0:01

The Ertonwood

0:19

Ghost by Eleanor Glynn Mrs.

0:23

Charters arrived at Euston in plenty of

0:25

time for the 230 train to Ileton.

0:28

She was a woman who was well served, and

0:30

her footman had already got her all that she

0:32

required, and she retired with a

0:34

paper to the farther side of the compartment. "'You

0:37

need not wait, Thomas,' she said. There

0:39

will probably be no one else getting in, and

0:41

it is a corridor train." So

0:44

Thomas touched his hat and left. Just

0:47

before the guard gave the signal to

0:49

start, a man, evidently a gentleman, opened

0:52

the door of the carriage and entered. He

0:55

had been walking leisurely up and down the

0:57

platform, and, if she had known it, had

0:59

observed her maid and footman, looked

1:02

at her luggage, and ascertained her

1:04

destination. It was the

1:06

same as his own, Ertonwood Manor,

1:08

that really charmingly romantic old place,

1:11

Ada Hardress and her obedient husband

1:13

had just taken from the Woolworths

1:15

for a year. "'It is too

1:17

exquisitely ghostly, pet,' she had

1:19

written to Estelle Charters, creaking

1:21

building, underground passages, haunted library,

1:24

and a big cedarwood bedroom

1:26

where the white lady appears.

1:29

There is no electric light, and a

1:31

person with your sensibilities can be perfectly

1:33

certain to receive a thrill. Come

1:36

and spend Christmas with us.'" And

1:38

Mrs. Charters had accepted, won by

1:40

this alluring description, and was now,

1:42

the day before Christmas Eve, on

1:45

her way thither. She

1:47

was a tall, slender woman of twenty-eight

1:49

or thirty, perhaps. She

1:51

was not beautiful, but every

1:53

single thing she put on seemed to

1:56

enhance her grace, rather plaintive and distinguished

1:58

refinement appeared to be the note. note

2:00

which first struck strangers about her. That

2:03

bore, Algernon Alexander Charters had joined

2:05

friends in another world some three

2:08

years before this Christmas Eve, leaving

2:10

his widow most comfortably provided for.

2:13

Only an unpleasant jar had happened, not more

2:15

than a week ago. The

2:17

family lawyer had written to inform Estelle

2:19

that there might be serious trouble ahead,

2:22

and it might even eventualise in her

2:24

loss of most of Algernon Alexander's money

2:27

if a certain marriage certificate could not

2:29

be found. The whole

2:31

fortune was being claimed by

2:33

a descendant of the great-great-grandfather,

2:35

who contended that Algernon Alexander

2:37

himself had enjoyed his ten

2:39

or twelve thousandths a year

2:42

unlawfully. It appeared that

2:44

somewhere about 1795 the rich Alderman

2:46

Charters' son, delighting to move in

2:48

circles above him, had contracted a

2:50

marriage secretly with the daughter of

2:53

a decayed noble who would have

2:55

none of him, and

2:57

the lady, regretting her mistake too

2:59

late, had denied all connection with

3:01

him, and willingly relinquishing her son

3:04

whose existence she had concealed, and

3:06

of whom she was ashamed, she had

3:08

retired with her father to Italy, and

3:11

there a year or two later had died,

3:13

the wife of an Italian saint.

3:16

The abandoned rich city husband had

3:18

apparently taken the casual behaviour of

3:20

the noble lady in a philosophical

3:23

spirit, doting upon her son, on

3:25

whom, although he married again and had a

3:27

number of other children, he left the bulk

3:29

of his great fortune. These

3:32

second families seemed to have been

3:34

complacent people, and had accepted their

3:37

fate, but now one of their

3:39

descendants had come forward and claimed that,

3:42

the will of John Charters expressly stating

3:44

to my legitimate eldest son and his

3:46

heirs, with no name given, that

3:49

property should come to him as the

3:51

lineal representative of the eldest son of

3:53

the second family, there being no proof

3:55

to be found anywhere of the first

3:57

marriage with the lady Marjorie Wildacre. Mrs.

4:00

Charters thought of all these things as she sat

4:03

on the train. Her attention

4:05

had scarcely wandered from them even as she

4:07

glanced up at the intruder in her carriage,

4:10

but she did casually notice that he

4:12

was a thin, dark man with

4:14

something rather attractive looking about him.

4:17

And after a while she became conscious

4:19

that his eyes were fixed upon her,

4:22

and she felt compelled to look up. They

4:24

were too close together at the orbs that

4:27

met her as she decided, though their size

4:29

and shape left nothing to be desired. She

4:32

had a foolish shiver of foreboding and

4:34

dislike as she turned away, and let

4:36

her mind revert to the ceaseless question

4:38

of where on the face of the

4:40

earth this certificate could be, and how

4:42

were they to find it. Presently

4:45

the stranger leaned forward and said, in

4:47

a most cultivated voice, which yet had

4:50

a foreign accent somewhere lurking in the

4:52

background, You are Mrs. Charters, I believe.

4:55

We are both going to the same house. May

4:57

I introduce myself, I am

5:00

Ambrose Duval. I am

5:02

afraid, not quite an Englishman. His

5:05

voice was so pleasant, it made you forget

5:07

the sinister impression left by his eyes. Mrs.

5:10

Charters was of the world and

5:13

not easily disconcerted. She

5:15

bowed politely, and a conversation began,

5:18

in the course of which

5:20

it became apparent that Mr.

5:22

Ambrose Duval—such a name, it reminds

5:24

one of Claude, she thought—had met

5:26

the hard dresses abroad, and had renewed

5:29

his acquaintance lately, and was coming down

5:31

now to this Christmas party. Nothing

5:34

could be more polished and smooth than

5:36

his manner. It had

5:38

that easy gliding from one subject

5:40

to another which makes so agreeable

5:42

a conversationalist. He skimmed

5:45

all sorts of interesting topics, and

5:47

at last arrived at English architecture.

5:50

Earthenwood is a very romantical place,

5:52

Mrs. Charters tells me, he said,

5:55

a fine specimen of Tudor style

5:57

with additions of Jacobean. How

6:00

long to study it, do you know its history?"

6:03

"'Not in the least,' Estelle replied. My

6:05

friend Ada Hardress merely wrote I should be

6:08

certain to see ghosts. I love

6:10

the thought of them, although I have never

6:12

been fortunate enough to encounter one. Have

6:15

you?" And she smiled

6:17

her fascinating elusive smile that

6:19

was half melancholy and half

6:21

gay. Sir George

6:23

Seefeld, who had already arrived at

6:25

Eartonwood earlier in the day, thought

6:27

Estelle Chartres' smile the most divine

6:30

thing in the world, but then

6:32

he was in love,

6:34

resentfully so at first, then

6:37

resignantly, and now

6:39

abjectly. Ambrose

6:41

Duval, on the contrary, mused, "'She

6:44

is no fool for all her gentleness.

