The Tapestried Chamber | Page 7

"No,
my lord; I am sorry I cannot have the opportunity of spending another
day with your lordship; my post horses are ordered, and will be here
directly."
All who were present showed surprise, and Lord Woodville
immediately replied "Post horses, my good friend! What can you
possibly want with them when you promised to stay with me quietly for
at least a week?"
"I believe," said the General, obviously much embarrassed, "that I
might, in the pleasure of my first meeting with your lordship, have said
something about stopping here a few days; but I have since found it
altogether impossible."
"That is very extraordinary," answered the young nobleman. "You
seemed quite disengaged yesterday, and you cannot have had a
summons to-day, for our post has not come up from the town, and
therefore you cannot have received any letters."
General Browne, without giving any further explanation, muttered
something about indispensable business, and insisted on the absolute
necessity of his departure in a manner which silenced all opposition on
the part of his host, who saw that his resolution was taken, and forbore
all further importunity.
"At least, however," he said, "permit me, my dear Browne, since go
you will or must, to show you the view from the terrace, which the mist,
that is now rising, will soon display."
He threw open a sash-window, and stepped down upon the terrace as he
spoke. The General followed him mechanically, but seemed little to
attend to what his host was saying, as, looking across an extended and
rich prospect, he pointed out the different objects worthy of observation.
Thus they moved on till Lord Woodville had attained his purpose of
drawing his guest entirely apart from the rest of the company, when,
turning round upon him with an air of great solemnity, he addressed
him thus:--
"Richard Browne, my old and very dear friend, we are now alone. Let
me conjure you to answer me upon the word of a friend, and the honour
of a soldier. How did you in reality rest during last night?"
"Most wretchedly indeed, my lord," answered the General, in the same

tone of solemnity--"so miserably, that I would not run the risk of such a
second night, not only for all the lands belonging to this castle, but for
all the country which I see from this elevated point of view."
"This is most extraordinary," said the young lord, as if speaking to
himself; "then there must be something in the reports concerning that
apartment." Again turning to the General, he said, "For God's sake, my
dear friend, be candid with me, and let me know the disagreeable
particulars which have befallen you under a roof, where, with consent
of the owner, you should have met nothing save comfort."
The General seemed distressed by this appeal, and paused a moment
before he replied. "My dear lord," he at length said, "what happened to
me last night is of a nature so peculiar and so unpleasant, that I could
hardly bring myself to detail it even to your lordship, were it not that,
independent of my wish to gratify any request of yours, I think that
sincerity on my part may lead to some explanation about a
circumstance equally painful and mysterious. To others, the
communication I am about to make, might place me in the light of a
weak-minded, superstitious fool, who suffered his own imagination to
delude and bewilder him; but you have known me in childhood and
youth, and will not suspect me of having adopted in manhood the
feelings and frailties from which my early years were free." Here he
paused, and his friend replied,--
"Do not doubt my perfect confidence in the truth of your
communication, however strange it may be," replied Lord Woodville.
"I know your firmness of disposition too well, to suspect you could be
made the object of imposition, and am aware that your honour and your
friendship will equally deter you from exaggerating whatever you may
have witnessed."
"Well, then," said the General, "I will proceed with my story as well as
I can, relying upon your candour, and yet distinctly feeling that I would
rather face a battery than recall to my mind the odious recollections of
last night."
He paused a second time, and then perceiving that Lord Woodville
remained silent and in an attitude of attention, he commenced, though
not without obvious reluctance, the history of his night's adventures in
the Tapestried Chamber.
"I undressed and went to bed so soon as your lordship left me yesterday

evening; but the wood in the chimney, which nearly fronted my bed,
blazed brightly and cheerfully, and, aided by a hundred exciting
recollections of my childhood and youth, which had been recalled by
the unexpected pleasure of meeting