This tale by Sir Walter Scott is justly reckoned among the
most effective ghost stories ever written. Its art lies in
its perfect simplicity, which for the moment convinces the
reader of its truth and therefore makes the horror of it
intensely real. Scott had himself a strain of superstition
in his nature, derived in part from his Scottish ancestry
and heightened by the strange stories and gruesome legends
which had been told him by the peasants around whose fires
he had sat at night while still a boy.
His belief in the supernatural appears and reappears in many
of his most famous novels, as in the episode of the _Gray
Specter_ in "Waverley," the second-sight of _Meg Merrilies_
in "Guy Mannering," and the weird figure of _Norna of the
Fitful Head_ in "The Pirate." But no better example can be
found of Scott's command of the mysterious as an element in
fiction than this short story of "The Tapestried Chamber."
The following narrative is given from the pen, so far as memory permits,
in the same character in which it was presented to the author's ear; nor
has he claim to further praise, or to be more deeply censured, than in
proportion to the good or bad judgment which he has employed in selecting
his materials, as he has studiously avoided any attempt at ornament which
might interfere with the simplicity of the tale.
At the same time it must be admitted that the particular class of stories
which turns on the marvelous, possesses a stronger influence when told
than when committed to print. The volume taken up at noonday, though
rehearsing the same incidents, conveys a much more feeble impression than
is achieved by the voice of the speaker on a circle of fireside auditors,
who hang upon the narrative as the narrator details the minute incidents
which serve to give it authenticity, and lowers his voice with an
affectation of mystery while he approaches the fearful and wonderful part.
It was with such advantages that the present writer heard the following
events related, more than twenty years since, by the celebrated Miss
Seward, of Litchfield, who, to her numerous accomplishments, added, in a
remarkable degree, the power of narrative in private conversation.
In its present form the tale must necessarily lose all the interest which
was attached to it by the flexible voice and intelligent features of the
gifted narrator. Yet still, read aloud, to an undoubting audience by the
doubtful light of the closing evening, or, in silence, by a decaying
taper, and amidst the solitude of a half-lighted apartment, it may redeem
its character as a good ghost-story.
Miss Seward always affirmed that she had derived her information from an
authentic source, although she suppressed the names of the two persons
chiefly concerned. I will not avail myself of any particulars I may have
since received concerning the localities of the detail, but suffer them to
rest under the same general description in which they were first related
to me; and, for the same reason, I will not add to or diminish the
narrative by any circumstance, whether more or less material, but simply
rehearse, as I heard it, a story of supernatural terror.
About the end of the American War, when the officers of Lord Cromwell's
army, which surrendered at Yorktown, and others who had been made
prisoners during the impolitic and ill-fated controversy, were returning
to their own country, to relate their adventures, and repose themselves
after their fatigues, there was among them a general officer, to whom Miss
S. gave the name of Browne, but merely, as I understood, to save the
inconvenience of introducing a nameless agent in the narrative. He was an
officer of merit, as well as a gentleman of high consideration for family
and attainments.
Some business had carried General Browne upon a tour through the western
counties, when, in the conclusion of a morning stage, he found himself in
the vicinity of a small country town, which presented a scene of uncommon
beauty, and of a character peculiarly English.
The little town, with its stately old church, whose tower bore testimony
to the devotion of ages long past, lay amid pastures and corn-fields of
small extent, but bounded and divided with hedgerow timber of great age
and size. There were few marks of modern improvement. The environs of the
place intimated neither the solitude of decay nor the bustle of novelty;
the houses were old, but in good repair; and the beautiful little river
murmured freely on its way to the left of the town, neither restrained by
a dam nor bordered by a towing-path.
Upon a gentle eminence, nearly a mile to the southward of the town, were
seen, among many venerable oaks and tangled thickets, the turrets of a
castle, as old as the wars of York and Lancaster, but which seemed to have
received important alterations during the age of Elizabeth and her
successor.