6:46

It is a capable mouth. Perhaps

6:49

her innocence about Eartonwood is all bluff,

6:52

and she is bent upon the same errand

6:54

as myself. I must lose

6:56

no time.' By four

6:58

o'clock, when he had reached Earton, they

7:01

had each taken stock of the other. "'He

7:03

makes me creep down my back,' was

7:05

Mrs. Chartres' comment, although I

7:07

do feel he is attractive." Some

7:10

more guests got out of another carriage,

7:12

and there were greetings and chaff, and

7:15

the whole party entered motors and were

7:17

hurled to their destination. Here

7:19

all was holly and mistletoe and

7:21

everything to make a real English

7:23

Christmas. George log fives

7:25

in every grate, and quantities of wax candles

7:28

tried to make up for the want of

7:30

electric light. Nothing

7:32

could have looked more like a storybook description of

7:34

things as they once were, in the

7:36

good old days. Ada

7:39

Hardress gave her friend the most gushing

7:41

welcome, and contrived that Sir George Seafield

7:43

secured a chance for a tete-a-tete word

7:45

in a suitable window seat as they

7:48

drank tea. "'You are

7:50

cruel to me,' he said, looking devotedly at

7:52

the lady of his heart with his keen

7:54

blue eyes, promising to be at

7:56

the junction and never turning up by that train.

7:59

I came down from Scotland on purpose, and thought

8:01

I should have been allowed to take care of

8:03

you from crew here." "'I

8:06

can take care of myself,' she protested

8:08

softly, and I found I wanted to

8:10

shop this morning before I left. "'You

8:13

think you're capable of looking after

8:15

yourself always, under any circumstances, I

8:17

suppose,' he hazarded. "'But of

8:19

course, when I feel I cannot, then

8:22

I shall tell you,' and she

8:24

smiled. "'I pray fate

8:26

to let the chance come sooner than

8:28

you think,' he announced fervently. "'But

8:31

at this pious hope Mrs.

8:33

Chartres only looked sweetfully disdainful,

8:36

and changed the conversation to less

8:38

personal things. "'You won't

8:40

be a goose, darling, and snub Sir George to

8:42

death with you,' Ada Hardrus begged

8:44

as she took her friend up the stairs.

8:47

"'You're so provoking with your aloof air,

8:49

and now wanting to rest until dinner

8:51

when he's dying to talk to you.

8:53

"'But Mrs. Chartres was unimpressed.

8:56

"'I am really tired, Ada, and it does

8:58

Englishman good to be made to wait. "'I

9:01

learned that in America,' she said. "'Algernon

9:03

took me there when I wanted to go

9:05

to Rome, but I never regretted it. "'I

9:08

acquired so many hints from those clever women.'

9:10

"'Oh, what a heavenly place,' she added,

9:12

when they got to the cedar chamber

9:14

which had been allotted to her. "'Fancy

9:16

it's not having been spoiled in these

9:18

modern days, for it was

9:21

all panelled and hung with faded orange

9:23

silk in its three tall windows and

9:25

capacious four-post bed. "'And

9:27

presently, when Mrs. Chartres was tucked up

9:29

upon the rather hard sofa, preparing to

9:31

have a siesta before dinner, she felt

9:33

at peace with all the world. It

9:36

was not long before she was sound asleep,

9:39

and here she had a strange

9:41

dream. "'She felt

9:43

herself unaccountably moved and perturbed.

9:47

She had a sensation of breathless

9:49

waiting tension while she stood in

9:51

some dark place, and suddenly

9:53

it seemed as though only one spot

9:55

in the blackness became illuminated, and then

9:58

she saw an old escritoire. There

10:00

was nothing else, no furniture, no room,

10:03

nothing but this old writing bureau standing

10:05

in space, and there on

10:07

it lay unfolded a

10:10

yellow parchment, upon which seemed

10:12

to have fallen some drops of fresh

10:14

blood. A stalewoke

10:16

with a sensation of supernatural excitement and

10:19

fear, and then she reasoned

10:21

with herself, could anything have been more

10:23

foolish? A dream with

10:25

no incident, no personages, no action to

10:27

cause such a feeling? There

10:30

was something uncanny about it, though.

10:33

What if the room were really haunted? She

10:37

was not sure she liked it, after

10:39

all. She got up

10:41

quickly and rang for her maid, glad to have

10:43

company and lights, but all the while

10:45

she dressed she saw nothing

10:47

but the escritoir, the parchment, and

10:50

the three drops of blood. "'You

10:53

look pale and pathetic,' Sir George Seefeld

10:55

told her, with tender anxiety in his

10:57

voice as they went into dinner. "'What

11:00

has happened? I want to know.' But

11:03

it was not until about the first entree that

11:05

he could get her to unfold her dream. Her

11:08

other-hand neighbor was the attractive half-foreigner

11:10

who had come down in the

11:12

train with her, and who had

11:14

no intention of allowing her legitimate

11:16

partner to monopolize the conversation. She

11:19

listened attentively, as she described

11:21

minutely the strange incident to

11:23

Sir George, bending forward

11:25

so as not to lose a word

11:27

much to that gentleman's disgust. "'I

11:30

hate the brute,' he thought. "'Why

11:33

cannot he attend to the woman he has taken in?' "'What

11:36

a very strange dream,' Mr. Ambrose

11:39

Duval said. "'And where was

11:41

this, Quitroir? You have no idea.'

11:44

"'Not in the least,' replied Estelle. "'It

11:47

was all in space.' "'But

11:49

why the blood?' And then

11:51

a thought struck her. "'Of course,' she exclaimed,

11:53

"'this is some vision sent to tell me

11:56

where I am to find a most important

11:58

document. How stupid of me!' never

12:00

to have thought of it before. A

12:02

document, both men asked. But

12:05

while Sir George's eyes only expressed

12:07

deep admiration for the lady herself,

12:10

Mr. Ambrose Duval's had a concentrated

12:13

eagerness to hear her words that

12:15

was arresting. Why

12:17

should this interest him so? wondered

12:20

Sir George, and it caused him to

12:22

feel puzzled and irritated. Mrs.

12:24

Charters was no chatterer, and not in

12:27

the habit of imparting her private affairs

12:29

to strangers, so she laughed

12:31

and changed the conversation now to lighter

12:33

things, dividing her time equally between the

12:36

two men until the ladies rose to

12:38

leave the room. Sir

12:40

George Seafield was incensed. Why

12:43

had his good friend Ada Hardrus asked

12:45

this foreigner to Earton Wood, and why

12:47

had she put him next to a

12:49

stell, the lady of his heart? I

12:53

believe she is rather drawn towards the

12:55

jack-and-apes, he thought angrily to himself, and

12:57

with difficulty kept from sparring with him as they

12:59

sat over the port. Ada,

13:02

where did you meet Mr. Duval? Mrs.

13:04

Charters asked, as a group of women

13:06

hung over the big drawing-room fire. He

13:09

seems an interesting creature. Doesn't

13:11

he? Several of them chimed in. Mysterious

13:14

and delightful, one affirmed. So

13:17

good-looking! another announced. His

13:20

eyes are too close together, old Miss

13:22

Harcourt said in a sententious way. I

13:24

shan't play bridge with him. We

13:28

met him in Hungary last summer, the hostess at

13:30

last got in. It seems absurd,

13:32

but he was a hotel acquaintance. Only

13:35

he knew such a lot of people we did. He

13:37

seemed like an old friend, and we saw him often.

13:40

And he was always cheery and nice. He has

13:42

relations in England that he's come to look up.

