The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-03-19 00:00:00

08,
THE SHADOW OF THE PAST.

CALL RIGHTS RRSIIRVIID4

CHAPTER XIV.
ADRIENNE discovered nothing which could explain
this second appearance of the phantom bride, and
with a hart that trembled with fear, in spite of her
efforts to recover her usual equanimity, she returned
to her seat to reflect on the course it would be best
for her to adopt. She tried to nerve her courage anew,
but her heart sunk within her at the thought that she
Must pass the night in the loneliness of her chamber
in a house evidently haunted by the unquiet spirit of
its former mistress.

The prince slept on; she sat more than an hour
With her eyes fixed immovably upon the mirror,
hoping, yet fearing, that the strange vision would
again appear; but it did not. With ears sharpened
by terror to praernatural acuteness, Adrienne list-
ened for some sound which might betray the vicinity
of the pallid bride, but nothing was audible save the
heavy breathing of the unconscious sleeper ; and after
a long struggle with the creeping terror that chilled
her to the heart, she summoned courage to rise and
grasp the bell-handle.
She stood in a state of tremulous agitation, wait-
ing the appearance of Pierre; and to her excited
faney it seemed an age before she heard his lumber-
ing steps stumbling drowsily up the stairsand through
the outer room. He came in half-asleep but even his
dull perception were struck with the pallor and the
expr( ssion of affright upon the face of Adrienne. He

"Hi! young mistis, you look as ef de scare o' stay-
in' in disole haunted place have come 'pon you to-night.
Whatever has made you look so white an' wild, I won-
der" _ _

Adrienne steadied her voice as well as she could, and
replied—
"l am tired and worn out, that is all, Pierre. Will
my grandfather come to aid you to-night in your
attendance here ?"
"Oh, yes, ma'm'selle. I ring de bell what 'muni-
cates wid his room as I come through de hall. an' he'll
come crrectly. You'd better go, mebbe, befo' de
marster comes. I'll hold de canule for you."
Not caring to encounter M. Lecour in the state of
excitement in which alio then was, Adrienne gladly
accepted his offer, and after lighting the candles
wh ch etood ready for use, Pierre conveyed her
safely through the next room to the head of the stair-
Citße.
A light had been placed in the lower hall, but she
found herself too late to evade her grandfather. She
encountered him, looking stern and gloomy as Blue-
beard nimself, when the secret of the mysterious cham-
ber had been fathomed by his wife, and he abruptly
asked—
" How is it that the prince has remained awake so
much beyond his usual hour? Has your silly prattle
kept him from sleeping? This must not occur again,
for any change in the regularity of his habits may be
injurious to him."
"Pardon me, mon pere, the prince has been sleep-
ing more than an hour, but I sat thinking over the
strange position in which I find myself placed, and for-
got to ring the bell. I promise you it shall not occur
again."
While she was speaking, M. Lecour regarded her
with stern significance. He stopped ani slowly
said— . . _

"Your face is as a mirror which reflects what is
passing within you. What have you seen that could
produce that expression of fixed terror upon your
features? Speak; I demand the truth. What has
so alarmed you, that you are trembling now in every
limb!

Adrienne approached quite near to him, and said, in
an impressive whisper—
"l have seen the White Terror."
If a thunder-bolt had suddenly burst at his feet M.
Lecour could not have manifested more alarm. He
staggered back, sat down upon a chair, which fortu-
nately happened to be near him, and gazed at her with
an express!on of incredulous horror. At length he
slowly said
"She has really come hack, then, for another beside
myself has seen her. I have fancied that her appari-
.ion was an hallucination of my own mind, pro-
dured by the drug I habitually use, for Eady never
could see her. Are you sure, child, that you were not
dreaming
"No, no, I was quite awake, and I know that
/ saw the veiled figure standing in the recess of the
window."

"How? Did you raise the curtain to let in more
light?'
"No it was lifted, Ido not know how and the
White Terror stood clearly revealed by the fading light
of day."
"And the prince? Did he, too, see her ?"
"He was steeping soundly. I examined the recess
immediately, but I found it empty, and there was no
means of egress except by passing through the room
where I was."
M. Lecour seemed greatly disturbed. He finally spoke
in a deep, hollow voice:
"Then this visitation is real, and no vision, con-
jured up by my own phantasics, as I have tried to
believe. Oh! it Is an awful wrong which mat)i
the dead to come back from the realms of Pluto,
and torment him who inflicted it. I tortured her, and
she in her turn comes back to torture me. I have
doubted the affinity of blood between us, Adrienne.
I have fancied that some exchange was made while
you were yet in the cradle; but this fellowship in
suffering proves to me thatyou are really my descend-
ant. If it had been otherwise, this vision, which is
invisible to my servants, would not have appeared to
you. Oh, child! child! the curse of my guilt is upon
you.,,
His stern face worked with emotions he rarely per-

believe. Oh!

mitted to gain the mastery, and the young girl- stood
mutely before him the elasticity of her nature seem-
ingly crushed by this blow, and her locked lips refus-
ing to utter comfort or consolation, though if she had
attempted to do so, in all probability they would have
been repelled with scorn by the hard and fitful nature
with which she had to deal.