It had not been a place of great size; but whatever accommodation it
formerly afforded was, it must be supposed, still to be obtained within
its walls; at least, such was the inference which General Browne drew from
observing the smoke arise merrily from several of the ancient wreathed and
carved chimney-stalks.
The wall of the park ran alongside of the highway for two or three
hundred yards; and through the different points by which the eye found
glimpses into the woodland scenery, it seemed to be well stocked. Other
points of view opened in succession; now a full one, of the front of the
old castle, and now a side glimpse at its particular towers; the former
rich in all the bizarrerie of the Elizabethan school, while the simple and
solid strength of other parts of the building seemed to show that they had
been raised more for defense than ostentation.
Delighted with the partial glimpses which he obtained of the castle
through the woods and glades by which this ancient feudal fortress was
surrounded, our military traveler was determined to inquire whether it
might not deserve a nearer view, and whether it contained family pictures
or other objects of curiosity worthy of a stranger's visit; when, leaving
the vicinity of the park, he rolled through a clean and well-paved street,
and stopped at the door of a well-frequented inn.
Before ordering horses to proceed on his journey, General Browne made
inquiries concerning the proprietor of the chateau which had so attracted
his admiration; and was equally surprised and pleased at hearing in reply
a nobleman named, whom we shall call Lord Woodville. How fortunate!
Much of Browne's early recollections, both at school and at college, had
been connected with young Woodville, whom, by a few questions, he now
ascertained to be the same with the owner of this fair domain. He had been
raised to the peerage by the decease of his father a few months before,
and, as the general learned from the landlord, the term of mourning being
ended, was now taking possession of his paternal estate, in the jovial
season of merry autumn, accompanied by a select party of friends, to enjoy
the sports of a country famous for game.
This was delightful news to our traveler. Frank Woodville had been Richard
Browne's fag at Eton and his chosen intimate at Christ Church; their
pleasures and their tasks had been the same; and the honest soldier's
heart warmed to find his early friend in possession of so delightful a
residence, and of an estate, as the landlord assured him with a nod and a
wink, fully adequate to maintain and add to his dignity.
Nothing was more natural than that the traveler should suspend a journey,
which there was nothing to render hurried, to pay a visit to an old friend
under such agreeable circumstances.
The fresh horses, therefore, had only the brief task of conveying the
general's traveling carriage to Woodville Castle. A porter admitted them
at a modern Gothic lodge, built in that style to correspond with the
castle itself, and at the same time rang a bell to give warning of the
approach of visitors.
Apparently the sound of the bell had suspended the separation of the
company, bent on the various amusements of the morning; for, on entering
the court of the chateau, several young men were lounging about in their
sporting dresses, looking at, and criticizing, the dogs which the keepers
held in readiness to attend their pastime.
As General Browne alighted, the young lord came to the gate of the hall,
and for an instant gazed, as at a stranger, upon the countenance of his
friend, on which war, with its fatigues and its wounds, had made a great
alteration. But the uncertainty lasted no longer than till the visitor had
spoken, and the hearty greeting which followed was such as can only be
exchanged between those who have passed together the merry days of
careless boyhood or early youth.
"If I could have formed a wish, my dear Browne," said Lord Woodville, "it
would have been to have you here, of all men, upon this occasion, which my
friends are good enough to hold as a sort of holiday. Do not think you
have been unwatched during the years you have been absent from us. I have
traced you through your dangers, your triumphs, your misfortunes, and was
delighted to see that, whether in victory or defeat, the name of my old
friend was always distinguished with applause."
The general made a suitable reply, and congratulated his friend on his new
dignities, and the possession of a place and domain so beautiful.
"Nay, you have seen nothing of it as yet," said Lord Woodville, "and I
trust you do not mean to leave us till you are better acquainted with it.
It is true, I confess, that my present party is pretty large, and the old
house, like other places of the kind, does not possess so much
accommodation as the extent of the outward walls appears to promise. But
we can give you a comfortable old-fashioned room, and I venture to suppose
that your campaigns have taught you to be glad of worse quarters."
