The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-09-30
81 should like to hear more about

81 should like to hear more about
Eosette," said the gentleman.
Yes, sir, said the valet. This is
Il very old family, and they have lived
on this estate since the time of Queen
Elizabeth, and about two hundred
years ago there was a Lord Herbert
lily present master is Lord Her
bert, as you know; it is a favorite
name in the family was a gay,
wild young nobleman, and was great
admirer of the ladies, sir. However,
by the time he was thirty he married
and settled down, and began to be
very much thought of and respected.
SO was his Lady, too, sir, though she
was not handsome and was very
naughty.
'One thing, however, the English
servants did not like-she brought a
foreign maid with her from France
girl named Rosette, and as pretty as
a picture. My Lady thought all the
world of her, and, of course, the peo-
pie were jealous and talked against
Rosette. and the woman began to say
something about the way nv Lord
looked at her. However, that might
be my Lord loved her, and think she
though too much of herself to be ieal-
Gus of her maid, until one day, sitting
before the glass, Rosette combing her
hair for her, she heard her husband
come into her room. Her back was
toward him, and Rosette was behind
her, and they forgot the mirror, and
so, sir she saw in it without stirring,
both their faces, and she saw the girl
smile at her husband, she saw him
smile back at her. She understood
everything, but she never stirred and
never said anything to him, nor to the
maid, sir
This was her room, sir. In that
little closet Rosette had her bed, to be
ready if she called her. But once my
Lady's bell rang furiously, and the
maid who answered it was told to do
my Lady's hair, for Rosette had gone
back to her native country.
'All the time she was doing it the
girl thought she heard a faint moan
ing sound, and was frightened and
went back to the rest pale and trem-
bling, and before night it was very
well known in the house that that
little closet there was not only locked
but nailed up.
There was GOODNESS between my
Lord and my Lady, and they kept
very much apart; but she had told
him also that Rosette had returned to
France, and no one ever saw the girl
again.
After that my Lord seemed to take
to his wild ways again, in measure,
and drank a great deal, and my Lady
lIv> very much alone. She never
had a regular maid, and was harsh to
tho"e who waited on her. There never
were any children, but my Lord and
Lady lived TO be very old indeed, and
at last she died in this very room and
was buried in the churchyard yonder.
My Lord was as old as she by that
time, but as soon as the funeral was
over he vent to my Lady's room and
stood long while before the locked
and nailed closet door.
Then he said to himself, Il cannot
die until l know, and he ordered it
to be opened.
'"They sent for the blacksmith to do
it, and all the while my Lord sat in
his great armchair staring before
him. There were hundreds of nails
in it. Hut they We're all out at last.
and the lock was forced and my Lord
arose and tottered into the closet.
"A bed stood there still and some
gowns hung on the wall and over the
bed one was lying with the cords
twisted about it. Then they looked
closer and the maids began to scream
and my Lord turned his pale old eyes
upon them like a ghost, and said
God forgive me and have mercy on
both their souls and held out both
his hands to be helped back to his
own room which he never left after
1T wasn't much they found, only
a few bones and an ornament or two,
but it was plain that the girl had been |
tied hand and foot and bound to the |
bed and left there to die--if she was
not murdered outright by the jealous
lady. But ever since, sir, wheneverthePe |
is going to be misfortune in the family |
whoever sleeps in this room sees
ROsette come out of the closet and |
smile in the glass. No one ever sees
her face, only its reflection. | hope |
no trouble will follow now, SIR"
As for the American, he slept else
where the next night, for he had no
for ghosts, even the fam,
lily ghosts Of noblemen, and he had no |
desire to see Rosette smilo at him in
the glass again. The smiles of a
phantom of 800 years standing are
more awesome than witching.