For days I could not answer this question. I am no believer in spiritual manifestations2, yet —— But let me tell my story.
I was lodging3 with my wife on the first floor of a house in Twenty-seventh Street. I had taken the apartments for three months, and we had already lived in them two and found them sufficiently5 comfortable. The back room we used as a bedroom, and as we received but few friends, the two great leaves of old mahogany connecting the rooms, usually stood wide open.
One morning, my wife being ill, I left her lying in bed and stepped into the parlour preparatory to going out for breakfast. It was late — nine o’clock probably — and I was hastening to leave, when I heard a sound behind me — or did I merely feel a presence? — and, turning, saw a strange and totally unknown woman coming toward me from my wife’s room.
As I had just left that room, and as there was no other way of entrance save through a door we always kept locked, I was so overpowered by my astonishment7 that I never thought of speaking or moving until she had passed me. Then I found voice, and calling out “Madam!” endeavoured to stop her.
But the madam, if madam she was, passed on as quietly, as mechanically even, as if I had not raised my voice, and before I could grasp the fact that she was melting from before me flitted through the hall to the front door and so out, leaving behind on the palm of my hand the “feel” of her wool dress, which I had just managed to touch.
Not understanding her or myself or the strange thrill awakened9 by this contact, I tore open the front door and looked out, expecting, of course, to see her on the steps or on the sidewalk in front. But there was no one of her appearance visible, and I came back questioning whether I was the victim of a hallucination or just an everyday fool. To satisfy myself on this important question I looked about for the hallboy, with the intention of asking him if he had seen any such person go out, but that young and inconsequent scamp was missing from his post as usual and there was no one within sight to appeal to.
There was nothing to do but to re-enter my rooms, where my attention was immediately arrested by the sight of my wife sitting up in bed and surveying me with a look of unmistakable astonishment.
“Who was that woman?” she asked. “And how came she in here?”
So she had seen her too.
“What woman, Lydia? I have not let in any woman. Did you think there was a woman in this room?”
“Not in that room,” she answered hoarsely10, “but in this one. I saw her just now passing through the folding doors. Wilbur, I am frightened. See how my hands shake. Do you think I am sick enough to imagine things?”
I knew she was not, but I did not say so. I thought it would be better for her to think herself under some such delusion11.
“You were dozing,” said I. “If you had seen a woman here you could tell me how she looked.”
“And I can,” my wife broke in excitedly. “She was like the ghosts we read of, only that her dress and the veil or drapery she wore were all grey. Didn’t you see her? You must have seen her. She went right by you — a grey woman, all grey; a lady, Wilbur, and slightly lame12. Could I have dreamed all that?”
“You must have!” I protested, shaking the door leading directly into the hall so she might see it was locked, and even showing her the key to it lying in its accustomed place behind the bureau cushion. Yet I was in no satisfied condition myself, for she had described with the greatest accuracy the very person I had myself seen. Had we been alike the victims of a spiritual manifestation1?
This was Tuesday. On Friday my question seemed to receive an answer. I had been downtown, as usual, and on returning found a crowd assembled in front of my lodging-house. A woman had been run over and was being carried into our rooms. In the glimpse I caught of her I saw that she was middle-aged13 and was wrapped in a long black cloak. Later this cloak fell off, as her hat had done long before, and I perceived that her dress was black and decent.
She was laid on our bed and every attention paid her. But she had been grievously injured about the head and gradually but surely sank before our eyes. Suddenly she roused and gave a look about her. It was a remarkable14 one — a look of recognition and almost of delight. Then she raised one hand and, pointing with a significant gesture into the empty space before her, sank back and died.
It was a sudden ending, and, anxious to see its effect upon my wife, who was standing8 on the other side of the bed, I glanced her way with some misgiving15. She showed more feeling than I had anticipated. Indeed her countenance16 was a study, and when, under the influence of my scrutiny17, she glanced my way, I saw that something of deeper import than this unexpected death in our rooms lay at the bottom of her uneasy look.
What that was I was soon to know, for catching18 up from amid the folds of the woman’s grey-lined cloak a long grey veil which had fallen at the bedside, she disposed it softly about the woman’s face, darting19 me a look full of significance.
