It is certain also
that he was at sea, and that he never came home. And it is undoubtedly
true that Cuthbert, when in London, heard this account, for he wrote his
mother home a description of the whole interview, with the officer's
name and ship. I have seen the letter, and read it over several times.
The year of the death at sea is mentioned, but not the day. Now the day
of the ghost's appearance we cannot be wrong about; it was that before
the night of the great gale which did such damage in these parts, that
for years it could not be forgotten."
"You have read the letter, you say?"
"Yes; it was an important one, I suppose. But I fancy that it was not
read by any one but the dear grandmother till after poor Cuthbert
Melcombe's sad death, and then I think the family lawyer found it among
her papers when she had to inherit the estate. He may have wanted
evidence, perhaps, that Augustus Melcombe was dead."
"Perhaps so," said Valentine. "It is just of the usual sort, I see, this
story; a blue light hovering about the head. The ghost walked in his
shroud, and she saw the seams in it.
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