After this unusual burst of remorse, M. Lecour re-
covered himself. He wiped the beaded moisture from
his brow, regained his usual callous composure and
coldly said—
"Go to your room, child, and say over every prayer
you tiave ever learned, as a protection from demon-
ology, for demons certainly have away in this house.
I thought their antics were confined to my own apart-
ment, hut it seems they have also fastened on you
as a victim. Steel your soul against fear, if you can
do so, and defy them; that will be your only pro-
tection."
Be arose, resumed his usual manner, and hastily
brushed past her as he ascended the staircase.
Completely unnerved by' what had occurred,
Adrienne slowly turned towards the corridor that led
to her own tower. She suddenly came on Eady, who
had evidently been listening to the conversation be-
tween herself and M. Lecour. She, too, looked fright-
ened and excited, and spoke in a flurried manner—
"I was waiting for you young mistis, to come down
dat I may help you off wi' your dress. You ain't
seen nothin' to scare you in de room up yonder I
hopes?"

Adrienne abruptly replied—
" Yes, I have. I have seen the same figure that
come into my room last night, and I conjure you, Eady,
if you can explain the mystery of her appearance,
that you will do so. I begin to doubt the evidence of
my own senses for I will not believe in supernatural
appearances."
"But ef dey does come, young misti e an' your
rwn eyes sees 'em what den?" asked the old voman,
with a singular gleam of satisfaction in ter eyes. " Dis
is a mighty strange won' we lives in, an' I cton't pre-
tend to 'count for half what goes on in it."
"And do you really believe that the departed wife
of M. Lemur is permitted to came tack to earth to
make wretched the life of a helpless creature like me?"
plssionately asked Adrienne. "What injury have I
ever inflicted on her, that she should make my exis-
ten e in this place a burden to me?"
"You ere-kia child," said Eady, solemnly, "en' de
good book says de sin o' de fathers shall be vi•ited on
do c!iildren ' I's sorry 'tis so, young mistis, but dA
great Judge knows better 'n us poor creeturs," and the
speaker crossed her hands devoutly, and rolled up her
eyes in a very effective manner.
In the stete o mental excitement in which she then
was, the idea thus presented to Adrienne was e
/nest terrible that could have been placed.before her.
e•he bee., me even paler than before, and sunk down
quite overwhelmed, as she murmured
"My grandfather spoke the truth; the ancestra
curse is upon me; ;t will blight and ruin my whole
future. I dare not dream of hope. happiness, or love,
for the expiation due for another's evil deeds must also
be required of me, his descendant. Oh, Lath', this s
indeed terrible !"
"Yes, it's v;-!ity terrible," repeated the negress in
monotonous tone, like one who had learned her lesson
beforehand, and was resolute not to depart from her
predetermined course of action. She went on—
"Young mistis, you ain't in no state to be let'
by yerself, but I am n t got de time to stay wi' you,
Please let me help you to take off dem finerir s
dat I may go ciewn to fix de marster's supper. He'll be
tearin' mad ef 'taint ready at de usual time."
With a dreary shudder Adrienne looked around the
room and asked—
"Must I sty here all alone to-night, and every
night? It is dreadful to think of, for I have invad-d
the ghost's room and taken poasession of her wardrobe,
and she will probably return here again, as she d d
last night. Can you not let me go into on of the
chambers on your sde of the house? I could sleep
there without the knowledge of M. Lecour."
Lady shook her head.
"Not for nothin' would I dar' to let you do of ch
a thing. He'd find it out to onst, an' d n you an'
I might h fe go to kingdom come, in the white rage
he'd get inter. In dat state o' his mine, he'd jes' as
soon murder us es look at us. Hi t chile you don'
begin to know haq the diviltries dat ole man is
up to, when he gets in one o' his onreasonable pas-
sions. I's seen him in 'em, and I knows what he can,
do."
While Ea.-:y was speaking thus, she was busily en-
gaged n assisting her young lady to disrobe herself;
finding the trembling fingers of Adrienne incapable
of performing any service for herself, the old woman
. took down the ,50,bortite structure of her hair before