13:45

I'm so glad you find him attractive. I

13:47

do myself. He has been too

13:49

charming this last fortnight when we were up

13:51

in town for Christmas shopping. He

13:53

had just arrived from Paris, and I have

13:56

never had so delightful a companion. So

13:58

I asked him down for Christmas. He

14:00

said he would be lonely, and he so absorbed

14:03

in the study of old houses. Then

14:06

someone began to play the piano, and

14:08

the group broke up, and soon the

14:10

gentleman joined them, and a general move

14:12

to the big oak-panelled hall commenced, when

14:14

the younger member started the vaults, while

14:16

the fiddlers three who had come down

14:19

from London to entertain the yuletide guests

14:21

played merrily. Sir

14:23

George Seafield was detained by his host

14:25

for a second, and had

14:27

the chagrin to see Mrs. Charters, whirling

14:29

in the arms of the foreigner. He

14:31

shut his firm jaw with an ominous

14:33

snap. "'I'm dashed if I'll put

14:36

up with it,' he muttered, and went and claimed

14:38

the next turn the moment the pair paused for

14:40

breath. "'How cross!' you looked

14:42

tonight, Sir George," Mrs. Charters said as they

14:44

danced. "'My last pardon was

14:46

so agreeable and sympathetic.' "'I want to

14:49

wring his neck,' was all the answer

14:51

she got. And then,

14:53

he added, as they stopped and wandered off

14:55

to a distant sofa in the gallery, "'I'm

14:58

sure he's up to no good. I'd watch the silver

15:00

if I were Jack Hardriss.' "'It

15:02

is really remarkable to what depths of

15:05

spite men will descend about one another,

15:07

as their laughter sat down. No

15:10

woman would be so transparent, and all

15:12

just because Mr. Duval is a foreigner,

15:14

and has good manners, and does not

15:16

show moods.' And

15:18

she leaned back, provokingly, among the cushions.

15:21

"'You like him,' Sir George asked

15:24

indignantly, and then aggrievedly, but

15:26

anyone can see that.

15:28

"'If you're going to be unpleasant,' Mrs. Charters said, "'I

15:30

shall leave you and dance with him again. He

15:33

valses divinely.' Sir

15:35

George's eyes blazed. "'If you do, I

15:37

will wring his neck.' I caught easily,"

15:40

he blurted out. Absurd

15:42

brute force. And

15:44

she smiled plaintively. "'Englishmen

15:46

are so crude.' "'How you

15:49

do tease me, Estelle,' Sir George said,

15:51

and then stopped suddenly. "'Who

15:54

told you you might call me that?' Mrs.

15:57

Charters frowned, a piece of impertinence.

16:00

but hear her voice faltered, for

16:02

she saw that her companion was no longer

16:04

listening to her. His eyes

16:06

were fixed with an intense interest upon

16:08

a picture which hung upon the wall

16:10

opposite them, the portrait of

16:13

a lady in late eighteenth-century dress,

16:15

with the rather high waist and

16:17

flowing white draperies, while her hair

16:20

fell in ruffled, unpowdered curls. It

16:23

was not by any celebrated artist, but

16:25

was a pleasing picture, and as

16:27

Estelle's eyes took it in, she

16:30

knew why Sir George was so

16:32

absorbed, for it bore

16:34

a most wonderful likeness to

16:37

herself. By Jove, was

16:39

all he said. It

16:41

certainly might have been painted from me,

16:43

she allowed. Who can it be? But

16:46

they could not find out. Their

16:48

host, whom they questioned, did not know. He

16:51

happened to be passing at that moment and joined them

16:53

with his foreign guest. They had only

16:55

taken the place from the Walworths for a year,

16:57

he said, and the Walworths had bought it just

16:59

as it stood from some one else. It

17:02

had changed hands once or twice, and he couldn't

17:04

remember now who were the original owners. It

17:08

is supposed to be a portrait of the ghost, I

17:10

believe, he told them. Some old

17:12

retainer informed Ada when we came,

17:14

the white lady who haunts the

17:16

library, and the cedar

17:18

chamber. "'Where I sleep,'

17:20

cried Estelle, with a note of

17:22

distress, "'Oh, Jack, I believe

17:24

I am half afraid.' "'I'll come

17:27

and watch outside your door, if you are,' said Sir

17:29

George. "'Then you can call me if you feel frightened

17:31

in the night, and I will tackle any ghost for

17:33

you. I shall glory in the

17:35

act.' "'I do not doubt

17:37

it,' laughed the host, and discreetly

17:40

walked on. But

17:42

Mr. Ambrose Duval stayed behind,

17:44

examining every turn of the brush in the

17:47

picture with a critical eye. "'Estelle

17:49

had grown very quiet,' Sir George

17:52

noticed. She suddenly felt

17:54

again that strange sense of excitement,

17:56

a cold, unpleasant feeling of tension

17:58

and dread. And she looked

18:00

up into his face with an appealing pair

18:03

of soft grey eyes. "'Let's

18:05

go and dance again,' she said. "'I want

18:07

to get warm once more. I feel cold.'

18:10

And Sir George joyfully encircled her slender

18:13

waist, and held her close as they

18:15

rejoined the dances and whirled about. "'Who

18:18

sleeps next to me?' Mrs. Charters asked, as

18:20

a laughing group of women went up to

18:22

bed about warm in the morning. But

18:25

she heard with secret dismay that

18:27

the only other room in this quaint

18:29

square wing was a sitting-room, with

18:32

a little oratory attached. "'You

18:34

have always said you adored ghosts and

18:36

weird things,' Mrs. Harddress said. "'Or, dearest,

18:38

I would not have put you in

18:40

the cedar-room. So I

18:43

do, of course,' returned Estelle

18:45

rather half-heartedly. She was

18:47

a proud woman, and ashamed to show her fears.

18:50

Everything looked most bright and comfortable when she

18:53

got to her room, and her devoted maid

18:55

had waited up for her, and now put

18:57

at a bed with every care. So,

19:00

tired out with her dance, Estelle

19:02

forgot her sense of uneasiness, and

19:04

soon sank to sleep between the

19:07

slippery fine sheets, while the dying

19:09

fire made flickering lights in the

19:11

vast room. "'But

19:13

in the grey dawn!' She

19:16

awoke in mortal fright, for

19:18

she had dreamed again of the

19:20

dark space, the escritoir, the

19:23

parchment, and the drops

19:25

of fresh blood. Two."

19:29

Next day was Christmas Eve, and much

19:31

occupied with all sorts of bygone amusements

19:34

in which a Christmas tree for the

19:36

children figured in the late afternoon. Everyone

19:39

was particularly gay and cheerful. Only

19:42

Estelle Charters felt heavy as lead. A

19:45

dream haunted her. It

19:47

had certainly some meaning. It

19:49

was the second time she had experienced it, and

19:52

the certificate, the loss of which might

19:54

make such a difference to her, could

19:56

quite well look like the parchment on

19:59

the desk. And why

20:01

there should be any connection with

20:03

it in this house, of

20:05

which she had never heard until her friends had

20:07

taken it, she could not imagine.

20:11

And if there were some strange thread in it

20:13

all, why should the picture

20:15

of the ghost be like herself? The

20:18

money she could be deprived of had been

20:20

Algernon's money, and had not come to her

20:22

through her own family at all, so

20:25

it would be more sensible and seemingly

20:27

in sequence if the ghost looked like

20:29

him or one of her sisters-in-law.