The general shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
"I presume," he said, "the worst apartment in your chateau is considerably
superior to the old tobacco-cask, in which I was fain to take up my
night's lodging when I was in the Bush, as the Virginians call it, with
the light corps. There I lay, like Diogenes himself, so delighted with my
covering from the elements that I made a vain attempt to have it rolled on
to my next quarters; but my commander for the time would give way to no
such luxurious provision, and I took farewell of my beloved cask with
tears in my eyes."
"Well, then, since you do not fear your quarters," said Lord Woodville,
"you will stay with me a week at least. Of guns, dogs, fishing-rods,
flies, and means of sport by sea and land, we have enough and to spare;
you cannot pitch on an amusement but we will find the means of pursuing
it. But if you prefer the gun and pointers, I will go with you myself, and
see whether you have mended your shooting since you have been among the
Indians of the back settlements."
The general gladly accepted his friendly host's proposal in all its
points. After a morning of manly exercise, the company met at dinner,
where it was the delight of Lord Woodville to conduce to the display of
the high properties of his recovered friend, so as to recommend him to his
guests, most of whom were persons of distinction.
He led General Browne to speak of the scenes he had witnessed; and as
every word marked alike the brave officer and the sensible man, who
retained possession of his cool judgment under the most imminent dangers,
the company looked upon the soldier with general respect, as on one who
had proved himself possessed of an uncommon portion of personal courage;
that attribute, of all others, of which everybody desires to be thought
possessed.
The day at Woodville Castle ended as usual in such mansions. The
hospitality stopped within the limits of good order; music, in which the
young lord was a proficient, succeeded to the circulation of the bottle;
cards and billiards, for those who preferred such amusements, were in
readiness: but the exercise of the morning required early hours, and not
long after eleven o'clock the guests began to retire to their several
apartments.
The young lord himself conducted his friend, General Browne, to the
chamber destined for him, which answered the description he had given of
it, being comfortable, but old-fashioned. The bed was of the massive form
used in the end of the seventeenth century, and the curtains of faded
silk, heavily trimmed with tarnished gold. But then the sheets, pillows,
and blankets looked delightful to the campaigner, when he thought of his
"mansion, the cask."
There was an air of gloom in the tapestry hangings, which, with their
worn-out graces, curtained the walls of the little chamber, and gently
undulated as the autumnal breeze found its way through the ancient
lattice-window, which pattered and whistled as the air gained entrance.
The toilet, too, with its mirror, turbaned, after the manner of the
beginning of the century, with a coiffure of murrey-colored silk, and its
hundred strange-shaped boxes, providing for arrangements which had been
obsolete for more than fifty years, had an antique, and in so far a
melancholy aspect.
But nothing could blaze more brightly and cheerfully than the two large
wax candles; or if aught could rival them, it was the flaming, bickering
fagots in the chimney, that sent at once their gleam and their warmth
through the snug apartment; which, notwithstanding the general antiquity
of its appearance, was not wanting in the least convenience that modern
habits rendered either necessary or desirable.
"This is an old-fashioned sleeping apartment, general," said the young
lord; "but I hope you find nothing that makes you envy your old
tobacco-cask."
"I am not particular respecting my lodgings," replied the general; "yet
were I to make any choice, I would prefer this chamber by many degrees to
the gayer and more modern rooms of your family mansion. Believe me, that
when I unite its modern air of comfort with its venerable antiquity, and
recollect that it is your lordship's property, I shall feel in better
quarters here than if I were in the best hotel London could afford."
"I trust--I have no doubt--that you will find yourself as comfortable as I
wish you, my dear general," said the young nobleman; and once more bidding
his guest good night, he shook him by the hand and withdrew.
The general once more looked about him, and internally congratulating
himself on his return to peaceful life, the comforts of which were
endeared by the recollection of the hardships and dangers he had lately
sustained, undressed himself, and prepared for a luxurious night's rest.