“You remember the vision I had the morning when I was sick?” she whispered softly in my ear.
I nodded, secretly thrilled to my very heart’s core.
“Well, it was a vision of this woman. If she were living and on her feet and wrapped, as I have shown you, in this veil, you would behold20 a living picture of the person I saw passing out of this room that morning.”
“I shall not dispute you,” I answered. Alas21! I had myself perceived the likeness22 the instant the veil had fallen about the pinched but handsome features!
“A forewarning,” whispered my wife; “a forewarning of what has this day happened under our roof. It was a wraith23 we saw. Wilbur, I shall not spend another night in these rooms.”
And we did not. I was as anxious to leave as she was. Yet I am not a superstitious24 man. As proof of it, after the first effect of these events had left me I began to question my first impressions and feel tolerably ashamed of my past credulity. Though the phenomenon we had observed could not to all appearance be explained by any natural hypothesis; though I had seen, and my wife had seen, a strange woman suddenly become visible in a room which a moment before had held no one but ourselves, and into which no live woman could have entered without our knowledge, something — was it my natural good sense? — recoiled25 before a supernatural explanation of this, and I found myself forced to believe that our first visitor had been as real as the last; in other words, the same woman.
But could I prove it? Could the seemingly impossible be made possible and the unexplainable receive a solution satisfying to a rational mind? I determined26 to make an effort to accomplish this, if only to relieve the mind of my wife, who had not recovered her equanimity27 as readily as myself.
Starting with the assumption above mentioned — that the woman who had died in our presence was the same who had previously28 found an unexplainable entrance into our rooms — I first inquired if the black cloak lined with grey did not offer a solution to some of my previous difficulties. It was a long cloak, enveloping29 her completely. When worn with the black side out she would present an inconspicuous appearance, but with the grey side out and the effect of this heightened by a long grey veil hung over her hat, she would look like the grey lady I had first seen. Now, a cloak can be turned in an instant, and if she had chosen to do this in flitting through my door I would naturally find only a sedate30, black-clothed woman passing up the street, when, rousing from the apathy31 into which her appearance had thrown me, I rushed to the front door and looked out. Had I seen such a woman? I seemed to remember that I had.
Thus much, then, was satisfactory, but to account for her entrance into our rooms was not so easy. Had she slipped by me in coming in as she had on going out? The parlour door was open, for I had been out to get the paper. Could she have glided32 in by me unperceived and thus found her way into the bedroom from which I afterward33 saw her issue? No, for I had stood facing the front hall door all the time. Through the bedroom door, then? But that was, as I have said, locked. Here, then, was a mystery; but it was one worth solving.
My first step was to recall all that I had heard of the actual woman who had been buried from our rooms. Her name, as ascertained34 in the cheap boarding-house to which she was traced, was Helmuth, and she was, so far as any one knew, without friends or relatives in the city. To those who saw her daily she was a harmless, slightly demented woman with money enough to live above want, but not enough to warrant her boasting talk about the rich things she was going to buy some day and the beautiful presents she would soon be in a position to give away. The money found on her person was sufficient to bury her, but no papers were in her possession nor any letters calculated to throw light upon her past life.
Her lameness35 had been caused by paralysis36, but the date of her attack was not known.
Finding no clue in this to what I wished to learn, I went back to our old rooms, which had not been let since our departure, and sought for one there, and, strangely enough, found it. I thought I knew everything there was to be known about the apartment we had lived in two months, but one little fact had escaped me which, under the scrutiny that I now gave it, became apparent. This was simply that the key which opened the hall door of the bedroom and which we had seldom if ever used was not as old a key as that of the corresponding door in the parlour, and this fact, small as it was, led me to make inquiries37.
The result was that I learned something about the couple who had preceded us in the use of these rooms. They were of middle age and of great personal elegance38 but uncertain pay, the husband being nothing more nor less than a professional gambler. Their name was L’Hommedieu.
