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[Illustration: EMMIE'S NEW HOME. _Page 215._]
THE HAUNTED ROOM.
A Tale
BY
_A. L. O. E._,
AUTHOR OF "THE SPANISH CAVALIER," "RESCUED FROM EGYPT,"
"THE LADY OF PROVENCE," ETC.
London:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK. 1900
Preface.
It is under peculiar circumstances that A. L. O. E. sends forth this
little volume. As it is passing through the press its author is
preparing to enter on a new field of labour in the East, as an honorary
member of the Zenana Mission in India. Of the fact that the missionary
cause has been dear to A. L. O. E. her readers may be aware from her
former writings. She now hopes to be permitted to devote an evening hour
of her life to that cause. India is endeared to her from family
associations; for there a revered father, and subsequently his sons,
lived and laboured, and in that land rests the dust of dear ones who
sleep in Jesus.
If there be, as she fain would hope, something of a tie between a writer
and those familiar with her works, may not A. L. O. E. venture to claim
an interest in the prayers of her readers? May she not hope that they
will ask for her, wisdom, humility, zeal, and success? It would be sweet
to one struggling with the difficulty of learning a new language to know
that many joined in the supplication, "O Lord! open Thou her lips, that
her mouth may shew forth Thy praise!" and that many besought Him whose
strength is made perfect in weakness, to enable His servant to win
Indian gems to lay at His feet.
A. L. O. E.
Contents.
I. A PLEASANT HOME, 9
II. COMING TO A DECISION, 20
III. GOSSIP DOWNSTAIRS, 29
IV. PREPARING TO START, 40
V. HAUNTED ROOMS, 47
VI. THREE WARNINGS, 62
VII. MISTRUST, 70
VIII. THE JOURNEY, 78
IX. NEW ACQUAINTANCE, 88
X. A FAINT HEART, 98
XI. EVENING AND MORNING, 114
XII. THE STRANGER, 124
XIII. WORK, 140
XIV. EARLY IMPRESSIONS, 151
XV. THE FIRST VISIT, 162
XVI. TRY AGAIN, 178
XVII. CARES AND MISTAKES, 186
XVIII. YES OR NO, 194
XIX. THE ECLIPSE, 207
XX. AN ALARM, 219
XXI. INDECISION, 230
XXII. THE HAUNTED CHAMBER, 238
XXIII. DEATH, 247
XXIV. A MISTAKE, 257
XXV. STRANGE TIDINGS, 265
XXVI. THE WEAK ONE, 278
XXVII. A NIGHT-JOURNEY, 294
XXVIII. THE BROTHERS' MEETING, 307
XXIX. CHARGED WITH FELONY, 315
XXX. TREMBLING IN THE BALANCE, 324
XXXI. CHANGES, 332
THE HAUNTED ROOM.
CHAPTER I.
A PLEASANT HOME.
"A pleasant nest my brother-in-law has found for his family," said
Captain Arrows to himself, as, carpet-bag in hand, he walked the brief
distance from a railway-station to his relative's house. "Trevor's home
is near enough to London for its inmates to reach Charing-Cross by train
in fifteen minutes, and yet far enough from it to be beyond reach of its
smoke and noise. Not quite so," added the captain as he passed a
Savoyard with hurdy-gurdy and monkey, and then was overtaken by an
omnibus well filled within and without; "but I doubt if our young folk
would have relished perfect rural seclusion, or would have wished to
have dwelt fifty miles from the Great Exhibition and Albert Hall. As
long as he holds his government office, Trevor cannot live far from
London; and in choosing his residence here, he has made a pleasant
compromise between town and country. This is as bright-looking a home as
heart could wish," thought the captain, as from the slope of a hill he
came in sight of a pretty villa, in the Elizabethan style, standing in
its own grounds. "These gay flower-beds, with their geometrical shapes
and blooming flowers, show the ingenuity of Bruce and the taste of
Emmie. The croquet loops on the lawn, the target in the little field
yonder, tell of lives passed in ease and enjoyment. It may be a question
whether such lives be indeed the most desirable for our young men and
maidens," thus the captain pursued his reflections as he walked down the
hill. "Simply to pass youth as pleasantly as possible seems to be hardly
the best preparation for the rough campaign of existence. We would not
train our army recruits in Arcadia. It would be an interesting problem,
had we the means of working it out, to find out how far our characters
are formed by our surroundings, as physical qualities are affected by
climate. Would early acquaintance with difficulties and dangers ever
have braced up our lovely Emmie into a heroine, or made Vibert a
reflective and self-denying man? As for Bruce, he has in him so much of
the nature of the oak sapling, that the most enervating air could not
rob him of all the knots and toughness of close-grained wood. Another
curious problem to solve would be, how far easy, luxurious existence in
youth is actually conducive to happiness; whether the prospect from a
bleak hill-side be not fairer, as well as its air more bracing, than
that of the garden of the Hesperides. Where the mind has no real
difficulties with which to grapple, the imagination is wont to grow with
the rank luxuriance of tropical vegetation. Nervousness, superstition,
anxiety about trifles, take the place of serious trials; and the child
of luxury, to parody the fine line of Johnson,
'Makes the misery he does not find.'"
