My mother was certain
that, having heard of the popular superstition, he had acted ghost.
She appealed to Woodstock to prove the practicability of such feats;
and her absolute conviction persuaded the maids (who had given
warning en masse) that the enemy was exorcised when George Sims had
been sent off on the Royal Mail under Clarence's guardianship.
None of the junior part of the family believed him guilty, but he
had hunted the cows round the paddock, mounted on my donkey, had
nearly shot the kitchen-maid with Griff's gun, and, if not much
maligned, knew the way to the apple-chamber only too well,--so that
he richly deserved his doom, rejoiced in it himself, and was
unregretted save by Martyn. Clarence viewed him in the light of a
victim, and tried to keep an eye on him, but he developed his talent
as a ventriloquist, made his fortune, and retired on a public-house.
My mother would fain have had the vaults under the mullion rooms
bricked up, but Mr. Stafford cried out on the barbarism of such a
proceeding. The mystery was declared to be solved, and was added to
Mr. Stafford's good stories of haunted houses.
And at home my father forbade any further mention of such rank folly
and deception. The inner mullion chamber was turned into a lumber-
room, and as weeks passed by without hearing or seeing any more of
lady or of lamp, we began to credit the wonderful freaks of the
goblin page.
Pages:
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133