""Nor need you have any dread," he returned. "I have no wish nor power to hurt you, but you must listen to my story. Once in fifty years I am allowed to leave my grave and revisit the scene of my tragical death, and this must always be on the 14th of April, which is the anniversary of the event.[4] I am also permitted to recount my story if I find anyone sleeping in this room who is willing to listen to me. Are you willing?"
[4] There is evidently some mistake here in the figures given by the ghost or received by the matron. If his death took place in 1741 (three years after landing in Georgia), his first spirit return was due in 1791, the second, 1841, and the third, not till 1891. It appears to have been antic.i.p.ated by sixteen years, if the dates given are correct.
A friend suggests that "once _in_ fifty years" does not necessitate exact _intervals_ of fifty years.
"I replied that I should gladly hear what he had to tell, but would he allow me to ask him one question?
"He inclined his head in a.s.sent, and I said I had always thought that the spirits of the dead, if they were allowed to appear on earth, came with shadowy and skeleton forms. Why did he appear with flesh like a living man?
""Ah!" he said, "that is owing to the peculiarity of my grave. I am buried in salt."
"" Have you anything more to ask?" said my visitor.
""Nothing more at present," I replied. "I am ready now to hear your story."
""I will make it as short as possible and not detain you long. You have noticed my portrait in the gallery?"
""Yes."
""And that of the lady opposite, my cousin, Lucretia Carbury?"
""Certainly." (Here the red door was violently shaken).
""She cannot open it," said Captain Carbury, "it is sealed."
""When I went out to Georgia," he resumed, "in 1738, I was engaged to be married to her; we had been betrothed by our parents in our childhood, and family reasons made it almost a necessity that we should be united, but as we grew up neither of us was very anxious to fulfil the engagement, and, to tell the truth, I was glad of the summons to join my regiment. However, after three years in that distant colony, I came home, having made up my mind I would marry Lucretia and settle down on the family property--which could only be enjoyed by that means--for we were the only representatives of the family, and the property was so left by our fathers that only by marrying could we enter into possession. _Either by marrying or by the death of one of us; when the whole of the property would go to the other._ I knew that Lucretia was at the old house at Grantwich, and I came straight to her.
""I had written to say when she might expect me, and she received me with apparent kindness and agreed to all my propositions about our marriage. I arrived late at night, and she let me into the house herself and got food for me. We supped together, and she pledged me in a cup, which I now know was drugged to make me sleep heavily.
""I then retired to my room--this room, this bed, on which you now lie!
""What I am now going to tell you has been made clear to me since; at the time I was conscious of nothing. As soon as I got into bed, I fell asleep, and whilst I thus slept Lucretia came through that door (pointing to the red door opposite), and stabbed me to the heart. I will show you the instrument with which she did it, if you like."
""Pray do," I said, and he unb.u.t.toned his scarlet uniform coat and drew from his left side a slender dagger or stiletto.
"I looked at it with great interest and asked if I might take it in my hand.
""Certainly, if you wish it," he said, "but I do not advise you to touch it. It is rusty now from the salt, but I a.s.sure you it was bright and keen when she drove it into my heart. The stroke was so cleverly aimed that I died instantly. Lucretia then made a signal, which was answered by the entrance of a man, and between them they carried my body through the door by which I entered to-night."
"He paused, and I thought he looked more ghastly. "Is anything the matter?" I asked.
""I am thinking," he answered, "that I can show you the rest, if you will follow me, but I must tell you that when we leave this room and enter the gallery, it is possible the murderess will follow us. Shall you be afraid?"
""Not in the least," I said, "I will follow you with pleasure, but you must allow me to put something on, as I am suffering from rheumatism, and am afraid of the cold and damp."
""By all means," said Captain Carbury. "I will wait for you in the gallery."
"I then got up and put on my dressing-gown and slippers. Whilst I was doing so, I heard a rustling in the pa.s.sage as of a woman pa.s.sing slowly along. I found Captain Carbury, and followed him along the gallery without looking round, but when we reached the end of the gallery and turned to go down the first flight of stairs, I saw the lady with the black brows--whom I now knew to be Lucretia Carbury, the murderess--standing in the doorway, between the gallery and the pa.s.sage.
