The Alleged Haunting of B---- House, - [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗
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February 26th, Friday.—Nothing happened till I was in the drawing-room in the evening, when I was, as usual since my accident, taking my meal alone. A screen stood between my sofa and the door, so that it was impossible to see who entered. I saw the shadow of a woman on the wall, and supposed it to be a maid come to see after the fire. Next, the figure of an old woman emerged from behind the screen; she was of average height, and stout; she wore a woollen cap, and her dress was that of a superior servant indoors. Supposing her to be some servant's visitor come to have a look at the drawing-room while the party were at dinner, I moved to attract her attention, with no result. She walked a few steps towards the middle of the room, then disappeared. Her countenance was not pleasing, but expressed no personal malevolence; her face may have been coarsely handsome. Her dress was dark, and made in the fashion which was worn in my childhood. When the dog came in later he seemed to sight something from behind the screen and followed it across the room, when he lay down under my couch, instead of on the hearth as usual. He had done the same thing yesterday morning, looking much frightened, and had then taken refuge under Miss Langton's chair.
In connection with this it will be seen elsewhere that footsteps were constantly heard in the drawing-room, both at night and in daylight.
Mr. Garford, in No. 1, heard last night what seemed like the detonating noise, which he describes as like a wheelbarrow on a hard road, "a sharp, rapidly repeated knocking," at a distance.
February 27th, Saturday.—Colonel C—— and Mr. MacP—— arrived.
To-night we sleep as follows:—
The glen was visited by Colonel C—— and Mr. MacP——, escorted by Miss Langton.
February 28th, Sunday.—All slept well. I assisted Miss Langton with some Ouija experiments in the presence of, first, Mr. "Endell," then Mr. MacP——, then of Colonel C—— and Miss "N."
March 1st, Monday.—Mr. MacP—— reported at breakfast that he had awakened at 5.45, and almost immediately heard a loud clanging sound in the north-west corner of his room; he was fully awake, struck a light, saw nothing, and looked at his watch. We tried later to reproduce this noise, which he described as resembling a loud blow upon a washhand basin. I shut myself into No. 1, and found this a fair, but too faint, imitation of the sounds Miss Moore and I had heard there.
Colonel C—— and Mr. MacP—— left.
Miss M—— and the Colonel have to-day had some talk with —— [who had an intimate knowledge of the S—— family. See under dates Feb. 9th and 20th]. She repeated her former story of the Major's promised "return," especially a statement made to an old woman who worked in the garden, who had told him that at least "he'd no get in there, she'd keep the gate locked," that he "would come in below the deck" (cf. p. 114). He was described as a short, broad man, with white hair and beard, "a'ful fond o' dogs (of which he had many), and so noisy with them in the morning, that when he and his housekeeper-body let them out, his voice could be heard on the hill." She also said that on Major S——'s return from India to assume the property he found a tenant in possession, and had built himself a small house beyond the grounds, which he afterwards let with the shooting. In the late Mr. S——'s time this house was used as a retreat during the summer for nuns (a statement which interests us greatly, as affording a possible clue to the apparition).
The Major was greatly attached to the place, and had a great dislike to the presence of strangers in it, or to its going out of the old name. The estate, we hear, was much encumbered when he succeeded to it, but he cleared off all debts in a few years, and appears to have lived a somewhat eccentric and recluse life, in the society of his dogs and dependants.
This is the first mention of the fact that nuns had ever lived at B——. Miss Freer had not been aware that the object of the Rev. P. H——'s visit in 1892 had been to give what is called a Spiritual Retreat to those who had been occupying the cottage. It is only fair to suggest that the phantasmal nun, to whom the name Ishbel had been given, may really have been the phantasm of one of these visitors, and that the dress of at least some of them was identical with or closely resembled hers, while it was totally unlike that worn by the community to which the late Mother Frances Helen belonged. At the same time, Ishbel's dress was of a kind so very common among nuns, that it would have been that with which she would, most naturally, have been clothed by the imagination of any one unacquainted with the very rare Order to which Mother Frances Helen belonged. To make further investigation into the history of all the Sisters who ever stayed at B—— through the kindness of the late Mr. S—— would have been a task impossible for its vastness, and almost certainly futile through the natural reticence of their communities with regard to any matters likely to occasion haunting.