Here, contrary to the custom of this species of tale, we leave the general
in possession of his apartment until the next morning.
The company assembled for breakfast at an early hour, but without the
appearance of General Browne, who seemed the guest that Lord Woodville was
desirous of honoring above all whom his hospitality had assembled around
him.
He more than once expressed surprise at the general's absence, and at
length sent a servant to make inquiry after him. The man brought back
information that General Browne had been walking abroad since an early
hour of the morning, in defiance of the weather, which was misty and
ungenial.
"The custom of a soldier," said the young nobleman to his friends; "many
of them acquire habitual vigilance, and cannot sleep after the early hour
at which their duty usually commands them to be alert."
Yet the explanation which Lord Woodville thus offered to the company
seemed hardly satisfactory to his own mind, and it was in a fit of silence
and abstraction that he awaited the return of the general.
It took place near an hour after the breakfast bell had rung. He looked
fatigued and feverish. His hair, the powdering and arrangement of which
was at this time one of the most important occupations of a man's whole
day, and marked his fashion as much as, in the present time, the tying of
a cravat, or the want of one, was disheveled, uncurled, void of powder,
and dank with dew. His clothes were huddled on with a careless negligence,
remarkable in a military man, whose real or supposed duties are usually
held to include some attention to the toilet, and his looks were haggard
and ghastly.
"So you have stolen a march upon us this morning, my dear general," said
Lord Woodville; "or you have not found your bed so much to your mind as I
had hoped and you seemed to expect. How did you rest last night?"
"Oh, excellently well! remarkably well! never better in my life," said
General Browne rapidly, and yet with an air of embarrassment which was
obvious to his friend. He then hastily swallowed a cup of tea, and,
neglecting or refusing whatever else was offered, seemed to fall into a
fit of abstraction.
"You will take the gun to-day, General?" said his friend and host, but had
to repeat the question twice ere he received the abrupt answer: "No, my
lord; I am sorry I cannot have the honor of spending another day with your
lordship; my post horses are ordered, and will be here directly."
All who were present showed surprise, and Lord Woodville immediately
replied: "Post horses, my good friend! What can you possibly want with
them, when you promised to stay with me quietly for at least a week?"
"I believe," said the general, obviously much embarrassed, "that I might,
in the pleasure of my first meeting with your lordship, have said
something about stopping here a few days; but I have since found it
altogether impossible."
"That is very extraordinary," answered the young nobleman. "You seemed
quite disengaged yesterday, and you cannot have had a summons to-day; for
our post has not come up from the town, and therefore you cannot have
received any letters."
General Browne, without giving any further explanation, muttered something
of indispensable business, and insisted on the absolute necessity of his
departure in a manner which silenced all opposition on the part of his
host, who saw that his resolution was taken, and forbore all further
importunity.
"At least, however," he said, "permit me, my dear Browne, since go you
will or must, to show you the view from the terrace, which the mist, that
is now rising, will soon display."
He threw open a sash-window, and stepped down upon the terrace as he
spoke. The general followed him mechanically, but seemed little to attend
to what his host was saying, as, looking across an extended and rich
prospect, he pointed out the different objects worthy of observation.
Thus they moved on till Lord Woodville had attained his purpose of drawing
his guest entirely apart from the rest of the company, when, turning
around upon him with an air of great solemnity, he addressed him thus:
"Richard Browne, my old and very dear friend, we are now alone. Let me
conjure you to answer me upon the word of a friend, and the honor of a
soldier. How did you in reality rest during last night?"
"Most wretchedly indeed, my lord," answered the general, in the same tone
of solemnity; "so miserably, that I would not run the risk of such a
second night, not only for all the lands belonging to this castle, but for
all the country which I see from this elevated point of view."
