The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1885-02-21
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THE GHOST OF MANIBERE COURT.

From Temple Bar.
[ want to invite you to spend half an
hour or so in the library of country
house. 1t is the hour when cups of tea do
circulate. Divers ladies and gentlemen,
with the foxhunter of the period, are es-
tablished in comfortable chairs, and-Mrs
Venables
"What Mrs Venables p
Hush, my dear madam; not so loud, [
beg. Why, the Mrs. Venables of society
fame. Mrs. Venables about whom little
paragraphs are constantly appearing in the
society papers; Mrs, Venables, without
whom no country house party is really
complete, and whose life, out of the season,
consequently consists in series of pleas
ant progresses from one house to another,
attended by her maid and her diamonds
the diamonds which of course you remem-
Der she inherited from her father. You
do remember? All, [ thought so, 1t
would be a simple impossibility for any one
of us who hold place among the "smart
people" who constitute society nowadays to
ever pretend that we did not know and ad-
mire Mrs. Venables. To know her is to
admire her, of course. For one thing, she
is the fashion; for another she is, as our
cousins say, just about the most agreeable
and charming woman of the day-indepen-
IDENTIFY of her diamonds and her charming
house and her pretty daughters.
A gleam from the lamp falls upon her
as she sits in a comfortable arm chair, the
most perfectly appointed and yet the most
natural-looking woman in the room.
at is quite impossible" she is saying;
"you wish me to take upon myself the role
of improvisatrice, and monopolize the con-
versation for whole hour What can [
have done that l should draw on myself
the odium of whole roomful Of people p
Then up and speaks our host, who is
handing her cup:
"No story, no tea, Mrs. Venables. We
all want to hear your adventure. Now,
then, show of hands for Mrs. Venable's
ghost story"
The evidence in favor of the story is, of
course, overwhelming, and Mrs. Venables
resigns herself to her fate.
"How shall begin p she asks. "First,
let me give anybody who does not wish to
be bored to death time to escape
There is a pause No one moves; of
course.
''Then | am afraid you will all be very
much disappointed, says the lady, settling
herself, "for l can only give an unembel-
lished statement of facts, nature not hav-
ing gifted me with an imagination. But
as you all wish it, and there is no 'chiel
amang ye takin' notes, | will try my best
to amuse you. Well, then, my adventure,
as you call it, took place not hundred
miles from this very house where we are
all staying. No, don't be too clever; it was
not in this house, but it was in this coun-
ty. I must not tell you the real names,
for the people who owned the house are
still living, and you will see, if you have
patience to sit the story out, that it would
be painful to them to have their Identities
disclosed. You will all admit that l was a
girl about hundred years ago"
A chorus of indignant protestations, in
spite of which Mrs. Venables goes calmly
on-"young, possessed of great many
kind friends, and
Handsome" puts in some impudent
wight, under cover of the semi-darkness.
("If there are any more of these inter
ruptions I shall be compelled to stop" says
our narrator quietly.)
"Well, she continued, II used to visit
good deal, for have been always fortu-
nate in having number of kind friends.
Among these the oldest, perhaps, was
Harry Gore He was one of the most pop
ular men of his set, and no one could have
ever had more cordial congratulations upon
his marriage. All the gentlemen were
dying to be.introduced to his wife, an Aus
tralian beauty, and the young people of
both sexes were delighted to be able to add
another house to their happy hunting
grounds.
~ was one of the last to make the ac-
ouaintance of Mrs. Gore; and it was only
after we had been married year and
after we had made several fruitless at
tempts to meet at the houses of common
friends that | received an invitation to
spend few days at their country house,
which we will call .Manibere Court The
letter was very cordial one. Mrs. Gore
smoke of her anxiety to make my acquaint-
ance; indeed, she said she almost felt as if
she knew me already, and in fact she quite
assumed the tone of an old friend.
elf you are not afraid of staying In our
haunted house, ran the letter, I'VE hope
Won will come to us next week. We shall
have 6v p party for Lady B ball. If you
are not going there you must come to us
for it, and do bring your beautiful dia-
monds. Harry has said SO much about
them that we are all dying to see them.
aOf course cannot remember the exact
words, but with regard to those two things,
the aliusion to the haunted house and the
request to take my diamonds, | feel quite
sure. For there were ghost hunters even
in those days, and though a skeptic, | was
one of the most ardent of them. And as