Arabella March

**Lady Arabella March** is the Mistress of a mortgaged Diana’s Grove. Her father is Lord Lieutenant of the County and owner of the estate. Her previous husband committed suicide. She is described as a “cold-blooded” character. Her intention to get Diana’s Grove out of debt was to pressure Edgar Caswall to marry her, so that she may become “chatelaine of Castra Regis”. She is conveyed as having the ability to “use her arts and her experience” to make a man commit himself (1911, Chapter 15).

## Diana’s Grove

Arabella mentioned that Diana’s Grove had certain “views in the twilight which are, they say, unique”. She also pointed out about the Grove, that “if you are a student of natural history—specially of an earlier kind, when the world was younger—you shall not have your labour of discovery in vain.” (Chapter 4). It is believed that Diana’s Grove has druidical origins (Chapter 3).

## Appearance

Arabella’s noteable aspects is her white dress, and sinuous figure. She is tall and exceedingly thin. Her naturally piercing eyes took a vivid green, suggested by her green spectacles. “Coiled round her white throat” was a large necklace of emeralds, whose profusion of colour quite outshone the green of her spectacles—even when the sun shone on them. “Her voice was very peculiar, very low and sweet, and so soft that the dominant note was of sibilation” (a hissing sound). “Her hands, too, were peculiar—long, flexible, white, with a strange movement as of waving gently to and fro.” Her manner, overall, is abnormally cold and distant (Chapter 4).

## Snake-woman

“Lady Arabella looked like a soulless, pitiless being, not human unless it revived old legends of transformed human beings who had lost their humanity in some transformation or in the sweep of natural savagery.” (1911, Chapter 11, *The First Encounter*)

* Upon Adam Salton’s first encounter with Arabella March, they were near the Mound at Stone where black snakes emerged. In a moment, Arabella had been among the snakes when Adam called out to warn her. But there seemed to be no need of warning. The snakes had turned and were wriggling back to their mound just as quickly as they had appeared. Adam laughed to himself behind his teeth as he whispered, “No need to fear there. They seem much more afraid of her than she of them.” (Chapter 4).

* It’s pointed out that on the following day, Lady Arabella was dressed as Adam had seen her last (1911, Chapter 5, *Home-Coming*).

1/2
* Adam possessed a mongoose, a killer of snakes, that became accustomed to him and was willing to let itself be handled freely. Adam had his mongoose on his shoulders as he was approaching Lady Arabella on the same path. When the mongoose took notice of Arabella, its behaviour changed from a playful state to the wildest of fury, with every hair standing on end. It jumped from Adam’s shoulder and ran towards Lady Arabella with fury. Adam called out, “Look out—look out! The animal is furious and means to attack.” The lady drew out a revolver and shot the animal dead in its tracks, unloading the magazine until it was exhausted (1911, Chapter 8).

* In reflection of Adam’s mongoose’ aggressive behaviour toward Lady Arabella, Adam supposed to his colleagues, “If we followed it out with pure logic it would lead us to believe that Lady Arabella is a snake.” This comment led to a discussion about whether or not the mongoose was scenting a snake, or ‘evil’ itself. The conversation led to a light dialogue concerning the philosophical nature of ‘good and evil’, and which neighboring estates were to be considered evil, and which are holy (Mercy Farm) based on their understanding of the territory’s history (1911, Chapter 9).

* “The scorn of her voice, in a sort of baleful hiss sounded—and felt—like the lash of a whip.” (1911, Chapter 15)

## Film adaption

Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe) is essentially a reincarnation of Arabella in The Lair of the White Worm (1988) film adaption, for a present-day audience.

## References

1. ↑ 1911, Chapter 11, *The First Encounter* was removed from the subsequent abridgments since 1925.
2. ↑ 1911, Chapter 5, *Home-Coming* was removed from the subsequent abridgments since 1925.
3. ↑ 1911, Chapter 34, *Apprehension* was removed from the subsequent abridgments since 1925.