The captain had no more leisure for his reflections, for, as he threw
open the gate of Summer Villa, his approach was seen from the house, and
two of its inmates hastened forth to meet a favourite uncle. A graceful
maiden ran lightly down the shrubbery path, followed by her younger
brother, a handsome lad of some sixteen or seventeen years of age.
"Oh, you are so welcome; we were so glad to get your telegram and know
that your long cruise was over!" cried Emmie as she gave to her mother's
brother an affectionate greeting.
"We've so much to tell you, captain," said Vibert Trevor, cordially
shaking the hand of the newly-arrived guest. "John is away, so let me
carry your carpet-bag into the house."
This, from Vibert, was rather a remarkable offer of service. The captain
accepted it with a smile, for Vibert was little accustomed to act the
part of a porter.
"Where is Bruce?" asked Arrows. "As for your father, I suppose that he
is at his office in London."
"No; papa is not at his office," replied Emmie, slipping her arm into
that of her uncle. "But come into the house and have refreshment, and
while you take it--"
"We'll tell you the whole story," cried Vibert, looking like one who has
a grand piece of news to impart.
While the three enter Summer Villa, let us pause and glance at them for
a few moments.
Captain Arrows is a naval officer. He has scarcely reached middle age,
and looks young to be addressed as "uncle" by the young lady who rests
on his arm, or the tall brother at her side. The captain's face, bronzed
by sun and wind, is not one to be easily forgotten, so keen and piercing
are the dark eyes which glance from beneath projecting brows. An
expression of satire sometimes plays around the thin lips, but of
satire tempered and controlled. The impression conveyed by Arrows'
appearance and manner would be, "That is a man of character, a man of
decision, a keen observer, who looks as if he were making notes for a
book satirizing the follies of mankind." But there is a kindly frankness
about the sailor which tends to counteract the sense of restraint which
might otherwise be felt in his society. If he carry the sharp rapier of
wit at his side, it is sheathed in the scabbard of good-nature.
Never does Arrows look more kindly or soften his tone to more gentleness
than when addressing the motherless daughter of a sister loved and
mourned. Emmie is, indeed, one to draw out the affections of those
around her. Not only is her face fair, but it has the sweetness of
expression which is more winsome than beauty. Her soft dark-brown hair
does not, in the shapeless masses prescribed by modern fashion, mar the
classical contour of a gracefully formed head. Gentle, tender, and
clinging, the maiden's type might be found in the fragrant white jasmine
that embowers the porch of her pleasant home. Emmie's school companions
have loved her; not one of them could remember a harsh or unkind word
spoken by the lips of the gentle girl. Her brothers love her; Emmie has
shared their interests, and joined them in their amusements, without
ever brushing away that feminine softness which, as the down to the
peach, is to woman one of the greatest of charms. Bruce would have
disliked having "a fast girl" for his sister almost as much as Mr.
Trevor would have disapproved of his daughter earning that title. The
slang in which some modern ladies (?) indulge would have sounded from
the lips of Emmie as startling as the blare of a child's trumpet toy
breaking in on a melody of Beethoven.
Vibert Trevor in appearance resembles his sister; but what is pleasingly
feminine in the woman looks somewhat effeminate in the boy. Boy! how
could the word escape my pen! Vibert, in his own estimation at least,
has left boyhood long ago. His auburn hair, parted carefully down the
middle, falls on either side of a face which would be singularly
handsome but for the somewhat too great fulness about the mouth. The lad
is dressed fashionably and in good taste. If there be a little tinge of
foppishness in his appearance, it is as slight as the scent which a
superfine cigar has left on his clothes.
"No more refreshment for me, thanks; I have taken some in London," said
the captain in reply to a question from his niece as they entered the
house together.
"Then we will go into the drawing-room," said Emmie. "We expect papa and
Bruce by the next train from Wiltshire. Papa wrote that they would reach
this an hour before dinner-time."
A cheerful drawing-room was that which looked out on the lawn of Summer
Villa, lighted up as it was by the rich glow of a September sun, then
just at its setting. The red light sparkled on the crystal globe in
which gold-fish were gliding, and lent vividness to the green of the
graceful ferns which ornamented both the windows. Emmie's piano was
open, with a piece of music upon it. Emmie was an enthusiast in music.