"This is most extraordinary," said the young lord, as if speaking to
himself; "then there must be something in the reports concerning that
apartment." Again turning to the general, he said: "For God's sake, my
dear friend, be candid with me, and let me know the disagreeable
particulars which have befallen you under a roof where, with consent of
the owner, you should have met nothing save comfort."
The general seemed distressed by this appeal, and paused a moment before
he replied.
"My dear lord," he at length said, "what happened to me last night is of
a nature so peculiar and so unpleasant, that I could hardly bring myself
to detail it even to your lordship, were it not that, independent of my
wish to gratify any request of yours, I think that sincerity on my part
may lead to some explanation about a circumstance equally painful and
mysterious. To others, the communication I am about to make might place me
in the light of a weak-minded, superstitious fool, who suffered his own
imagination to delude and bewilder him; but you have known me in childhood
and youth, and will not suspect me of having adopted in manhood the
feelings and frailties from which my early years were free."
Here he paused, and his friend replied:
"Do not doubt my perfect confidence in the truth of your communication,
however strange it may be," replied Lord Woodville, "I know your firmness
of disposition too well to suspect you could be made the object of
imposition, and am aware that your honor and your friendship will equally
deter you from exaggerating whatever you may have witnessed."
"Well, then," said the general, "I will proceed with my story as well as I
can, relying upon your candor; and yet distinctly feeling that I would
rather face a battery than recall to my mind the odious recollections of
last night."
He paused a second time, and then, perceiving that Lord Woodville remained
silent and in an attitude of attention, he commenced, though not without
obvious reluctance, the history of his night adventures in the Tapestried
Chamber.
"I undressed and went to bed, so soon as your lordship left me yesterday
evening; but the wood in the chimney, which nearly fronted my bed, blazed
brightly and cheerfully, and, aided by a hundred exciting recollections of
my childhood and youth, which had been recalled by the unexpected pleasure
of meeting your lordship, prevented me from falling immediately asleep.
"I ought, however, to say that these reflections were all of a pleasant
and agreeable kind, grounded on a sense of having for a time exchanged the
labor, fatigues, and dangers of my profession for the enjoyments of a
peaceful life, and the reunion of those friendly and affectionate ties
which I had torn asunder at the rude summons of war.
"While such pleasing reflections were stealing over my mind, and gradually
lulling me to slumber, I was suddenly aroused by a sound like that of the
rustling of a silken gown, and the tapping of a pair of high-heeled shoes,
as if a woman were walking in the apartment.
"Ere I could draw the curtain to see what the matter was, the figure of a
little woman passed between the bed and the fire. The back of this form
was turned to me, and I could observe, from the shoulders and neck, it was
that of an old woman, whose dress was an old-fashioned gown, which, I
think, ladies call a sacque; that is, a sort of robe completely loose in
the body, but gathered into broad plaits upon the neck and shoulders which
fall down to the ground and terminate in a species of train.
"I thought the intrusion singular enough, but never harbored for a moment
the idea that what I saw was anything more than the mortal form of some
old woman about the establishment, who had a fancy to dress like her
grandmother, and who, having perhaps (as your lordship mentioned that you
were rather straitened for room) been dislodged from her chamber for my
accommodation, had forgotten the circumstance and returned by twelve to
her old haunt.
"Under this persuasion I moved myself in bed and coughed a little, to make
the intruder sensible of my being in possession of the premises. She
turned slowly around, but, gracious heaven! my lord, what a countenance
did she display to me!
"There was no longer any question what she was, or any thought of her
being a living being.
"Upon a face which wore the fixed features of a corpse were imprinted the
traces of the vilest and most hideous passions which had animated her
while she lived. The body of some atrocious criminal seemed to have been
given up from the grave, and the soul restored from the penal fire, in
order to form, for a space, a union with the ancient accomplice of its
guilt.
"I started up in bed and sat upright, supporting myself on my palms, as I
gazed on this horrible specter.
"The hag made, as it seemed, a single and swift stride to the bed where I
lay, and squatted herself down upon it in precisely the same attitude
which I had assumed in the extremity of horror, advancing her diabolical
countenance within half a yard of mine, with a grin which seemed to
intimate the malice and the derision of an incarnate fiend."