20:32

But she could not shake off the

20:34

unaccountable depression she was filled with, and

20:37

she tried to divert herself with Mr.

20:39

Ambrose Duvalles' inspiriting conversation to the rage

20:41

of Sir George, who had left Scotland

20:43

on purpose to be present at this

20:45

party, and press his suit, feeling

20:48

full of hope that she would show him some

20:50

grace. But for some reason all

20:52

had been at sixes and sevens between them,

20:55

and this hateful foreigner appeared to be the

20:57

cause. Towards

20:59

the end of the day, Sir George's temper had

21:01

got the better of him, and he

21:03

had finally gone off and talked to another woman

21:05

in peak and disgust. And

21:07

so, once more, the night came,

21:10

and Estelle was left alone in the

21:12

cedar room. Now the conduct

21:14

of the foreign guest had excited suspicion as

21:17

well as fury in the breast of Sir

21:19

George, and he had watched him unconsciously most

21:21

of the day. The

21:23

brute had come to Eartonwood with

21:25

some purpose. He now felt sure

21:28

of that. Such extreme interest

21:30

in all the rooms and the furniture

21:32

was overdone if it were really an

21:34

innocent fancy for old things. The

21:37

library in particular seemed to have attracted

21:39

him, and he even contrived

21:41

to be shown the famous cedar chamber

21:43

while he said the most insinuating and

21:45

admiring things to its present occupant. They

21:48

had gone there, a company of four

21:50

or five after lunch, old Miss

21:53

Harcott amongst them torn from her bridge.

21:56

"'I would not sleep here for the world,' she said.

21:58

I wonder how you can escape." You

22:01

must have nerves of iron and a conscience

22:03

of snow-like purity. It makes

22:05

me creep, even in broad daylight."

22:08

I am not afraid," affirmed Mrs.

22:10

Charters, raising her head. From

22:13

there the group had returned to the

22:15

library, and here Mr. Duval pointed to

22:18

an older scri'tois, which stood in one

22:20

window, used now as a writing-table.

22:23

Its surface seemed a good deal warped

22:25

from the sunlight, which had come in

22:27

upon it, presumably, for many years. "'This

22:31

could be as the one you told

22:33

us about in your dream,' Mr. Duval

22:35

said, pertably watching her

22:37

face. And Estelle

22:40

recognized that it was indeed the

22:42

same, with a sharp thrill.

22:45

But she laughed a little nervously as

22:47

she evaded a direct reply. Mr.

22:50

Duval was examining closely, passing

22:52

smooth, finely moving fingers over

22:54

all its sides and top.

22:57

There is probably some secret spring,'

22:59

he said. "'It would be amusing

23:02

if your dream came true, and it disclosed

23:04

the parchment and the drops of blood.' But

23:07

for some reason Estelle did not wish him

23:09

to find it, if there

23:11

were any spring. She

23:13

would examine it herself another time, with

23:16

Ada alone. And Sir

23:18

George, watching now intently, felt all

23:20

sorts of queer ideas come into

23:22

his head. By

23:24

the time they said good night, the

23:26

feeling that there was something going on

23:28

underneath grew so strong that he determined

23:30

not to undress or go to bed.

23:32

"'He is going to have a try

23:34

at opening that old bureau. I'd make

23:36

any bet,' he said to himself. "'And

23:39

I'll bork him, if I can, and discover what is

23:41

up.' So he pretended

23:43

to be tired and to go on to his

23:45

room when the other men moved to the smoking

23:47

room, which was in a side-wing, after the ladies

23:50

had left. But in reality

23:52

he waited until he thought the buckler would

23:54

have extinguished the lights in the library and

23:56

the middle part of the house. Then

23:59

he lit his cap on. handle, and softly crept

24:01

down, and stretched himself upon a

24:04

sofa, rather behind a screen, while

24:06

the dying embers of the fire shed a

24:08

mysterious glow all over the rest of the

24:11

room. And in

24:13

the cedar chamber Estelle tied out and

24:15

rather saddened at the estrangement which she

24:17

had felt had grown up in the

24:19

day between herself and her hitherto ardent

24:22

would-be lover, got hastily into bed.

24:25

It was her own fault, she knew. She

24:27

had been most capricious and talked far

24:30

too much to the foreign man, whom

24:32

she realized now she rather disliked underneath.

24:35

She had been foolish and nervous and

24:37

jumpy today, and she felt quite ashamed

24:39

of herself. But

24:41

in a very short time she grew sleepy, and

24:44

all became a blank until, with

24:47

startling vividness, for the

24:49

third time the dream returned,

24:52

and to it was added

24:54

a dim figure which seemed

24:56

to beckon to her and compel

24:58

her to rise and follow from

25:00

her warm soft bed. It

25:04

seemed that she crept across the room

25:06

to a panel beside the fireplace, fascinated,

25:09

but without fear following the ghostly

25:12

shape which, when it turned its

25:14

face, looked so strangely

25:16

like herself. And

25:18

the panel glided back, disclosing a

25:21

dark opening, and still

25:23

she was impelled to enter its black

25:25

depths, and all while, as

25:27

she felt herself descending a narrow stare,

25:30

a dim iridescence seemed like a

25:33

nimbus to encircle the head of

25:35

that faint wraith which was

25:37

leading her on, wither.

25:41

While in the library, Sir George was almost

25:43

dozing off to sleep on his sofa in

25:45

the shadow of the screen. The

25:47

clock had struck two, and

25:50

the fire had burnt so very low

25:52

that hardly a glow now illumined the

25:54

room. But a broad shaft

25:56

of moonlight came in from the top part of

25:58

the window, to which the shaft did not

26:00

reach. It was composed of

26:02

small panes with a coat of arms emblazoned

26:04

in the centre, and the beams

26:06

of the moon threw some weird shapes upon

26:09

the floor, and upon the old escritoir, which

26:11

happened to stand in its path of light.

26:14

Sir George thought to himself that he

26:16

had, after all, perhaps been mistaken. The

26:19

foreigner had probably gone to bed with the rest,

26:21

and he too would turn in. Then,

26:25

just as his meditations reached

26:27

thus far, he

26:29

heard the faintest noise of the

26:31

door opening, and someone,

26:34

with stealthy footsteps, cautiously advanced

26:36

up the room. As

26:39

he sprang to his feet he felt,

26:41

rather than saw, that it was Ambrose

26:44

Duval. He himself was securely

26:46

hidden in the black shadow of the screen.

26:49

The man went softly to the shutter of

26:51

the moonlit window, and with quiet

26:53

nervous hands undid its old-fashioned bolt,

26:55

letting in a still broader shaft

26:58

of light, which now allowed every

27:00

detail of the old bureau to

27:02

be seen. Then

27:04

he came eagerly to its side, and

27:06

Sir George held his breath, and leaned

27:08

forward not to miss anything of what

27:10

might be about to happen. Mr.

27:14

Duval seemed to be feeling the lid

27:16

which he opened with care, and

27:18

then a search began for the secret

27:20

spring. And once or

27:22

twice, as he looked up, as if

27:24

for inspiration, his face seemed

27:27

like a fiend in the erschine light.

27:30

At last he appeared to have discovered something.