When I first heard of them I thought that Mrs. L’Hommedieu might be the Mrs. Helmuth in whose history I was so interested, but from all I could learn she was a very different sort of person. Mrs. L’Hommedieu was gay, dashing, and capable of making a show out of flimsy silk a shopgirl would hesitate to wear. Yet she looked distinguished39 and wore her cheap jewelry40 with more grace than many a woman her diamonds. I would, consequently, have dropped this inquiry41 if some one had not remarked upon her having had a paralytic42 stroke after leaving the house. This, together with the fact that the key to the rear door, which I had found replaced by a new one, had been taken away by her and never returned, connected her so indubitably with my mysterious visitor that I resolved to pursue my investigations43 into Mrs. L’Hommedieu’s past.
For this purpose I sought out a quaint44 little maiden45 lady living on the top floor who, I was told, knew more about the L’Hommedieus than any one in the building. Miss Winterburn, whose acquaintance I had failed to make while residing in the house, was a fluttering, eager, affable person whose one delight was, as I soon found, to talk about the L’Hommedieus. Of the story she related I give as much of it as possible in her own words.
“I was never their equal,” said she, “but Mrs. L’Hommedieu was lonely, and, having no friends in town, was good enough to admit me to her parlour now and then and even to allow me to accompany her to the theatre when her husband was away on one of his mysterious visits. I never liked Mr. L’Hommedieu, but I did like her. She was so different from me, and, when I first knew her, so gay and so full of conversation. But after a while she changed and was either feverishly46 cheerful or morbidly47 sad, so that my visits caused me more pain than pleasure. The reason for these changes in her was patent to everybody. Though her husband was a handsome man, he was as unprincipled as he was unfortunate. He gambled. This she once admitted to me, and while at long intervals48 he met with some luck he more often returned dispirited and with that hungry, ravaging49 look you expect to see in a wolf cheated of its prey50.
“I used to be afraid he would strike her after some one of these disappointments, but I do not think he ever did. She had a determined character of her own, and there have been times when I have thought he was as much afraid of her as she was of him. I became sure of this after one night. Mrs. L’Hommedieu and myself were having a little supper together in the front parlour you have so lately occupied. It was a very ordinary supper, for the L’Hommedieus’ purse had run low, and Mrs. L’Hommedieu was not the woman to spend much at any time on her eating. It was palatable51, however, and I would have enjoyed it greatly, if Mrs. L’Hommedieu had shown more appetite. But she ate scarcely anything and seemed very anxious and unhappy, though she laughed now and then with sudden gusts52 of mirth too hysterical53 to be real. It was not late, and yet we were both very much surprised when there came a knock at the door, followed by the entrance of a visitor.
“Mrs. L’Hommedieu, who was always la grande dame54, rose without apparent embarrassment55 to meet the gentleman who entered, though I knew she could not help but feel keenly the niggardly56 appearance of the board she left with such grace. The stranger — he was certainly a stranger; this I could see by the formality of her manner — was a gentleman of urbane57 bearing and a general air of prosperity.
“I remember every word that passed.
“‘My name is Lafarge,’ said he. ‘I am, or rather have been, under great obligations to your husband, and I have come to discharge my debt. Is he at home?’
“Mrs. L’Hommedieu’s eye, which had sparkled at his name, dropped suddenly as he put the final question.
“‘I am sorry,’ she returned after a moment of embarrassment, ‘but my husband is very seldom home evenings. If you will come about noon some day ——’
“‘Thank you,’ said he, with a bright smile, ‘but I will finish my business now and with you, seeing that Mr. L’Hommedieu is not at home. Years ago — I am sure you have heard your husband mention my name — I borrowed quite a sum of money from him, which I have never paid. You recall the amount, no doubt?’
“‘I have heard Mr. L’Hommedieu say it was a thousand dollars,’ she replied, with a sudden fluttering of her hands indicative of great excitement.
“‘That is the sum,’ he allowed, either not noticing me or thinking me too insignificant58 to be considered. ‘I regret to have kept him so long out of it, but I have not forgotten to add the interest in making out this statement of my indebtedness, and if you will look over this paper and acknowledge its correctness I will leave the equivalent of my debt here and now, for I sail for Europe to-morrow morning and wish to have all my affairs in order before leaving.’