Here General Browne stopped and wiped from his brow the cold perspiration
with which the recollection of this horrible vision had covered it.
"My lord," he said, "I am no coward. I have been in all the mortal dangers
incidental to my profession, and I may truly boast that no man ever knew
Richard Browne dishonor the sword he wears; but in these horrible
circumstances, under the eyes, and, as it seemed, almost in the grasp of
an incarnation of an evil spirit, all firmness forsook me, all manhood
melted from me like wax in the furnace, and I felt my hair individually
bristle. The current of my life-blood ceased to flow, and I sank back in a
swoon, as very a victim to panic terror as ever was a village girl, or a
child of ten years old. How long I lay in this condition I cannot pretend
to guess.
"But I was roused by the castle clock striking one, so loud that it seemed
as if it were in the very room. It was some time before I dared open my
eyes, lest they should again encounter the horrible spectacle. When,
however, I summoned courage to look up, she was no longer visible.
"My first idea was to pull my bell, wake the servants, and remove to a
garret or a hayloft, to be insured against a second visitation. Nay, I
will confess the truth, that my resolution was altered, not by the shame
of exposing myself, but by the fear that, as the bell-cord hung by the
chimney, I might, in making my way to it, be again crossed by the fiendish
hag, who, I figured to myself, might be still lurking about some corner of
the apartment.
"I will not pretend to describe what hot and cold fever-fits tormented me
for the rest of the night, through broken sleep, weary vigils, and that
dubious state which forms the neutral ground between them. A hundred
terrible objects appeared to haunt me; but there was the great difference
between the vision which I have described, and those which followed, that
I knew the last to be deceptions of my own fancy.
"Day at last appeared, and I rose from my bed, ill in health and
humiliated in mind. I was ashamed of myself as a man and a soldier, and
still more so at feeling my own extreme desire to escape from the haunted
apartment, which, however, conquered all other considerations; so that,
huddling on my clothes with the most careless haste, I made my escape from
your lordship's mansion to seek in the open air some relief to my nervous
system, shaken as it was by this horrible encounter with a visitant, for
such I must believe her, from the other world.
"Your lordship has now heard the cause of my discomfiture, and of my
sudden desire to leave your hospitable castle. In other places I trust we
may often meet; but God protect me from ever spending a second night under
that roof!"
Strange as the general's tale was, he spoke with such a deep air of
conviction that it cut short all the usual commentaries which are made on
such stories. Lord Woodville never once asked him if he was sure he did
not dream of the apparition, or suggested any of the possibilities by
which it is fashionable to explain supernatural appearances--as wild
vagaries of the fancy or deceptions of the optic nerves.
On the contrary he seemed deeply impressed with the truth and reality of
what he had heard; and, after a considerable pause, regretted, with much
appearance of sincerity, that his early friend should in his house have
suffered so severely.
"I am the more sorry for your pain, my dear Browne," he continued, "that
it is the unhappy, though most unexpected, result of an experiment of my
own. You must know that, for my father and grandfather's time at least,
the apartment which was assigned to you last night had been shut on
account of reports that it was disturbed by supernatural sights and
noises.
"When I came, a few weeks since, into possession of the estate, I thought
the accommodation which the castle afforded for my friends was not
extensive enough to permit the inhabitants of the invisible world to
retain possession of a comfortable sleeping apartment.
"I therefore caused the Tapestried Chamber, as we call it, to be opened;
and, without destroying its air of antiquity, I had such new articles of
furniture placed in it as became the modern times. Yet as the opinion that
the room was haunted very strongly prevailed among the domestics, and was
also known in the neighborhood and to many of my friends, I feared some
prejudice might be entertained by the first occupant of the Tapestried
Chamber, which might tend to revive the evil report which it had labored
under, and so disappoint my purpose of rendering it a useful part of the
house.