27:33

A drawer flew open with a jerk,

27:36

and he gave a sharp exclamation of pain.

27:39

Some part of the steel spring had

27:41

evidently wounded his hand. But

27:44

his hesitation was only momentary, with frantic

27:46

eagerness he now drew forth a roll

27:48

from the secret place. It

27:51

looked to Sir George like an old

27:53

yellow parchment, and as

27:55

Ambrose Duval bent to scrutinize it,

27:57

with devilish satisfaction upon his face,

28:00

They dropped from the cut on his hand

28:02

some drops of blood. The

28:05

scene was the exact

28:07

reproduction of Mrs. Charters's dream.

28:11

This was the moment Sir George felt

28:13

for him to interfere. But

28:15

before he could take more than a step, he

28:18

was arrested by seeing the thief raise his

28:20

head, and then start and

28:22

grow livid and shaking with abject

28:24

terror as he gazed into a

28:27

far corner, the parchment dropping from

28:29

his nervous fingers back onto

28:31

the old desk. And

28:33

Sir George, following the direction of his

28:35

eyes, also experienced a

28:37

thrill which, even in him,

28:40

was not unmixed with something

28:42

akin to fear. For

28:46

both men could just distinguish, slowly and

28:48

noiselessly advancing toward them out of the

28:50

shadow, from a part of the room

28:52

where there was no door, the

28:55

tall, slender figure of a woman, in

28:57

a rather short-waisted white garment,

29:00

with ruffled curls of unpowdered

29:02

hair. She seemed to be

29:04

ethereal and unreal, but when

29:06

she got into the moonlight the

29:08

likeness was unmistakable. The face

29:10

was the same as the picture in the

29:13

gallery which the host had told them represented

29:15

the Eartonwood ghost. The

29:17

great, gray eyes were wide and staring like

29:19

the eyes of a corpse, and

29:22

the whole figure moved slowly with

29:24

a gliding motion, unlike leave. My

29:27

God, is it a stell? Sir

29:29

George gasped to himself as

29:31

he waited the turn of events. If

29:34

it were his well-beloved, then she must be

29:36

walking in her sleep. If

29:38

the denizen of some other world, then

29:41

something strange and awful might develop

29:43

when she got to the escritoir.

29:47

In either case, his best course would be

29:49

to watch and be ready to spring, for

29:52

he fully realized the securing of

29:54

the parchment was to Ambrose Duval

29:56

for some reason a matter of

29:58

desperate need. The figure

30:01

advanced, growing more clear as it

30:03

reached the goal. Duval was now

30:05

crouching, an almost inert mass, some

30:08

paces back, in mortal fright. The

30:11

lady, whoever or whatever she was,

30:13

put out a transparent-looking hand in

30:15

the moonlight, and seizing the

30:17

parchment was gliding back again from when she

30:19

came. But Ambrose Duval gave

30:21

the hiss of a snake as he

30:23

saw the precious paper being taken from

30:26

his grasp, and with a

30:28

half-articulate cry of rage and terror,

30:30

bounded forward. But Sir

30:32

George was quicker than he, and ere

30:35

he could reach the ghost or woman,

30:37

he found himself pinioned in the Englishman's

30:39

strong arms. Then the

30:41

two men struggled, and brose

30:43

Duval with mad fear in his breast at

30:45

this new foe, and Sir

30:47

George with cool determination to frustrate

30:50

his opponent's ends. As

30:53

they tottered together, they both saw, with

30:55

an indescribable thrill, the

30:58

figure disappear as it were before their

31:00

eyes into the darkness of

31:02

the wall. And

31:04

they knew they were alone. Was

31:07

she a ghost, or real flesh

31:09

and blood? That was

31:11

a question which neither could decide. But

31:14

now that there was no more reason to protect

31:16

Estelle if it were she, Sir

31:18

George let Mr. Duval go. He

31:21

was breathless from rage and fright, and

31:24

staggered to a chair. How

31:26

dare you attack me like this, he

31:28

exclaimed furiously, drawing a revolver from his

31:30

pocket and pointing it at his foe.

31:34

But Sir George, far more perturbed at the

31:36

thought of what might have become of his

31:38

lady love, took no notice of him. He

31:41

walked over to the fire and poked up

31:43

the dying embers, which threw up a last

31:45

small flame, giving enough light for

31:47

him to find his candlestick, which he had

31:50

put down beside the sofa in the gloom

31:52

beyond the shaft of moonlight. Mr.

31:55

Duval followed him, still livid from fear

31:57

of the supernatural, and mad with rage

31:59

at failure and loss. "'You

32:01

shall answer to me for this now with

32:03

your life,' he snarled. "'In that

32:06

case, you will be hanged for murder,'

32:08

Sir George retorted coolly. "'You had

32:10

better go quietly in the morning before I denounce

32:12

you as a thief.' "'I am

32:14

no thief,' Mr. Duval protested violently.

32:16

"'How dare you attack a guest

32:19

in our friend's house in this

32:21

most murderous fashion! It is

32:23

I who can denounce you. You must

32:25

give me satisfaction for this.' "'I

32:27

shall do nothing of the kind,' said Sir George.

32:29

"'I should not think of dueling with a thief.

32:32

Just take my advice and go in the

32:34

morning without a scandal and prosecute your scheming

32:37

tricks elsewhere. I have

32:39

seen all you did, remember, and can

32:41

describe it well.' Then the

32:43

two men glared at one another there in the

32:45

old library, the one candle

32:47

illuminating their angry faces, and

32:49

the great shaft of moonlight lighting

32:52

the rifled escritoir. And

32:54

then Sir George calmed himself. "'You

32:57

can take what calls you please,' he said. "'I

32:59

have a pistol too,' and he

33:02

drew his small derringer from the pocket where he

33:04

had been holding it. "'I am

33:06

a rather good shot sometimes, so we

33:08

may each hit the other. But there

33:10

is no use in it, and rats like you are

33:12

fond of life.' This

33:15

reflection seemed to carry weight with Mr.

33:17

Duval, unflattering as it was, for

33:19

it is quite one thing to shoot at an

33:22

unarmed man, and quite another to find him possessed

33:24

of a pistol too. With

33:27

what dignity he could, Mr. Duval now

33:29

drew himself up and prepared to leave

33:31

the room. "'You have won

33:33

this time,' he said between his teeth. But

33:35

some day I will level things

33:37

up.' "'I am quite indifferent

33:40

about that,' Sir George answered hurriedly. "'Get

33:42

out now, and get away by the

33:44

earliest train. I shall give you so much

33:47

a start. Now I have other

33:49

and more important things to do. Go!'

33:52

And he almost drove Duval to the door and up to his

33:54

room. Then when he had seen

33:56

him safely shut in, he paused to think what

33:58

was the next thing be done, to awaken

34:01

Jack Hardress and his wife, and ascertain if

34:03

Estelle was safe in her cedar chamber seemed

34:05

to be the best move. So

34:08

after some difficulty he found his house's

34:10

apartment, and knocked firmly on the door.

34:13

Yes, what is it? Jack

34:15

Hardress called out sleepily, and Aydas

34:17

frightened voice-pipes. Oh, who's

34:19

there? Then Sir George

34:22

explained, in as few words as he

34:24

could, when his host and hostess, clothed

34:26

in dressing-gowns, appeared in the passage, and

34:28

they, all three, carrying lights, set off

34:31

for the cedar room. But

34:33

here was deathly silence.