""I do not think she can come any farther," said my guide, and he opened the door leading from the staircase into the garden.
""I am showing you just where they brought me," said he.
""Who was the man?" I asked.
""I never knew his name, but she married him afterwards."
"He then moved across the lawn _to the bare spot under the plane-tree_.
Here he stopped, and, pointing downwards, showed me on the bare ground an exact outline of the dagger which he had drawn from his side.
""Here they dug my grave and here they buried me; a salt spring washes over me."
"At this moment the great clock of St Andrew struck ONE.
""All that you have told me is very sad and strange," I said, "but now, will you allow me to ask you why you have appeared to me? Is there anything you want done on earth that I can do? Is there any rest.i.tution to be made, or justice to be administered? Anything that you require, I am ready to do, if you will grant me one favour when you return to the spirit realm."
"I had been speaking with my eyes fixed on the ground, but now, happening to raise them, I was surprised to see that my companion appeared to be sinking into the ground.
""My time is up," he said. "_Remember!_"--and, as his head disappeared, his words came in a hollow, sepulchral voice from beneath _that spot of black earth_--"remember you are my witness!"
"I was left standing alone under the plane-tree, with the thought, that in returning to my room, I might probably meet the restless spirit of Lucretia Carbury.
"Nothing of the kind, however, occurred. I pa.s.sed through the doors that had opened at the touch of Captain Carbury, and I noticed that they closed behind me without any effort on my part. I regained my bed, and almost immediately fell asleep. All had pa.s.sed so naturally, and as a matter of course, that only when I woke this morning, and thought over the events of the night, did I realise that I had pa.s.sed through such an experience as is given to few human beings.
"You see, dear Edie, that my narrative has taken so long to write that I have no time to speak of other things, even if I could bring my mind to think of anything else, which, I confess, I should have great difficulty in doing.--Ever your very affectionate, "M. PORTER."
Copied _verbatim_ from Miss Porter"s letter, written on the morning of 14th April 1875.
So ends the story, with apologies to the S.P.R.!
I claim nothing for it beyond the following _facts_:
The Priory still exists at Grantwich, and is known to have been the family mansion of the Carbury family.
Miss Porter was undoubtedly matron of the school where my friend"s brothers were educated. She was a woman of unblemished character and truthfulness, and would certainly not have _invented_ this long and detailed account of her personal experiences within a few hours of their occurrence.
My friend most certainly copied this letter, which her brothers had obtained leave to read, from their school matron--Miss Porter herself.
Lastly, my friend, Mrs Barker"s mother (who is still alive), verified the existence of the Priory (as I have called it) in the town of Grantwich, and it _had_ been turned into a boarding-house at the time of her visit, having been previously let in lodgings. Also she found that Captain Richard Carbury was _supposed to have died in Georgia in the year 1741_, as is inferred in the story.
As the murderess and her accomplice alone seem to have been aware of his return on that fateful night, this would be the natural opinion of the world.
As an old a.s.sociate of the S.P.R., and quite conversant with their methods, two criticisms of the story at once suggest themselves, in addition to the confusion of dates, which might perhaps be excused, owing to the abnormal nature of the interview described. But the obvious Podmorian remark would be that the whole adventure was a dream on the part of Miss Porter, induced by her interest in the two family portraits she had seen, and the curious sensations she had experienced in looking at a specially gloomy tree in the park.
This would certainly cover the ground, but it proves, perhaps, rather too much.
It requires very robust "Faith in Unfaith" to suppose that a sensible, practical woman, suffering from rheumatism, should carry her dream to the verge of following her dream man into the garden and grounds of the house. It may be urged that _she dreamt all this also_, but "that way madness lies." We must be able to formulate that certain acts of ours took place during full consciousness, or daily life would become impossible and moral responsibility would cease.