Telegram-herald., 1888-01-29
CHAPTER Xx

understood between Us. suppose. aDsat the
pisyP
Franess recalled bis extraordinary expei-
euce of thaE even ins. IN tle reflgmaeFei room
"siy stsy in Venice is unesrtain,- be replied
IL yea have asytai-lg rnors 10 say about this
dramatic venture OK yours, It may DO As well
To say II NOW. Have you decided on a sub
jec. already / kno. the public taste in
England better than you dol might save
you some waste Of time and trouble, if you
have not chosen your subject wiselyf'
Il don't care what subject write about 50
long as | write" She answered csrelessly. III
you have so. = sabject in your head give ID
70 me. | answer for the characters and the
dialogue"
"You answer for the characters and the
dialogue Francis repeated That's bold
way OF speaking for a beginneri wonder
II ] could shake your sublime confidence in
yourself If | suggested the most tic<lish sub
ject 70 handle which is known 10 the stagel
What do you say, countess. to entering the
lists with Shakespeare and trying drama
with ghost in iti A true story, mindi
founded on events in this very city, in which
you and are interested"
She caught him by toe arm and drew him
away from tne colonnade into the solitary
middle space OF the square. Now tell me-"
sne said, eagerly. Here, where nobody is
near us. How am interested IL iti Howi
| howr
| S.ill holding his arm. she shook him in her
impotence 70 hear the coming disclosure.
For a moment he heSitated. Thus faT,
amused by her ignorant belief in herself, be
had merely spoken in jest Now, for the frs.
time, impressed by her irresistible earnest,
ness, he be n to consider what be sSas about
/ FROM more serious point OF view. With her
knowledge Of all that had passed in the old
/ palace, before its transformation into hotel,
: 1t vas surely possible that they might suggest
/ some explanation Of what had happened 70
/ his brother and sister AID himself Or, fail
I ing 20 do that, she might accidentally reveal
some event in her own experience, which,
acting as a hint TO q competent dramatist,
might prove 20 be the making of play.
! The prosperity OF his theatre was his one
serious object in life Il may be on the track
OF another 'Corsican Brothers. be thought.
/ "A new piece of that sort would Be e10Co0 in
my pocket at least.
/ With these motives (worthy OF the single
! hearted devotion TO dramatic business which
made Francis a successful msnager) he re-
| lated without further hesitation, what his
own experience had been, and what the ex-
/ pericnce OF his relatives had been, in the
haunted hotel lie even described the out
break OF supeTstitious terror which had es-
capped Mrs Norburyis ignorant maid. "Sad
( stuff, If you look at il reasonably he re-
marked But there is something dramatic
il the notion of the ghostly influence making
itsslf felt By the relations in succession as
they one after another enter the fatal room
until the one chosen relative comes who viii
see the unesrthly creature and know the ter
riblo truth Material for play, countess
first rate material for playi"
There he paused She neither moved nor
/ spoke. BE stepped and looked closer at her.
What impression had he producedl 1t was
an impression which his utmost in pgenuity had
failed 20 anticipate. She stood by his side
Just as she stood before Agnes when her ques-
ticn about FerTsri was plainly answered at
lsst-liks a woman turned to stona Her
eyes were vacant and rigid; all the life in her
face had faded out Of it. Francis took her
By the hand. Her hand was as cold as tho
pavement thsy were standing on lie asked
her If she was III.
Not a muscle in her moved He might as
well have spoken 70 the dead
Surely he said, you are not foolish
enough to take what have been telling you
ssriouslyT
Her lips moved slowly. As II seemed, she
was making an effort to speak to him
Louder" be said. Il can't hear you"
Sic struggled to recover possession Of her
self. A faint light began to soften the dull,
cold stare Of her eyes In n moment more
she spoke so that he could hear her.
II never thought OF tue other world = she
rnuTmurcd. in low, dull tones like a women
taking in Ter Scs7.
Her mind had gone back TO the day OF her
last memorable interview with Agnes; she
vas slowly recalling the confession that had
escaped her, tie warning words which she
hsd spoken at taas mast tlaeL Necessarily
iLeapable OF understanding this, Francis
looked az Der in psrpiexity. She went On in
the same dII vacant tone steadily following
out her Own train OF taouSht With her heed
less syss on his face, and Der wandering mind
far away from hinl.
= said sons tr.as-z evert would bring US
together the nsxb tina was wrong. No
trifinz event vil bring us together. said
might be ts-e person vso ted her WAIST hsd
beceres of FsT-ari. y sc forced re 20 f.
Seal I fs>l sons osssr iaEus1cs than horsi
y ~ be force ne % ~ When sas sees sim.
shail see kirn tocF
Her had sunk = hstls. her h.svy e-.lids
drcpped slevlT. sac se2~ed ios-. low. weary
nzt. Frsncis pss Der arm in kis, aad uasd.
a. stesnpt - rouse hsr-
~-c-ue, ccTinsess. yo1 are wary ard ever
wrought We have bad ercdzh tai<i1z to
nixhs Let re SO zen safs hack 60 your no
te = i5 far fro1a hsrer
Sra Sssr1ss1 when he moved sr1 obliged ne-
- rove wish hi1r -s = +. ha8 sa6Ssaf7
azsxsoea Ger cut of 3 dep siesp.
Nos far shs I'D. fsin.Ir. The cd ho-
t.l on tss eusT. NJ -aiui'S s. strarz.
srsse. save forgoafsn tie n-rsc
'srari-slsF'
sTasr
He led hsr - s'ss3v. So s1rcrrrzrief 4
Nm n ss,encs a. Ter as toe sni cf So Pisrr--
- Tzs~s whs7 .hs fs1l view e tas ruaorl.s
Tazocr rs~-aIei i-s4li. sAe sscrved tsas A. -
tsrrsd tsa-sf5 tse 2i~a o-gs Schiaro1a I
have Szzs - - sex yc1- wsuz - rsis
Art Sass
So recovered he- i1st isas sfs>~ kzz
rarss.
"Ars ~ ~ss-T e si--p T. shs roo-- -
r7zarf So ssse5
He It'd kT tea4 ancsksr t~a~s'-~ vas =
Tassesssrn cf tns rocra ssze n5rse stEas ths
r1ansgzr kss r-ssrv~i y tor n,s souDc-r1-.
ke zSSea - I r5Sh q ks~si
~xa - SD. @yss nsss ava n 49,