34:37

No answer came to their knocks,

34:39

nor could they enter. The door

34:41

was locked from within. A

34:44

sickening, icy hand clutched at Sir George's

34:46

heart. What had happened? Some

34:49

ill had befallen Estelle. If

34:51

we both rush the door together, we can

34:53

break the lock-jack, he said, desperately. We must

34:55

not delay an instant, now! And

34:58

the two men hurled themselves against the

35:00

stout panels, but, though they shivered, they

35:03

held. Then, with the

35:05

strength of despair, Sir George made a

35:07

rush by himself, and the bolt gave,

35:10

and he fell headlong into the room. But

35:13

alas, Aydas' two candles, which he held

35:15

high, revealed no

35:17

occupant. The bed

35:19

had been slept in, and left hastily.

35:21

The clothes were turned back, but

35:24

there was no sign of Estelle. The

35:27

three people looked at each other with blanched

35:29

faces. What mystery was

35:31

here? Sir George began

35:33

hastily to examine the walls. It

35:36

followed, his common sense told him, if

35:38

the door were locked from within, his

35:40

beloved lady had left the apartment by

35:42

some other means. The

35:44

windows were out of the question, and they

35:46

were too high, and besides were closed, and

35:48

the orange curtains drawn. There

35:50

must be some secret panel, and Estelle

35:52

must have walked in her sleep. But

35:55

how weird it all was! And

35:58

he was filled with dread and foreboding. as

36:00

he felt each part of the wall. We

36:02

must discover the entrance, Jack, he said. I

36:05

saw Mrs. Charters, or her ghost, with my

36:07

own eyes in the library, and she disappeared

36:09

at the end of the room. Now

36:12

with terrified eagerness the three set

36:14

to work, feeling and tapping each

36:16

cedar panel, while Ada

36:18

Hardras called continually, Estelle! Estelle!

36:21

Answer if you're there and can hear us! But

36:24

only silence, greeted them. And

36:28

as the hopelessness of their task made

36:30

itself felt, the sickening fear grew and

36:32

grew in each of their hearts. What

36:35

if she had fallen down some deep

36:37

secret place, some ugliette, and were dead?

36:40

They might pull all the house down, and yet

36:42

be too late. At

36:44

last Ada, almost weeping from grief

36:47

and fright, subsided upon the sofa,

36:49

while her husband and Sir George,

36:51

rigid and grey with anxiety, faced

36:53

each other to decide what to do.

36:57

Awake the servants and send for a mason and

36:59

carpenter, Sir George said. And meanwhile, can't we get

37:01

an axe and some tools? I will tear the

37:03

woodwork down myself, when I have an implement. Mrs.

37:06

Hardras went off to wake the household and send for

37:09

the required men. And get a doctor,

37:11

too, Sir George called. And when

37:13

some tools were found by a frightened footman

37:15

and brought, he set to work with such

37:17

a will that at last the steel boat

37:20

was discovered, and the panelling giving

37:22

way by the fireplace, a very

37:24

small, narrow door was disclosed in

37:26

the stone-work. The bolts

37:28

and connection with it were stiff and rusted with

37:31

age, and how a delicate woman

37:33

could have moved them was a profound

37:35

mystery. The door

37:37

gave way without much difficulty, and

37:39

here, by the light of a lamp held high, the

37:42

very narrowest passage was revealed, which

37:45

in three paces developed into a stair.

37:48

It was so extremely narrow that Sir George

37:50

was obliged to force his broad shoulders through

37:52

until he came to the descent. Suddenly,

37:55

at a sharp turn, he could see the

37:58

steps rising again on the opposite side. But

38:01

there, in the space

38:03

beneath, lay the figure of a woman

38:05

in white. With

38:07

an exclamation of anguish, she saw that it

38:09

was a stell. But was she dead?

38:13

He handed the lamp to Jack Hardress, who

38:15

was behind him, and in a second he

38:17

was beside his love, and had

38:19

raised her in his arms with difficulty

38:21

in the confined space, and even in

38:23

the excitement he noticed that she still

38:25

clutched in her hand the paper, which

38:27

seemed to have been the cause of

38:29

all the tragic events of the night.

38:32

He detached it from her fingers, and

38:34

saw that the blood drops had smeared her

38:36

hand, as he put the paper

38:38

in his pocket and lifted her in his arms

38:41

to carry her back. A

38:43

bruise marked where her forehead had struck a

38:45

projecting stone in the wall. Perhaps

38:48

she was only stunned and not dead. This

38:50

hope gave him the strength of a lion,

38:52

and he clasped her close, but

38:55

their exit was no easy task. The

38:57

space had been narrow enough for one person here

39:00

and there, and was impossible for

39:02

a man, comered with a woman in his

39:04

arms. Jack Hardress retreated before

39:06

them, holding the lamp high, and

39:08

when Sir George came to a turn that

39:11

he could not pass, he was obliged to

39:13

lay his precious burden down, and let Jack

39:15

Hardress pull her through by the arms. Then

39:18

he lifted her up again, and

39:20

so at last all three were safe

39:22

in the cedar room, where a thrilled

39:24

and excited group awaited them, including the

39:26

doctor who had now arrived. The

39:29

room was cleared of all but Ada,

39:31

Sir George, and the stells made, while

39:33

the doctor bent over the inanimate form,

39:36

and at last he looked up and announced, No,

39:38

she's not dead, and

39:40

never were more grateful words sent up

39:42

to heaven than Sir George's fervent. Thank

39:45

God! She was not dead then,

39:47

his darling, and soon she might open her

39:50

eyes and look into his own. He

39:52

could afford to wait in the passage now, as

39:54

he told the good news to the rest of

39:57

the alarmed guests, and presently

39:59

the doctor and Mrs. Hodrus came out, and

40:01

he heard that his beloved was conscious

40:03

and rapidly recovering. "'She

40:05

must have walked in her sleep,' the physician said,

40:07

and her head struck a stone, but it was

40:10

the stifling air which made her faint, though, no

40:12

doubt, she was stunned too by the blow, if

40:14

you had been an hour later in finding her.

40:17

I think she could not have lived.

40:19

So after all, there were rejoicings on

40:21

that Christmas morning, which seemed as

40:24

though it was going to dawn so tragically.

40:26

And in the excitement of it all,

40:29

no one thought then to remark upon

40:31

Mr. Ambrose Duval's departure by the one

40:33

and only early train. His note of

40:35

farewell to his hostess was a masterpiece,

40:37

and caused Sir George to smile as

40:39

she handed it to him to read.

40:42

Late in the afternoon he was allowed

40:44

to see his sweet lady in Ada's

40:46

own sitting-room, alone and in peace. She

40:49

was lying on the sofa with a bandage round her

40:51

forehead, but her small face looked

40:53

ghastly pale against the blue silk cushions,

40:56

but her eyes shone, and she stretched out

40:58

her hands as he bent upon his knees

41:01

to be near her. "'George,

41:03

you were good to me,' she whispered,

41:06

and I can't take care of myself.

