Plantagenet and Venetia followed the elders to the chapel; they walked hand-inhand down the long galleries.
‘I should like to go all over this house,’ said Plantagenet to his companion. ‘Have you ever been?’
‘Never,’ said Venetia; ‘half of it is shut up. Nobody ever goes into it, except mamma.’
In the night there was a violent snowstorm; not only was the fall extremely heavy, but the wind was so high, that it carried the snow off the hills, and all the roads were blocked up, in many places ten or twelve feet deep. All communication was stopped. This was an adventure that amused the children, though the rest looked rather grave. Plantagenet expressed to Venetia his wish that the snow would never melt, and that they might remain at Cherbury for ever.
The children were to have a holiday this week, and they had planned some excursions in the park and neighbourhood, but now they were all prisoners to the house. They wandered about, turning the staircase into mountains, the great hall into an ocean, and the different rooms into so many various regions. They amused themselves with their adventures, and went on endless voyages of discovery. Every moment Plantagenet longed still more for the opportunity of exploring the uninhabited chambers2; but Venetia shook her head, because she was sure Lady Annabel would not grant them permission.
‘Did you ever live at any place before you came to Cherbury?’ inquired Lord Cadurcis of Venetia.
‘I know I was not born here,’ said Venetia; ‘but I was so young that I have no recollection of any other place.’
‘And did any one live here before you came?’ said Plantagenet.
‘I do not know,’ said Venetia; ‘I never heard if anybody did. I, I,’ she continued, a little constrained3, ‘I know nothing.’
‘Do you remember your papa?’ said Plantagenet.
‘No,’ said Venetia.
‘Then he must have died almost as soon as you were born, said Lord Cadurcis.
‘I suppose he must,’ said Venetia, and her heart trembled.
‘I wonder if he ever lived here!’ said Plantagenet.
‘Mamma does not like me to ask questions about my papa,’ said Venetia, ‘and I cannot tell you anything.’
‘Ah! your papa was different from mine, Venetia,’ said Cadurcis; ‘my mother talks of him often enough. They did not agree very well; and, when we quarrel, she always says I remind her of him. I dare say Lady Annabel loved your papa very much.’
‘I am sure mamma did,’ replied Venetia.
The children returned to the drawing-room, and joined their friends: Mrs. Cadurcis was sitting on the sofa, occasionally dozing4 over a sermon; Dr. Masham was standing5 with Lady Annabel in the recess6 of a distant window. Her ladyship’s countenance7 was averted8; she was reading a newspaper, which the Doctor had given her. As the door opened, Lady Annabel glanced round; her countenance was agitated9; she folded up the newspaper rather hastily, and gave it to the Doctor.
‘And what have you been doing, little folks?’ inquired the Doctor of the new comers.
‘We have been playing at the history of Rome,’ said Venetia, ‘and now that we have conquered every place, we do not know what to do.’
‘The usual result of conquest,’ said the Doctor, smiling.
‘This snowstorm is a great trial for you; I begin to believe that, after all, you would be more pleased to take your holidays at another opportunity.’
‘We could amuse ourselves very well,’ said Plantagenet, ‘if Lady Annabel would be so kind as to permit us to explore the part of the house that is shut up.’
‘That would be a strange mode of diversion,’ said Lady Annabel, quietly, ‘and I do not think by any means a suitable one. There cannot be much amusement in roaming over a number of dusty unfurnished rooms.’
‘And so nicely dressed as you are too!’ said Mrs. Cadurcis, rousing herself: ‘I wonder how such an idea could enter your head!’
‘It snows harder than ever,’ said Venetia; ‘I think, after all, I shall learn my French vocabulary.’
‘If it snows tomorrow,’ said Plantagenet, ‘we will do our lessons as usual. Holidays, I find, are not so amusing as I supposed.’
The snow did continue, and the next day the children voluntarily suggested that they should resume their usual course of life. With their mornings occupied, they found their sources of relaxation10 ample; and in the evening they acted plays, and Lady Annabel dressed them up in her shawls, and Dr. Masham read Shakspeare to them.
It was about the fourth day of the visit that Plantagenet, loitering in the hall with Venetia, said to her, ‘I saw your mamma go into the locked-up rooms last night. I do so wish that she would let us go there.’