“Mrs. L’Hommedieu, who looked ready to faint from excess of feeling, summoned up her whole strength, looking so beautiful as she did so that one forgot the ribbons on her sleeves were no longer fresh and that the silk dress she wore hung in the very limpest of folds.
“‘I am obliged to you,’ she said in a tone from which she strove in vain to suppress all eagerness. ‘And if I can speak for Mr. L’Hommedieu he will be as grateful for your remembrance of us as for the money you so kindly59 offer to return to him.’
“The stranger bowed low and took out a folded paper, which he handed to her. He was not deceived, I am sure, by her grand airs, and knew as well as I did that no woman ever stood in greater need of money. But nothing in his manner betrayed this knowledge.
“‘It is a bond I give you,’ he now explained. ‘As you will see, it has coupons60 attached to it which you can cash at any time. It will prove as valuable to you as so much ready money and possibly more convenient.’
“And with just this hint, which I took as significant of his complete understanding of her position, he took her receipt and politely left the house.
“Once alone with me, who am nobody, her joy had full vent4. I have never seen any one so lost in delight as she was for a few minutes. To have this money thrust upon her just at a moment when actual want seemed staring her in the face was too much of a relief for her to conceal61 either the misery62 she had been under or the satisfaction she now enjoyed. Under the gush63 of her emotions her whole history came out, but as you have often heard the like I will not repeat it, especially as it was all contained in the cry with which a little later she thrust the bond into my hand.
“‘He must not see it! He must not! It would go like all the rest, and I should again be left without a cent. Take it and keep it, for I have no means of concealing64 it here. He is too suspicious.’
“But this was asking more than I was willing to grant. Seeing how I felt, she took the paper back and concealed65 it in her bosom66 with a look I had rather not have seen. ‘You will not charge yourself with such a responsibility,’ said she. ‘But I can trust you not to tell him?’
“‘Yes,’ I nodded, feeling sick of the whole business.
“‘Then ——’ But here the door was violently flung open and Mr. L’Hommedieu burst into the room in a state of as much excitement as his wife, only his was the excitement of desperation.
“‘Gone! Gone!’ he cried, ignoring me as completely as Mr. Lafarge had done. ‘Not a dollar left; not even my studs! See!’ And he pointed67 to his shirt-front hanging apart in a way I would never have looked for in this reckless but fastidious gentleman. ‘Yet if I had had a dollar more or even a ring worth a dollar or so, I might have —— Theresa, have you any money at all? A coin now might save us.’
“Mrs. L’Hommedieu, who had turned alarmingly pale, drew up her fine figure and resolutely68 confronted him. ‘No!’ said she, and shifting her gaze she turned it meaningly upon me.
“He misunderstood this movement. Thinking it simply a reminder69 of my presence, he turned, with his false but impressive show of courtesy, and made me a low bow. Then he forgot me utterly70 again, and, facing his wife, growled71 out:
“‘Where are you going to get breakfast then? You don’t look like a woman who expects to starve!’
“It was a fatal remark, for, do what she would, she could not prevent a slight smile of disdain72, and, seeing it, he kept his eye riveted73 on her face till her uneasiness became manifest. Instantly his suspicion took form, and, surveying her still more fixedly74, he espied75 a corner of the precious envelope protruding76 slightly above her corsage. To snatch it out, open it, and realise its value was the work of a moment. Her cry of dismay and his shout of triumph rang out simultaneously77, and never have I seen such an ebullition of opposing passions as I was made witness to as his hand closed over this small fortune and their staring eyes met in the moral struggle they had now entered upon for its ultimate possession.
“She was the first to speak. ‘It was given to me, it was meant for me. If I keep it both of us will profit by it, but if you ——’
“He did not wait for her to finish. ‘Where did you get it?’ he cried. ‘I can break the bank with what I can raise on this bond at the club. Darraugh’s in town. You know what that means. Luck’s in the air, and with a hundred dollars —— But I’ve no time to talk. I came for a dollar, a fifty-cent piece, a dime78 even, and go back with a bond worth ——’
“But she was already between him and the door. ‘You will never carry that bond out of this house,’ she whispered in the tone which goes further than a cry. ‘I have not held it in my hand to see it follow every other good thing I have had in life. I will not, Henry. Take that bond and sink it as you have all the rest and I fall at your feet a dead woman. I will never survive the destruction of my last hope.’