"I must confess, my dear Browne, that your arrival yesterday, agreeable to
me for a thousand reasons besides, seemed the most favorable opportunity
of removing the unpleasant rumors which attached to the room, since your
courage was indubitable, and your mind free of any preoccupation on the
subject. I could not, therefore, have chosen a more fitting subject for my
experiment."
"Upon my life," said General Browne, somewhat hastily, "I am infinitely
obliged to your lordship--very particularly indebted indeed. I am likely
to remember for some time the consequences of the experiment, as your
lordship is pleased to call it."
"Nay, now you are unjust, my dear friend," said Lord Woodville. "You have
only to reflect for a single moment in order to be convinced that I could
not augur the possibility of the pain to which you have been so unhappily
exposed.
"I was yesterday morning a complete skeptic on the subject of supernatural
appearances. Nay, I am sure that had I told you what was said about that
room, those very reports would have induced you, by your own choice, to
select it for your accommodation. It was my misfortune, perhaps my error,
but really cannot be termed my fault, that you have been afflicted so
strangely."
"Strangely indeed!" said the general, resuming his good temper; "and I
acknowledge that I have no right to be offended with your lordship for
treating me like what I used to think myself--a man of some firmness and
courage. But I see my post horses are arrived, and I must not detain your
lordship from your amusement."
"Nay, my old friend," said Lord Woodville; "since you cannot stay with us
another day--which, indeed, I can no longer urge--give me at least half an
hour more. You used to love pictures, and I have a gallery of portraits,
some of them by Vandyke, representing ancestry to whom this property and
castle formerly belonged. I think that several of them will strike you as
possessing merit."
General Browne accepted the invitation, though somewhat unwillingly. It
was evident he was not to breathe freely or at ease till he left Woodville
Castle far behind him. He could not refuse his friend's invitation,
however; and the less so, that he was a little ashamed of the peevishness
which he had displayed toward his well-meaning entertainer.
The general, therefore, followed Lord Woodville through several rooms,
into a long gallery hung with pictures, which the latter pointed out to
his guest, telling the names, and giving some account of the personages
whose portraits presented themselves in progression.
General Browne was but little interested in the details which these
accounts conveyed to him. They were, indeed, of the kind which are usually
found in an old family gallery. Here was a cavalier who had ruined the
estate in the royal cause; there, a fine lady who had reinstated it by
contracting a match with a wealthy Roundhead. There hung a gallant who had
been in danger for corresponding with the exiled Court at Saint Germain's;
here, one who had taken arms for William at the Revolution; and there, a
third that had thrown his weight alternately into the scale of Whig and
Tory.
While Lord Woodville was cramming these words into his guest's ear,
"against the stomach of his sense," they gained the middle of the gallery,
when he beheld General Browne suddenly start and assume an attitude of
the utmost surprise, not unmixed with fear, as his eyes were caught and
suddenly riveted by a portrait of an old lady in a sacque, the fashionable
dress at the end of the seventeenth century.
"There she is!" he exclaimed; "there she is, in form and features, though
inferior in demoniac expression to the hag that visited me last night!"
"If that be the case," said the young nobleman, "there can remain no
longer any doubt of the horrible reality of your apparition. That is the
picture of a wretched ancestress of mine, of whose crimes a black and
fearful catalogue is recorded in a family history in my charter-chest. The
recital of them would be too horrible; it is enough to say that in yon
fatal apartment incest and unnatural murder were committed. I will restore
it to the solitude to which the better judgment of those who preceded me
had consigned it; and never shall any one, so long as I can prevent it, be
exposed to a repetition of the supernatural horrors which could shake such
courage as yours."
Thus the friends, who had met with such glee, parted in a very different
mood; Lord Woodville to command the Tapestried Chamber to be unmantled and
the door built up, and General Browne to seek in some less beautiful
country, and with some less dignified friend, forgetfulness of the painful
night which he had passed in Woodville Castle.