‘Last night!’ said Venetia; ‘when could you have seen her last night?’
‘Very late: the fact is, I could not sleep, and I took it into my head to walk up and down the gallery. I often do so at the abbey. I like to walk up and down an old gallery alone at night. I do not know why; but I like it very much. Everything is so still, and then you hear the owls11. I cannot make out why it is; but nothing gives me more pleasure than to get up when everybody is asleep. It seems as if one were the only living person in the world. I sometimes think, when I am a man, I will always get up in the night, and go to bed in the daytime. Is not that odd?’
‘But mamma!’ said Venetia, ‘how came you to see mamma?’
‘Oh! I am certain of it,’ said the boy; ‘for, to tell you the truth, I was rather frightened at first; only I thought it would not do for a Cadurcis to be afraid, so I stood against the wall, in the shade, and I was determined12, whatever happened, not to cry out.’
‘Oh! you frighten me so, Plantagenet!’ said Venetia.
‘Ah! you might well have been frightened if you had been there; past midnight, a tall white figure, and a light! However, there is nothing to be alarmed about; it was Lady Annabel, nobody else. I saw her as clearly as I see you now. She walked along the gallery, and went to the very door you showed me the other morning. I marked the door; I could not mistake it. She unlocked it, and she went in.’
‘And then?’ inquired Venetia, eagerly.
‘Why, then, like a fool, I went back to bed,’ said Plantagenet. ‘I thought it would seem so silly if I were caught, and I might not have had the good fortune to escape twice. I know no more.’
Venetia could not reply. She heard a laugh, and then her mother’s voice. They were called with a gay summons to see a colossal13 snow-ball, that some of the younger servants had made and rolled to the window of the terrace-room. It was ornamented14 with a crown of holly15 and mistletoe, and the parti-coloured berries looked bright in a straggling sunbeam which had fought its way through the still-loaded sky, and fell upon the terrace.
In the evening, as they sat round the fire, Mrs. Cadurcis began telling Venetia a long rambling16 ghost story, which she declared was a real ghost story, and had happened in her own family. Such communications were not very pleasing to Lady Annabel, but she was too well bred to interrupt her guest. When, however, the narrative17 was finished, and Venetia, by her observations, evidently indicated the effect that it had produced upon her mind, her mother took the occasion of impressing upon her the little credibility which should be attached to such legends, and the rational process by which many unquestionable apparitions18 might be accounted for. Dr. Masham, following this train, recounted a story of a ghost which had been generally received in a neighbouring village for a considerable period, and attested19 by the most veracious20 witnesses, but which was explained afterwards by turning out to be an instance of somnambulism. Venetia appeared to be extremely interested in the subject; she inquired much about sleep-walkers and sleepwalking; and a great many examples of the habit were cited. At length she said, ‘Mamma, did you ever walk in your sleep?’
‘Not to my knowledge,’ said Lady Annabel, smiling; ‘I should hope not.’
‘Well, do you know,’ said Plantagenet, who had hitherto listened in silence, ‘it is very curious, but I once dreamt that you did, Lady Annabel.’
‘Indeed!’ said the lady.
‘Yes! and I dreamt it last night, too,’ continued Cadurcis. ‘I thought I was sleeping in the uninhabited rooms here, and the door opened, and you walked in with a light.’
‘No! Plantagenet,’ said Venetia, who was seated by him, and who spoke21 in a whisper, ‘it was not —’
‘Hush!’ said Cadurcis, in a low voice.
‘Well, that was a strange dream,’ said Mrs. Cadurcis; ‘was it not, Doctor?’
‘Now, children, I will tell you a very curious story,’ said the Doctor; ‘and it is quite a true one, for it happened to myself.’
The Doctor was soon embarked22 in his tale, and his audience speedily became interested in the narrative; but Lady Annabel for some time maintained complete silence.
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1
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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3
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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4
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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5
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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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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7
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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8
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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10
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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11
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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12
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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13
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
holly
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| n.[植]冬青属灌木 | |
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16
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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17
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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apparitions
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| n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现 | |
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19
attested
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| adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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20
veracious
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| adj.诚实可靠的 | |
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21
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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embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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