“He was cowed — for a moment, that is; she looked so superb and so determined. Then all that was mean and despicable in his thinly veneered nature came to the surface, and, springing forward with an oath, he was about to push her aside, when, without the moving of a finger on her part, he reeled back, recovered himself, caught at a chair, missed it, and fell heavily to the floor.
“‘My God, I thank thee!’ was the exclamation79 with which she broke from the trance of terror into which she had been thrown by his sudden attempt to pass her; and without a glance at his face, which to me looked like the face of a dead man, she tore the paper from his hand and stood looking about her with a wild and searching gaze, in the desperate hope that somehow the walls would open and offer her a safe place of concealment80 for the precious sheet of paper.
“Meanwhile I had crept near the prostrate81 man. He was breathing, but was perfectly82 unconscious.
“‘Don’t you mean to do something for him?’ I asked. ‘He may die.’
“She met my question with the dazed air of one suddenly awakened. ‘No, he’ll not die; but he’ll not come to for some minutes, and this must be hidden first. But where? where? I cannot trust it on my person or in any place a man like him would search. I must devise some means — ah!’
“With this final exclamation she had dashed into the other room. I did not see where she went — I did not want to — but I soon realised she was working somewhere in a desperate hurry. I could hear her breath coming in quick, short pants as I bent83 over her husband, waiting for him to rouse and hating my inaction even while I succumbed84 to it.
“Suddenly she was back in the parlour again, and to my surprise passed immediately to the little table in the corner where we had sat at supper. We had had for our simple refreshment85 that homeliest of all dishes, boiled milk thickened with flour. There was still some left in a bowl, and taking this away with her she called back hoarsely:
“‘Pray that he does not come to till I have finished. It will be the best prayer you ever made.’
“She told me afterward that he was subject to these attacks and that she had long ceased to be alarmed by them. But to me the sight of that man lying there so helpless was horrible, and, though I hated him and pitied her, I scarcely knew what to wish. While battling with my desire to run and the feeling of loyalty86 which held me kneeling at that man’s side, I heard her speak again, this time in an even and slightly hard tone: ‘Now you may dash a glass of cold water in his face. I am prepared to meet him now. Happily his memory fails after these attacks. I may succeed in making him believe that the bond he saw was one of his fancies.’
“‘Had you not better throw the water yourself?’ I suggested, getting up and meeting her eye very quietly.
“She looked at me in wonder, then moved calmly to the table, took the glass, and dashed a few drops of water into her husband’s face. Instantly he began to stir, seeing which I arose without haste, but without any unnecessary delay, and quickly took my leave. I could bear no more that night.
“Next morning I awoke in a fright. I had dreamed that he had come to my room in search of the bond. But it was only her knock at the door and her voice asking if she might enter at this early hour. It was such a relief I gladly let her in, and she entered with her best air and flung herself on my little lounge with the hysterical cry:
“‘He has sent me up. I told him I ought not to intrude87 at such an inconvenient88 hour; that you would not have had your breakfast.’ (How carelessly she spoke89! How hard she tried to keep the hungry note out of her voice!) ‘But he insisted on my coming up. I know why. He searched me before I left the room, and now he wants to search the room itself.’
“‘Then he did remember?’ I began.
“‘Yes, he remembers now. I saw it in his eyes as soon as he awoke. But he will not find the bond. That is safe, and some day when I have escaped his vigilance long enough to get it back again I will use it so as to make him comfortable as well as myself. I am not a selfish woman.’
“I did not think she was, and felt pity for her, and so after dressing90 and making her a cup of tea, I sat down with her, and we chatted for an hour or so quite comfortably. Then she grew so restless and consulted the clock so often that I tried to soothe91 her by remarking that it was not an easy task he had set himself, at which she laughed in a mysterious way, but failed to grow less anxious till our suspense92 was cut short by the appearance of the janitor93 with a message from Mr. L’Hommedieu.
