The Perfume of Egypt | Page 8

to speak of it. After Sir Ralph's disappearance the place was
unoccupied and neglected for some years, till at last a distant cousin put
in a claim to it, got it allowed by the lawyers, and took possession. He
found, it is said, but a small balance after all to Sir Ralph's credit at his
bankers'; but he had money of his own, apparently, for he proceeded to
refit and rearrange the old place, and soon had it in respectable order.
From him it descended to my uncle, who has let every thing run to seed
again, as you see."
"That is a very interesting family legend after all, Jack," said I, "though
perhaps rather lacking in romantic completeness. But have you no
relics of this mysterious Sir Ralph?"
"There is his portrait in the picture-gallery along with the rest; there are
some queer old books of his in the library, and one or two articles of
furniture that are reported to have been his; but there is nothing to add
to the romance of the story, I am afraid."
Little he thought, as he uttered those words just as we were separating
for the night, what the real romance of that story was, or how soon we
were to discover it!
My bedroom was a huge panelled chamber with walls of prodigious
thickness, and with some very beautiful old carving about it. A border
of roses and lilies that ran round the panels especially attracted my
attention as one of the finest examples of that style of work that I had

ever seen. There is always, I think, something uncanny about great
Elizabethan bedrooms and huge four-post bedsteads, and I suppose my
late ghostly experience had rendered me specially alive to such
influences; so, though the roaring fire which Jack's hospitable care had
provided for me threw a cheery light into every corner, I found myself
thinking as I lay down in bed:
"What if this should turn out to be Sir Ralph's forgotten chamber, and
he should come and disturb my rest, as that other visitor came to me in
town!"
This idea returned to me again and again, until I really began to fancy
that I could distinguish the peculiar atmosphere of which Jack had
spoken -- a sort of subtle influence that was gradually taking possession
of me. This I felt would never do, if I was to have a comfortable night,
so I roused myself from this unhealthy train of thought and resolutely
put it away from me; but do what I would, I could not entirely shake off
ghostly associations, for (recalled I suppose by my surroundings) every
detail of the strange occurrence at my chambers passed before my mind
over and over again with startling distinctness and fidelity.
Eventually I fell into a troubled sleep, in which my late mysterious
visitor and the idea I had formed of Sir Ralph Fernleigh seemed to
chase each other through my brain, till at last all these confused visions
culminated in one peculiarly vivid dream. I seemed to myself to be
lying in bed (just as I really was), with the fire burnt down to a deep red
glow, when suddenly there appeared before me the same figure that I
had seen in my chambers, habited in the same loose black robe; but
now it held in its left hand a small book -- evidently that to which the
slip in my possession had belonged, for I could see the very place from
which the missing leaf had been torn -- and with the forefinger of the
right hand the spectre was pointing to the last page of the book, while it
looked eagerly in my face. I sprang up and approached the figure; it
retreated before me until it reached one of the panelled walls, through
which it seemed to vanish, still pointing to the page of its book, and
with that imploring gaze still on its face. I woke with a start, and found
myself standing close to the wall at the spot where the figure had

seemed to disappear, with the dull red glow of the fire reflected from
the carving, just as I had seen it in my dream, and my nostrils filled
once more with that strange sweet Oriental perfume! Then in a moment
a revelation. dawned upon my mind. There was a peculiarity in the
atmosphere of the room -- I had been quite right in fancying so; and
that peculiarity, which I could not recognise before, consisted in the
faintest possible permanent suggestion of that magical odour so faint
that I had not been able to identify it until this stronger rush of the scent
made it clear.
Was it a dream, I asked myself; or had I really seen my