41:08

But she could not say any more,

41:10

because he stopped and kissed her lips,

41:12

and for some while they were too

41:14

happy to talk of even a subject

41:17

so interesting as her dream and the

41:19

adventure it produced. But at last they

41:21

became sane enough to examine the parchment

41:23

which proved to be the certificate of

41:25

marriage between John Charter's bachelor and Marjorie

41:28

Wildacre Spinster, celebrated at a little village

41:30

in Leicestershire in the year 1795. So

41:35

the Earthenwood Ghost had stood Estelle

41:37

in good stead. From

41:39

here was her fortune secured beyond any

41:41

doubt. But who then

41:44

was Mr. Ambrose Duval, and

41:47

what was his connection with the affair, and

41:49

why did Estelle herself resemble the

41:51

picture of the Earthenwood Ghost? These

41:54

were questions which it would take time to

41:56

answer. Though what does

41:58

anything matter?" exclaimed Sajid. George, after a

42:01

while, since I have enough for us

42:03

both, and since you cannot take care

42:05

of yourself, and are going to let me." It

42:09

was not before the happy pair returned from

42:11

their honeymoon that all the mystery was unraveled.

42:14

The lawyers had been busy investigating the

42:16

while. It appeared that Lady

42:18

Marjorie Wildacre had lived at Earthenwood, which

42:20

was her old home, her father having

42:22

sold it when they went to Italy.

42:26

She had had a daughter by

42:28

her second husband, the Italian Count,

42:30

who eventually married the great-grandfather of

42:32

Estelle, thus carrying the likeness into

42:34

her family. And Estelle

42:36

often loves to weave romance round her

42:38

dream. And imagine how,

42:40

influenced by this far-back ancestress'

42:43

unquiet spirit, she must

42:45

have been drawn to go to the

42:47

Earthenwood Christmas party and participate in the

42:49

events which followed. You

42:52

see, George, she probably loves the Italian

42:54

Count, Estelle told her husband, and wanted

42:56

there descended by him to benefit, too.

42:59

That is why she directed me. But

43:01

I cannot help being sorry for poor Mr. Duval.

43:04

Loathsome foreigner, was all, Sir George

43:07

said. His real name

43:09

was Charters, and he was the claimant to

43:11

the fortune, but he chose to take his

43:13

mother's name. She had been

43:15

a French woman, the better to pursue

43:17

his investigations unsuspected. He

43:19

had got hold of some letter among

43:22

the papers of his branch of the

43:24

family which referred to the certificate being

43:26

at Earthenwood, and Lady Marjorie's residence there.

43:29

And hearing that his chance-acquaintances, the

43:31

hard-dresses, had taken this place, he

43:33

cultivated them in order to have

43:35

access for his search, determining, when

43:37

he found the certificate, he would

43:39

destroy it, and then, with

43:42

certainty, prosecute his claim. But

43:45

fate takes care of things, and

43:47

arranges what she thinks best, and

43:49

even the thoroughly English Sir John

43:52

Seafield is obliged to own, that

43:54

there are more things in heaven

43:56

and earth than I dreamed of

43:58

in our philosophy. So

44:13

that was the Earton Wood Ghost by Eleanor

44:15

Glynn. And I

44:18

got this from an anthology called Ghost for

44:20

Christmas by, edited by Richard Dolby. I think

44:22

it's from 1989 or something. He

44:25

edited a lot of anthologies in the 80s. Yeah,

44:29

it's later than 87 anyway. Let me

44:32

just check. 89, yeah, I was right. So

44:35

Eleanor Glynn. Another

44:37

woman writer much better known for her writings in

44:39

an entirely different genre was Eleanor Glynn. Born 1864,

44:42

died in 1943. World

44:46

famous for her sensational novels and the

44:48

creation of It, the indefinable

44:50

sex appeal, which catapulted Clara Bowe

44:53

to equal fame under Eleanor Glynn's

44:55

tuition in Hollywood during the 1920s.

44:59

Four years after the tremendous success of

45:01

her bestseller Three Weeks, 1907, Eleanor Glynn was

45:05

commissioned to write this story of a

45:07

strange haunting for the Christmas number of

45:10

Pearson's magazine in December 1911. So

45:12

it came out in 1911. And

45:14

so this is before the First World War, which is

45:16

probably significant. You

45:19

can see, yeah, we

45:22

have character wise, we

45:24

have the plain

45:26

speaking, honest,

45:28

brave, strong, straightforward,

45:31

very English Sir

45:34

George Seafield. We

45:36

have the slimy, treacherous foreigner,

45:40

dark skinned foreigner, even

45:43

if he's only French. And

45:46

that to those people there, that

45:48

was, you know, everything

45:50

vile and untrustworthy

45:53

was foreign and everything

45:56

damn fine was English. And

45:59

we need to be

46:01

clear that we mean English there, not

46:03

the Scots, not the Irish, not the Welsh, but the English.