“‘Mr. L’Hommedieu’s compliments,’ said he, ‘and he hopes Mrs. L’Hommedieu will make herself comfortable and not think of coming down. He is doing everything that is necessary and will soon be through. You can rest quite easy, ma’am.’
“‘What does he mean?’ marvelled94 the poor woman as the janitor disappeared. ‘Is he spending all this time ransacking95 the rooms? I wish I dared disobey him. I wish I dared go down.’
“But her courage was not equal to an open disregard of his wishes, and she had to subdue96 her impatience97 and wait for a summons that did not come till near two o’clock. Then Mr. L’Hommedieu himself appeared with her hat and mantle98 on his arm.
“‘My dear,’ said he as she rose, haggard with excitement, to meet him, ‘I have brought your wraps with me that you may go directly from here to our new home. Shall I assist you to put them on? You do not look as well as usual, and that is why I have undertaken this thing all myself — to save you, my dear; to save you each and every exertion99.’
“I had flung out my arms to catch her, for I thought she was going to faint, but she did not, though I think it would have been better for her if she had.
“‘We are going to leave this house?’ she asked, speaking very slowly and with a studied lack of emotion that imposed upon nobody.
“‘I have said so,’ he smiled. ‘The dray has already taken away the half of our effects, and the rest will follow at Mrs. Latimer’s convenience.’
“‘Ah, I understand!’ she replied, with a gasp100 of relief significant of her fear that by some super-human cunning he had found the bond she thought so safely concealed. ‘I was wondering how Mrs. Latimer came to allow us to leave.’ (I tell you they always talked as if I were not present.) ‘Our goods are left as a surety, it seems.’
“‘Half of our goods,’ he blandly101 corrected. ‘Would it interest you to know which half?’
“The cunning of this insinuation was matched by the imperturbable102 shrug103 with which she replied, ‘So a bed has been allowed us and some clothes I am satisfied,’ at which he bit his lips, vexed104 at her self-control and his own failure to break it.
“‘You have not asked where we are going,’ he observed, as with apparent solicitude105 he threw her mantle over her shoulders.
“The air of lassitude with which she replied bespoke106 her feeling on that point. ‘I have little curiosity,’ she said. ‘You know I can be happy anywhere.’ And, turning toward me, she moved her lips in a way I interpreted to mean: ‘Go below with me. See me out.’
“‘Say what you have to say to Miss Winterburn aloud,’ he drily suggested.
“‘I have nothing to say to Miss Winterburn but thanks,’ was her cold reply, belied107, however, by the trembling of her fingers as she essayed to fit on her gloves.
“‘And those I will receive below!’ I cried, with affected108 gaiety. ‘I am going down with you to the door.’ And resolutely ignoring his frown I tripped down before them. On the last stair I felt her steps lagging. Instantly I seemed to comprehend what was required of me, and, rushing forward, I entered the front parlour. He followed close behind me, for how could he know I was not in collusion with her to regain109 the bond? This gave her one minute by herself in the rear, and in that minute she secured the key which would give her future access to the spot where her treasure lay hidden.
“The rest of the story I must give you mainly from hearsay110. You must understand by this time what Mr. L’Hommedieu’s scheme was in moving so suddenly. He knew that it would be impossible for him, by the most minute and continuous watchfulness111, to prevent his wife from recovering the bond while they continued to inhabit the rooms in which, notwithstanding his failure to find it, he had reason to believe it still lay concealed. But once in other quarters it would be comparatively easy for him to subject her to a surveillance which not only would prevent her from returning to this house without his knowledge, but would lead her to give away her secret by the very natural necessity she would be under of going to the exact spot where her treasure lay hid.
“It was a cunning plot and showed him to be as able as he was unscrupulous. How it worked I will now proceed to tell you. It must have been the next afternoon that the janitor came running up to me — I suppose he had learned by this time that I had more than ordinary interest in these people — to say that Mrs. L’Hommedieu had been in the house and had been so frightened by a man who had followed her that she had fainted dead away on the floor. Would I go down to her?