March 1st (continued), Monday.—I went up the burn for the first time since my accident on Saturday, February 20th. We had had a promise from Ouija on Sunday that if Mr. "Endell" were to visit the copse with me after 6.30 he would be touched on the left shoulder. He was told to go to the farther side of the burn, and to stand under the sapling, which is at some little distance from the spot where the phantasm usually appears. This we accordingly did. I was barely able in the dusk to distinguish the figure from my post on the west bank, but the phantasm appeared very near him, as I could distinguish the white pocket-handkerchief in his breast pocket. I saw her hand approach this, but could not positively say that it touched him. Mr. "Endell" saw nothing, and could not positively say that he felt a touch, though conscious of a sense of sudden chill, and agreed with me that had he certainly felt one, he would probably have considered it the effect of expectation. We stood there for perhaps ten minutes, and he was for a short time conscious of the subjective sensations which he commonly feels in the presence of phenomena. We returned simultaneously to the avenue, where we discussed the occurrence and the possibilities of making it evidential. The only thing we could think of was to send for Miss Langton, and without telling her anything of what we had seen or expected, ascertain whether she saw the phantasm in its usual position (high up on the bank), or a good deal farther to the left, and nearer the burn, as I had done. By the time she arrived it was much darker, but she saw the figure under the tree by the brook, and described it as "kneeling." She has better sight than I, and believed it to be behind Mr. "Endell." I should have judged her to be crouching or stooping in front of him, but judging from comparison of our normal sight, she is much more likely to be accurate than I.
Mr. "Endell's" separately recorded account, dated March 5, exactly agrees with this, but adds some additional touches to the latter part.
"At Miss Freer's suggestion, I fetched Miss Langton, telling her nothing of what had occurred, but merely that we were trying an experiment, and she was to report what she saw.
"I stood again under the sapling. This time I began to shudder almost immediately. It was so dark they told me that they could only see my collar though I was only ten yards from them.
"Miss Langton said that thirty seconds after I had taken up my position, the figure appeared behind me a little to my left, and seemed to raise its arm. Miss Freer said it was waiting for me, and touched me as before.
"I felt no touch throughout, only shiverings that seemed to coincide with appearances."
To-night Miss "N." wishes to sleep in No. 3, and Miss Langton will remain in No. 2; the door of communication can be opened between them.
March 2nd, Tuesday.—This morning I was reading in bed by candlelight from 5.30 to 6 o'clock, and again heard the pattering sound which has become familiar to us in No. 8. Miss Moore was asleep, but happened to awake while the sound was specially distinct, and without speaking signified that she was giving it her attention. Shortly after six we heard the sound of a violent fall about the middle of the west wall, between the fireplace and window. Our first thought was that one of the maids upstairs must have fallen, till we remembered that there was no room above us. We have since inquired, and find that none of them moved till nearly seven o'clock, nor was anything heard either by them or by Mr. Garford, whose room (No. 1) joins our west wall.[D]
Miss "N." passed a very disturbed night. She went to bed about twelve o'clock; she is habitually an exceptionally good sleeper, and, moreover, has slept in many rooms alleged to be haunted without the slightest inconvenience, and has never had an "experience" of any sort. She lay awake in discomfort till 3 a.m., and then sought refuge with Miss Langton.
Miss "N." left. The following is the record of her impressions:—
"March 4th.—You ask me to write exactly what I felt in No. 3 when I slept there on March 1st. Well, it is rather difficult to describe! I never felt frightened out of my wits at nothing before, if it was nothing. I certainly saw no shadows or figures, and the only noise I heard was the thud twice, which sounded as if it came from the storey below. If I shut my eyes for a minute I felt as if I was struggling with something invisible (not indigestion, as I never have it!). I was so paralysed that I dare not call out to Miss Langton, and lay awake
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