over and over,
looked me up and down, put the paper in his pocket and finally said:
“'Well, what is it you wish?'
“I replied shortly:
“'You ought to know, since you have just read your master's orders. I
wish to enter the chateau.'
“He seemed overcome.
“'Then you are going in--into her room?'
“I began to lose patience.
“'Damn it! Are you presuming to question me?'
“He stammered in confusion:
“'No--sir--but--but it has not been opened since--since the-death. If
you will be kind enough to wait five minutes I will go and--and see
if--'
“I interrupted him angrily:
“'See here, what do you mean by your tricks?
“'You know very well you cannot enter the room, since here is the key!'
“He no longer objected.
“'Then, sir, I will show you the way.'
“'Show me the staircase and leave me. I'll find my way without you.'
“'But--sir--indeed--'
“This time I lost patience, and pushing him aside, went into the house.
“I first went through the kitchen, then two rooms occupied by this
man and his wife. I then crossed a large hall, mounted a staircase and
recognized the door described by my friend.
“I easily opened it, and entered the apartment. It was so dark that
at first I could distinguish nothing. I stopped short, disagreeably
affected by that disagreeable, musty odor of closed, unoccupied rooms.
As my eyes slowly became accustomed to the darkness I saw plainly
enough a large and disordered bedroom, the bed without sheets but
still retaining its mattresses and pillows, on one of which was a deep
impression, as though an elbow or a head had recently rested there.
“The chairs all seemed out of place. I noticed that a door, doubtless
that of a closet, had remained half open.
“I first went to the window, which I opened to let in the light, but
the fastenings of the shutters had grown so rusty that I could not move
them. I even tried to break them with my sword, but without success. As
I was growing irritated over my useless efforts and could now see fairly
well in the semi-darkness, I gave up the hope of getting more light, and
went over to the writing desk.
“I seated myself in an armchair and, letting down the lid of the desk, I
opened the drawer designated. It was full to the top. I needed but three
packages, which I knew how to recognize, and began searching for them.
“I was straining my eyes in the effort to read the superscriptions when
I seemed to hear, or, rather, feel, something rustle back of me. I paid
no attention, believing that a draught from the window was moving some
drapery. But in a minute or so another movement, almost imperceptible,
sent a strangely disagreeable little shiver over my skin. It was so
stupid to be affected, even slightly, that self-respect prevented my
turning around. I had just found the second package I needed and was
about to lay my hand on the third when a long and painful sigh, uttered
just at my shoulder, made me bound like a madman from my seat and land
several feet off. As I jumped I had turned round my hand on the hilt
of my sword, and, truly, if I had not felt it at my side I should have
taken to my heels like a coward.
“A tall woman dressed in white, stood gazing at me from the back of the
chair where I had been sitting an instant before.
“Such a shudder ran through all my limbs that I nearly fell backward.
No one who has not experienced it can understand that frightful,
unreasoning terror! The mind becomes vague, the heart ceases to beat,
the entire body grows as limp as a sponge.
“I do not believe in ghosts, nevertheless I collapsed from a hideous
dread of the dead, and I suffered, oh! I suffered in a few moments more
than in all the rest of my life from the irresistible terror of the
supernatural. If she had not spoken I should have died perhaps. But she
spoke, she spoke in a sweet, sad voice that set my nerves vibrating. I
dare not say that I became master of myself and recovered my reason. No!
I was terrified and scarcely knew what I was doing. But a certain innate
pride, a remnant of soldierly instinct, made me, almost in spite of
myself, maintain a bold front. She said:
“'Oh, sir, you can render me a great service.'
“I wanted to reply, but it was impossible for me to pronounce a word.
Only a vague sound came from my throat. She continued:
“'Will you? You can save me, cure me. I suffer frightfully. I suffer,
oh! how I suffer!' and she slowly seated herself in my armchair, still
looking at me.
“'Will you?' she said.
“I nodded in assent, my voice still being paralyzed.
“Then she held out to me a tortoise-shell comb and murmured:
“'Comb my hair, oh! comb my hair; that will cure me; it must be combed.
Look at my head--how I suffer; and my hair pulls so!'
“Her hair, unbound, very long and very black, it seemed to me, hung over
the back of the armchair and touched the floor.
“Why did I promise? Why did I take that comb with a shudder, and why
did I hold in my hands her long black hair that gave my skin a frightful
cold sensation, as though I were handling snakes? I cannot tell.
“That sensation has remained in my fingers, and I still tremble in
recalling it.
“I combed her hair. I handled, I know not how, those icy locks. I
twisted, knotted, and unknotted, and braided them. She sighed, bowed her
head, seemed happy. Suddenly she said, 'Thank you!' snatched the comb
from my hands and fled by the door that I had noticed ajar.
“Left alone, I experienced for several seconds the horrible agitation of
one who awakens from a nightmare. At length I regained my senses. I ran
to the window and with a mighty effort burst open the shutters, letting
a flood of light into the room. Immediately I sprang to the door by
which that being had departed. I found it closed and immovable!
“Then the mad desire to flee overcame me like a panic the panic which
soldiers know in battle. I seized the three packets of letters on the
open desk, ran from the room, dashed down the stairs four steps at a
time, found myself outside, I know not how, and, perceiving my horse a
few steps off, leaped into the saddle and galloped away.
“I stopped only when I reached Rouen and alighted at my lodgings.
Throwing the reins to my orderly, I fled to my room and shut myself
in to reflect. For an hour I anxiously asked myself if I were not
the victim of a hallucination. Undoubtedly I had had one of those
incomprehensible nervous attacks those exaltations of mind that give
rise to visions and are the stronghold of the supernatural. And I was
about to believe I had seen a vision, had a hallucination, when, as
I approached the window, my eyes fell, by chance, upon my breast.
My military cape was covered with long black hairs! One by one, with
trembling fingers, I plucked them off and threw them away.
“I then called my orderly. I was too disturbed, too upset to go and see
my friend that day, and I also wished to reflect more fully upon what I
ought to tell him. I sent him his letters, for which he gave the soldier
a receipt. He asked after me most particularly, and, on being told I was
ill--had had a sunstroke--appeared exceedingly anxious. Next morning
I went to him, determined to tell him the truth. He had gone out the
evening before and had not yet returned. I called again during the day;
my friend was still absent. After waiting a week longer without news of
him, I notified the authorities and a judicial search was instituted.
Not the slightest trace of his whereabouts or manner of disappearance
was discovered.
“A minute inspection of the abandoned chateau revealed nothing of a
suspicious character. There was no indication that a woman had been
concealed there.
“After fruitless researches all further efforts were abandoned, and for
fifty-six years I have heard nothing; I know no more than before.”