“I had rather have gone anywhere else, unless it was to prison; but duty cannot be shirked, and I followed the man down. But we were too late. Mrs. L’Hommedieu had recovered and gone away, and the person who had frightened her was also gone, and only the hallboy remained to give any explanations.
“This was what he had to say:
“‘The man it was who went first. As soon as the lady fell he skipped out. I don’t think he meant no good here ——’
“‘Did she drop here in the hall?’ I asked, unable to restrain my intense anxiety.
“‘Oh, no, ma’am! They was in the back room yonder, which she got in somehow. The man followed her in, sneaking112 and sneaking like an eel6 or a cop, and she fell right against ——’
“‘Don’t tell me where!’ I cried. ‘I don’t want to know where!’ And I was about to return upstairs when I heard a quick, sharp voice behind me and realised that Mr. L’Hommedieu had come in and was having some dispute with the janitor.
“Common prudence113 led me to listen. He wanted, as was very natural, to enter the room where his wife had just been surprised, but the janitor, alarmed by the foregoing very irregular proceedings114, was disposed to deny his right to do so.
“‘The furniture is held as a surety,’ said he, ‘and I have orders ——’
“But Mr. L’Hommedieu had a spare dollar, and before many minutes had elapsed I heard him go into that room and close the door. Of the next ten minutes and the suspense I felt I need not speak. When he came out again, he looked as if the ground would not hold him.
“‘I have done some mischief115, I fear,’ he airily said as he passed the janitor. ‘But I’ll pay for it. Don’t worry. I’ll pay for it and the rent, too, to-morrow. You may tell Mrs. Latimer so.’ And he was gone, leaving us all agape in the hallway.
“A minute later we all crept to that room and looked in. Now that he had got the bond I for one was determined to know where she had hid it. There was no mistaking the spot. A single glance was enough to show us the paper ripped off from a portion of the wall, revealing a narrow gap behind the baseboard large enough to hold the bond. It was near ——”
“Wait!” I put in as I remembered where the so-called Mrs. Helmuth had pointed just before she died. “Wasn’t it at the left of the large folding doors and midway to the wall?”
“How came you to know?” she asked. “Did Mrs. Latimer tell you?” But as I did not answer she soon took up the thread of her narrative116 again, and, sighing softly, said:
“The next day came and went, but no L’Hommedieu appeared; another, and I began to grow seriously uneasy; a third, and a dreadful thing happened. Late in the afternoon Mrs. L’Hommedieu, dressed very oddly, came sliding in at the front door, and with an appealing smile at the hallboy, who wished but dared not ask her for the key which made these visits possible, glided by to her old rooms, and, finding the door unlocked, went softly in. Her appearance is worth description, for it shows the pitiful efforts she made at disguise, in the hope, I suppose, of escaping the surveillance she was evidently conscious of being under. She was in the habit of wearing on cool days a black circular with a grey lining117. This she had turned inside out so that the gray was uppermost; while over her neat black bonnet118 she had flung a long veil, also grey, which not only hid her face, but gave her appearance an eccentric look as different as possible from her usual aspect. The hallboy, who had never seen her save in showy black or bright colours, said she looked like a ghost in the daytime, but it was all done for a purpose, I am sure, and to escape the attention of the man who had followed her before. Alas, he might have followed her this time without addition to her suffering! Scarcely had she entered the room where her treasure had been left than she saw the torn paper and gaping119 baseboard, and, uttering a cry so piercing it found its way even to the stolid120 heart of the hallboy, she tottered121 back into the hall, where she fell into the arms of her husband, who had followed her in from the street in a state of frenzy122 almost equal to her own.
“The janitor, who that minute appeared on the stairway, says that he never saw two such faces. They looked at each other and were speechless. He was the first to hang his head.
“‘It is gone, Henry,’ she whispered, ‘It is gone. You have taken it.’
“He did not answer.
“‘And it is lost! You have risked it, and it is lost!’