She had to displace her guitar from the sofa on which she had left it,
to make room for her uncle to sit by her side. Emmie's basket with its
fancy work lay on the table, and traces of her late employment in the
shape of dropped beads and morsels of bright German wool strewed the
soft carpet. Emmie rather felt than saw that her uncle's eye detected
the little untidiness; the naval officer was himself "so dreadfully
neat!"
"Now for your news," said the captain, as he seated himself by his
niece, while Vibert threw himself into an arm-chair. Vibert usually
chose, as if by instinct, the most luxurious chair in the room.
"What would you say if papa were to throw up office, leave Summer Villa
for ever and for aye, and carry us all off to be buried alive?" cried
Vibert.
"In Labrador--or equatorial Africa?" inquired the captain.
"Not quite so bad as either of those distant deserts," laughed Vibert.
"Myst Hall is not a hundred miles from London, and Wiltshire is not
quite beyond the pale of civilized life."
"What has happened to make such a migration probable?" inquired Arrows.
"You know that during our northern cruise I have had no letters, and
that as regards home news, the last three months have been to me an
absolute blank."
"Our story is easily told," said Emmie. "You will, I dare say, remember
that papa had an aunt, Mrs. Myers, who lived in Wiltshire."
"I recollect the name, but little besides," replied Arrows.
"None of us knew much of Aunt Myers," continued his niece. "Except a
hamper of home-made preserves which came to us from Myst Court every
Christmas, we had little to remind us of a relative who shut herself up
from her family and friends for fifty long years."
"But if we forgot the old dame, she did not forget us," interrupted
Vibert. "Aunt Myers died eight or nine days ago and there came a letter
from her lawyer announcing her death, and informing my father that he
is the old lady's heir, executor, and the master of Myst Court, with all
the fields, pleasure-grounds, cottages, copses, and I don't know what
else thereto appertaining."
The captain did not look as much impressed by the announcement as his
young informant expected that he would be.
"Papa, of course, went to his poor aunt's funeral," said Emmie, "and
took Bruce with him to see what he thought of the place."
"There was plenty of business to be transacted," observed Vibert; "I
fancy that there always is when landed property changes hands. My father
asked for a week's holiday from office-work. Perhaps he will give up his
appointment altogether; all depends on whether he decide to live on his
own estate, or to let it and take a new lease of Summer Villa."
"You must have had letters from your father; to which decision does he
appear to incline?" asked the captain, addressing himself to his niece.
"Papa has been very busy, and wrote but briefly," said Emmie. "I believe
that a good deal will depend on whether papa is satisfied with what he
sees of a gentleman at S----, who has been highly recommended as a
private tutor for my brothers. S---- is but three miles from Myst
Court, so that if we lived at that place, Vibert and Bruce could go over
to Mr. Blair's for study every week-day."
"My father's plan, now that Bruce and I have left Cheltenham,"
interrupted Vibert, "is to keep us with him at home for a year or two,
and have us prepared for Cambridge or some competitive examination by a
private tutor, either in London, or at S----, if we go into Wiltshire."
"What description does Bruce give of Myst Court?" inquired Captain
Arrows.
"Bruce is a lazy dog with his pen, and seldom honours me with a scratch
of it," answered Vibert.
"Bruce wrote to me the day after he went into Wiltshire," said Emmie.
"He knew that I should be interested to hear of the place which may soon
be our home. Bruce writes that the house is of the date of the reign of
Queen Anne; that it is built of red brick, and looks rather formal, but
has splendid trees around it. Myst Court stands quite by itself, with no
other country-house near it, and has the reputation of being _haunted_."
Arrows smiled at the gravity with which the young lady pronounced the
last word.
"Myst Court must be a horridly dull place, at least for those who are
not sportsmen!" cried Vibert. "Bruce and I may find a little liveliness
at S----; but for you, Emmie, it will be a case of--
'And still she cried, "'Tis very dreary--
'Tis dreary and sad," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary;
I wish I were dead!"'"
Emmie laughed, but the laugh was rather a forced one.
"Your sister will never, I hope, echo the peevish complaint of an idle
girl, who had not energy enough to nail up her peaches," observed
Captain Arrows. "If Emmie go to Wiltshire, it will be, I trust, to lead
there an active, useful, and happy life."
"I wonder on what course papa will decide," said Emmie; "we are very
anxious to know. A great deal will depend on what Bruce thinks
desirable,--papa has such an opinion of the judgment of Bruce."
"Bruce has a precious good opinion of his own," said Vibert, with
something like scorn.
"For shame!--how can you!" cried Emmie, in a tone of playful reproof.
"Here they are! here come my father and Bruce!" cried Vibert, rising
from his easy-chair as he caught sight of two figures at the gate.
Emmie had started up, and was out of the room to receive the travellers,
before Vibert had finished the sentence.