The Press., 1888-03-22
IleHaunted Chamber
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BY "THK DUCHESS.
CHAPTER I.

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 The sun has dropped down. ? and the "day is dead" The silence and the calm of coming night are over every thing. The shadOWy twilight lies soft ly on sleeping flowers and sWaylng 6oughs, on quiet fountains-the marble basins of which gleam SnOw-whlte In the uncertain light-on the glimpse of the distant ocean seen through the giant elms. A floating mist hangs Tn fhe still warm air, making heaven and earth mingle in one sweet cOnfuslon.
 The ivy creeping up the ancient walls of the castle is rusting and whispering as the evening breeze sweeps over lG. High up the tendrilS climb, past muI- lioned windows and quaint devices, until they reach even to the old tower, and twine lovingly round 1t, and push through the long apertureS in the ma- sorry of the walls of the haunted cham H 1t is here that the shadows cast their heaviest gloom. All this corner of the old tower is wrapped in darkness, as though to obscure the scene of terrible crimes of past centuries. --i '...
 Ghosts of dead-and-g0ne lords and ladies seem to peer. out mysteriOuBly from the openings of this quaint cham Der, wherein no servant, male or fo- male. of the castle has ever yet been known to set foot. It is full of dire horrors to them, and replete with le- gendS of by-gOne days and grew some sights ghastlly enough to make the stoutest heart quail.
 In the days of the Stuarts an old earl had hanged himself in that room, rath- CT than face the world with diShonOr attached to his name; and earlier still beauteous dame, fair but frail, had been incarcerated there, and slowly starved to death by her relentless lord. There was even in the last century a baronet-the earldom has been lost to the DynecOurts during the Common wealth-who having quarreled with his friend over reigning belle, had smit- ten him across the cheek, with his glove and then challenged him to mOr- tai combat. The duel had been fought in the luckless chamber, and had only ended with the death of both combat ants; the blood stains upon the flooring the boards bear silent witness to the sanguinary character of that secret fight. l in the warmth and sOftneSS of the dy- ing daylight, one can hardly think of by-gone horrors, or aught that IS sad
 and sinful. There is an air of hustle and expect ancy within-doOrs that betOkens com l ing guests; the servants are moving to and fro noiselessly but busily, and now and then the stately hOuSekeeper pass | eS from room to room utterlng com
 mands and injunctiOns to the maids as she goes. No less occupied and anx- iOus is the butler, as he surveys the | work of the fOOtmen. 1t IS so long since the old place has had resident
 master, and so much longer still since guests have been invited to it, that the | household are more than ordinarily ex-
 cited at the change now about to take i place. Sir Adrian Dynecourt, after a pro-
 longed tour on the Continent and lin l gering visits to the East, has at last come home with the avOwed intention of becoming staid country gentleman,
 and of settling down to the cultivation l of turnips, the breeding7Of prize oxen,
 and the determination to be the M. F.
 H. when old Lord Dartree shall have
 fulfilled his declared intention of retir-
 ing in his favor. He is tall young
 naturally fair, is bronZed by foreign
 travel. His hair is light brown, cut
 very close to his head. His eyes are
 large, clear, and honest, and of pecu-
 liar dark violet; they are beautiful eyes,
 winning and sweet, and steady in their glance. His mouth, shaded by droop-
 ing fair mustache, is large and firm, yet very prone to laughter.
 It is quite the end of the London sea- son, and Sir Adrian has hurried down from town to give directions for the reception of some people whom he had invited to stay with him during the
 slaughter of the cartridges.
 Now all is complete, and the last
 train from London being due half an hour ago Sir Adrian is standing on the
 steps of his hall-door anxiously await ing some of his guests.
 There is even touch of genuine inn | patience in his manner, which could hardly be attributed to the ordinary l longing of a young man to see few of his friends. Sir Adrian'S anxiety is open and undisguised, and there is | little frOwn upon his brow. Presently
 his face brightens as he hears the roll | of carriage-wheels. When the carriage turns the corner of the drive, and the
 horses are pulled up at the hall door, Sir Adrian sees fair face at the win dow that puts to flight all the fears he
 has been harbOring for the last half
 hour.
 "You have come% he says delighted
 ly, running down the steps and opening the carriage door himself. q am SO
 glad! 1 began to think the train ran
 had bolted."
 Such journey as it has been!" ex-
 claims a voice not belonging to the face that had looked from the carriage at Sir Adrian. "1t has been tiresome to the last degree. I really don't know when I felt so fatigued!"
 A little woman, small and fair, steps languidly to the ground as she says this,
 and glances pathetically at her host. She is beautifully "got up," both in dress and complexion, and at first glance appears almost girlish. Laying her hand in Sir Adrian's she let it rest there, as though glad to be at her jour ney's end, conveying at the same time
 by gentle pressure of her taper fin gers the fact that she is even more glad
 that the end of her journey has brought her to him. She looks up at him with her red lids dropping as if tired, and with a bewildered expression in her pretty blue eyes that adds to the charm of her face.
 Its an awful distance from town!" says Sir Adrian, as if apologizing for the spot on which his grand old castle has been built. And it was more than good of you to come to me. can only try to make up to you for the discom- fort you have experienced to-day by throwing all possible chances of amuse- ment in your way whilst you stay here."
 By this time she had withdrawn her hand, and so he is free to go up to his other guest and bid her welcome. He says nothing to her strange to say, but St Sc hSc how'd %ho% ooolC ko hor<,