“He uttered a groan123. ‘You should have given it to me that night. There was luck in the air then. Now the devil is in the cards and ——’
“Her arms went up with a shriek124. ‘My curse be upon you, Henry L’Hommedieu!’ And whether it was the look with which she uttered this imprecation, or whether there was some latent love left in his heart for this long-suffering and once beautiful woman, he shrank at her words, and, stumbling like a man in the darkness, uttered a heart-rending groan, and rushed from the house. We never saw him again.
“As for her, she fell this time under a paralytic attack which robbed her of her faculties125. She was taken to a hospital, where I frequently visited her, but either from grief or the effect of her attack she did not know me, nor did she ever recognise any of us again. Mrs. Latimer, who is a just woman, sold her furniture and, after paying herself out of the proceeds, gave the remainder to the hospital nurses for the use of Mrs. L’Hommedieu, so that when she left them she had something with which to start life anew. But where she went or how she managed to get along in her enfeebled condition I do not know. I never heard of her again.”
“Then you did not see the woman who died in these rooms?” I asked.
The effect of these words was magical and led to mutual126 explanations. She had not seen that woman, having encountered all the sorrow she wished to in that room. Nor was there any one else in the house at this time likely to recognise Mrs. L’Hommedieu, the janitor and hallboy both being new and Mrs. Latimer one of those proprietors127 who are only seen on rent day. For the rest, Mrs. L’Hommedieu’s defective128 memory, which had led her to haunt the house and room where the bond had once been hidden, accounted not only for her first visit, but the last, which had ended so fatally. The cunning she showed in turning her cloak and flinging a veil over her hat was the cunning of a partially129 clouded mind. It was a reminiscence of the morning when her terrible misfortune occurred. My habit of taking the key out of the lock of that unused door made the use of her own key possible, and her fear of being followed caused her to lock the door behind her. My wife, who must have fallen into a doze130 on my leaving her, did not see her enter, but detected her just as she was trying to escape through the folding doors. My presence in the parlour probably added to her embarrassment, and she fled, turning her cloak as she did so.
How simple it seemed now that we knew the facts; but how obscure, and, to all appearance, unexplainable, before the clue was given to the mystery!
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收听单词发音
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1
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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3
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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eel
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| n.鳗鲡 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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14
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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17
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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18
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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19
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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21
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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22
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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23
wraith
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| n.幽灵；骨瘦如柴的人 | |
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24
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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25
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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27
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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28
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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29
enveloping
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 ) | |
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30
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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31
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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32
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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33
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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34
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
lameness
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| n. 跛, 瘸, 残废 | |
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36
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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37
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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38
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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39
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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41
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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42
paralytic
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| adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人 | |
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43
investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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44
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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45
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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46
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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morbidly
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| adv.病态地 | |
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48
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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49
ravaging
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| 毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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50
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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51
palatable
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| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
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52
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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53
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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54
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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55
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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56
niggardly
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| adj.吝啬的，很少的 | |
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57
urbane
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| adj.温文尔雅的，懂礼的 | |
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58
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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59
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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60
coupons
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| n.礼券( coupon的名词复数 )；优惠券；订货单；参赛表 | |
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61
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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62
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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63
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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64
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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65
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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66
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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67
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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68
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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69
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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70
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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71
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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72
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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73
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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74
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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75
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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77
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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78
dime
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| n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角 | |
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79
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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80
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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81
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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82
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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83
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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84
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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85
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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86
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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87
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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88
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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89
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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90
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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91
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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92
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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93
janitor
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| n.看门人，管门人 | |
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94
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
ransacking
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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96
subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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97
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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98
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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99
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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100
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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101
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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102
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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103
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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104
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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105
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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106
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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107
belied
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| v.掩饰( belie的过去式和过去分词 )；证明（或显示）…为虚假；辜负；就…扯谎 | |
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108
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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109
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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110
hearsay
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| n.谣传，风闻 | |
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111
watchfulness
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| 警惕，留心； 警觉（性） | |
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112
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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113
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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114
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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115
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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116
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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117
lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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118
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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119
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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120
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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121
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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122
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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123
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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124
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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125
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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126
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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127
proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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128
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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129
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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130
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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