The Tapestried Chamber | Page 9

cold fever-fits tormented
me for the rest of the night, through broken sleep, weary vigils, and that
dubious state which forms the neutral ground between them. A hundred
terrible objects appeared to haunt me; but there was the great difference
betwixt the vision which I have described, and those which followed,

that I knew the last to be deceptions of my own fancy and over-excited
nerves.
"Day at last appeared, and I rose from my bed ill in health and
humiliated in mind. I was ashamed of myself as a man and a soldier,
and still more so at feeling my own extreme desire to escape from the
haunted apartment, which, however, conquered all other considerations;
so that, huddling on my clothes with the most careless haste, I made my
escape from your lordship's mansion, to seek in the open air some relief
to my nervous system, shaken as it was by this horrible rencounter with
a visitant, for such I must believe her, from the other world. Your
lordship has now heard the cause of my discomposure, and of my
sudden desire to leave your hospitable castle. In other places I trust we
may often meet, but God protect me from ever spending a second night
under that roof!"
Strange as the General's tale was, he spoke with such a deep air of
conviction that it cut short all the usual commentaries which are made
on such stories. Lord Woodville never once asked him if he was sure he
did not dream of the apparition, or suggested any of the possibilities by
which it is fashionable to explain supernatural appearances as wild
vagaries of the fancy, or deceptions of the optic nerves, On the contrary,
he seemed deeply impressed with the truth and reality of what he had
heard; and, after a considerable pause regretted, with much appearance
of sincerity, that his early friend should in his house have suffered so
severely.
"I am the more sorry for your pain, my dear Browne," he continued,
"that it is the unhappy, though most unexpected, result of an
experiment of my own. You must know that, for my father and
grandfather's time, at least, the apartment which was assigned to you
last night had been shut on account of reports that it was disturbed by
supernatural sights and noises. When I came, a few weeks since, into
possession of the estate, I thought the accommodation which the castle
afforded for my friends was not extensive enough to permit the
inhabitants of the invisible world to retain possession of a comfortable
sleeping apartment. I therefore caused the Tapestried Chamber, as we
call it, to be opened, and, without destroying its air of antiquity, I had
such new articles of furniture placed in it as became the modern times.
Yet, as the opinion that the room was haunted very strongly prevailed

among the domestics, and was also known in the neighbourhood and to
many of my friends, I feared some prejudice might be entertained by
the first occupant of the Tapestried Chamber, which might tend to
revive the evil report which it had laboured under, and so disappoint
my purpose of rendering it a useful part or the house. I must confess,
my dear Browne, that your arrival yesterday, agreeable to me for a
thousand reasons besides, seemed the most favourable opportunity of
removing the unpleasant rumours which attached to the room, since
your courage was indubitable, and your mind free of any preoccupation
on the subject. I could not, therefore, have chosen a more fitting subject
for my experiment."
"Upon my life," said General Browne, somewhat hastily, "I am
infinitely obliged to your lordship--very particularly indebted indeed. I
am likely to remember for some time the consequences of the
experiment, as your lordship is pleased to call it."
"Nay, now you are unjust, my dear friend," said Lord Woodville. "You
have only to reflect for a single moment, in order to be convinced that I
could not augur the possibility of the pain to which you have been so
unhappily exposed. I was yesterday morning a complete sceptic on the
subject of supernatural appearances. Nay, I am sure that, had I told you
what was said about that room, those very reports would have induced
you, by your own choice, to select it for your accommodation. It was
my misfortune, perhaps my error, but really cannot be termed my fault,
that you have been afflicted so strangely."
"Strangely indeed!" said the General, resuming his good temper; "and I
acknowledge that I have no right to be offended with your lordship for
treating me like what I used to think myself--a man of some firmness
and courage. But I see my post horses are arrived, and I must not detain
your lordship from your amusement."