46:06

Funnily enough, my mother, I was going

46:08

through some of her papers, she's still

46:11

with us but she's increasing

46:13

well, so I was going through some and I found

46:15

her a letter addressed

46:18

to my stepfather when he was a boy,

46:20

so probably dating from the night. Well, it

46:22

must have been after the war because we

46:24

were talking about a Nairan Bevan who founded

46:26

the NHS, and they were tremendous Tories, my

46:29

stepfather's family, and they

46:32

said this odious idea

46:34

of the NHS and

46:36

founded by a Welshman of all

46:38

things. So there was this pretty

46:41

chauvinistic view that,

46:45

yeah, just like that straightforward English,

46:47

honest, you can trust an

46:49

Englishman, you can't trust a foreigner, and of

46:51

course the portrayal of women is probably going

46:54

to have, or everybody who has

46:56

an ounce of feminism in them up in

46:58

arms because there she is, she can't look

47:00

after, she admits she can't look, you know, this

47:04

pretense that women can look after themselves

47:06

is shown to be just that. She

47:09

needs to be rescued by a

47:11

straightforward, honest Sir George, and

47:13

you know, all the right, and she's

47:15

such a coquette, isn't she? You know,

47:18

she even

47:20

knows that the

47:22

women, like they, oh they find this

47:24

foreign chap very attractive, but they

47:26

know that he's no good because of course

47:28

he's foreign, and but she's

47:31

such a coquette that she teases

47:33

that straightforward St George, St George, and

47:36

he called him, but there's probably something

47:40

in that. So there we

47:42

are, so and yeah, all the characters

47:44

are completely

47:46

two-dimensional, but

47:48

we have the Gothic, we have the castle, the

47:50

old house, we have the ghost, we

47:53

have the secret passages, all of that's great. We

47:56

have the lovely Christmas party, I would have liked more

47:58

Christmas stuff, but but

48:01

it was alright so it is the kind of I

48:03

think if you've read things like the open door these

48:05

kind of rollicking

48:11

very straightforward these are things that

48:13

appeared in magazines they weren't intended to be

48:15

high literature they weren't intended to look at

48:17

the condition of the human

48:19

soul or say important things about the

48:21

world they were just intended

48:23

to entertain by bringing out

48:26

the old tropes and here we

48:28

have them so there we are but

48:30

Ellen Aglin is an interesting character in herself

48:33

I'm actually going to put a link to

48:35

a YouTube thing

48:37

and it's Ellen Aglin in

48:40

1930 explains it so it

48:42

is what certain women have

48:45

which is I guess sex appeal some

48:49

kind of attractiveness and it was all about have

48:51

you got it what is it you know so

48:54

yeah I'll put a link to that it's really interesting in

48:58

the movie she talks like the late Queen

49:01

it's very very it

49:03

it it's all all the vowels

49:05

are raised right up anyway

49:07

Ellen Aglin born October 17 1864 Jersey

49:09

Channel Islands

49:12

died September 23rd 1943 London

49:14

English novelist and short storywriter known for

49:17

her highly romantic tales with luxurious settings

49:19

and improbable plots as a

49:21

young child and Glenn read widely and precociously

49:23

in her family library although she

49:25

did not have any formal education such friends as

49:27

Lord Curzon so they are top-notch

49:31

aristocracy and Lord Milner

49:33

and F.H. Bradley later filled in her

49:35

gaps in her knowledge her

49:37

first book the visits of Elizabeth was an

49:39

epistolary hard to say novel consisting

49:42

of a group of letters from a young

49:44

girl to her mother described the foibles and

49:46

philanderings of a group of European aristocrats first

49:49

serialized in the world it was published in her

49:51

book in book form in 1900 her acute

49:53

powers of observation of the milieu in which she

49:55

lived were evident in the work she

49:58

wrote very Society

50:00

novels, three weeks, 1907, the

50:02

story of a Balkan Queen's adulterous

50:04

relationship with an Englishman caused a

50:06

sensation. His hour, one of her

50:08

best romances, was set in the court of St.

50:11

Petersburg, clearly before the Russian

50:13

Revolution, and was executed in the keenly

50:15

observant style in 1916. She

50:17

wrote the career of Catherine Bush, the

50:20

first novel in which Herring was not

50:22

of aristocratic birth. Since

50:25

1916, Glynn was forced to write out

50:27

of necessity, having fallen deeply in debt,

50:30

and her husband died the following year. In

50:32

1920, she began her career as a scriptwriter

50:35

in Hollywood, where a number of her own

50:37

novels were filmed, including Three Weeks and It,

50:39

1927, we talked about that, which had an

50:41

American setting. The film version of

50:44

It for some years made the word It a

50:46

synonym for sex appeal. Unable

50:48

to manage her finances in Hollywood, she returned to England

50:50

in 1929. She

50:52

completed her autobiography, Romantic Adventure, in 1936.

50:58

So there you go, that's her, and

51:01

then she dies at some point. So

51:05

she's like the Kardashians. I mean, I

51:07

would imagine she herself was,

51:10

yeah, she's making a living, and

51:12

she had the privilege to

51:14

be, so she died in

51:16

1943 during the war, but she had

51:18

the privilege to be born

51:21

in that society. And do

51:24

you know what? Ordinary

51:26

people love all of that. People

51:28

who just live ordinary lives, they love

51:30

the romance of just imagining, you know,

51:32

it could be these billionaire romances, you

51:35

know, about how ordinary women meet. This

51:38

is the same kind of thing. They meet

51:40

billionaires who probably, and

51:43

some of them do, despicable things to them, but I

51:45

think that's Shades of Grey, isn't it? I haven't seen that

51:47

or read it. But,

51:50

yeah, but yes, indeed. So

51:58

it's like the Kardashians, that's what she is. She's

52:00

like that kind of that all those

52:02

awful Hollywood, the housewives of

52:05

Orange County or something, you know, except

52:07

posture. But there

52:09

we are, you know, and sometimes

52:11

I'm just reading something about Conan Doyle

52:13

because on the just a drop of

52:16

mention, I've just started the classic detective

52:18

stories podcast, the sister podcast of this

52:20

one, which you can find on

52:22

YouTube and on Spotify, classic detective stories.

52:27

Tony Walker, that's me. Now, I

52:30

did a show of combs on that and I

52:32

was reading about Conan Doyle in, you know, I

52:34

tell you, I read this magazine,

52:36

quarterly magazine called Slightly Foxed

52:38

about books and somebody was doing a

52:40

review of The

52:43

Hound of the Baskervilles and talking about how good

52:45

it was and Conan Doyle, where

52:47

was it a point then? I had a

52:49

point and then I got carried away talking about The Hound

52:51

of the Baskervilles and

52:54

now I'm lost. But it

52:56

is late and it's really cold. I've got

52:58

about five layers on here. So

53:01

yeah, detective stories podcast. What was it?

53:03

Yeah, go and listen to that, please.

53:06

And I hope you like it. Oh yeah,

53:08

I've got guest, guest narrators on it. So

53:11

Jasper Lestrange of the Encrypted Horror podcast

53:13

has very kindly done me a

53:16

guest detective story,

53:19

which it'll be out next

53:21

Saturday, I think. I've just

53:23

edited it today. So I didn't

53:25

need to edit his work, but I added my

53:27

bits and stuff to it. So I've done that.

53:31

Yeah, so that's all gold. Always, if you're

53:33

still listening to this before Christmas, remember it's not too

53:35

late to get one of my Christmas books

53:37

from my Etsy store. At some point, if

53:39

you look up on YouTube, you'll see an

53:42

Etsy link. If you don't, it's classic ghost

53:44

stories podcast on Etsy. Go and have

53:46

a look and buy some merchandise or

53:48

something. You

53:52

can get a t-shirt, but not through that. Yeah,

53:56

anyway, I said that, listen, the problem

53:58

with sending books to the US... USA is

54:00

it's massively expensive and somebody said can I

54:02

not set up an Etsy

54:04

store in the USA? Well I could but I still

54:06

need to ship the books over and then I need

54:08

to pay somebody in the US to mail

54:11

them out so I'd be no better

54:13

off really so I'm not going to do that. If you

54:15

want to get my books and you don't live in the

54:17

UK, true Englishman

54:19

if you don't do that then

54:21

just order

54:23

it from the book store, your

54:26

local book store you can go and like go to your

54:28

book store and go can I have one of Tony Walker's

54:30

books please about ghosts

54:33

and they'll know exactly what you mean.

54:36

There's probably

54:38

things I need to say but I have nothing to say. Well

54:42

that's not true is it? That is just not true.

54:44

I have lots to say but nothing

54:46

necessarily important. That doesn't stop me though.

54:50

Okay that's about it so there we are

54:52

a Christmas ghost story of a kind. Yeah

54:55

it was a ghost story, it was

54:57

a Christmas, it was marvellously gothic. Imagine

55:00

what that whole looked like at that Christmas party,

55:02

it would be like Hogwarts wouldn't it? It

55:04

would be amazing. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be

55:06

invited to a party like that and

55:08

not actually be one of the staff but

55:11

be one of the guests. You're just having a

55:13

good time and but there we

55:15

are. So yeah it was what it was, it was

55:17

what it was. I enjoyed it, I thought it was

55:19

fun but it is the

55:21

equivalent it's not, it's lowbrow but

55:24

that's fine. It can be that, we

55:26

can be that. We don't have

55:29

to be reading Nabokov

55:31

all the time and who

55:35

else is highbrow? Proust,

55:37

of course one has read both of those of

55:39

course but you know yeah I

55:41

had to say that didn't I? I had to

55:43

say that, I hate myself but anyway

55:46

I hope you're all well, I hope

55:49

you're enjoying the freezing cold. I actually don't mind,

55:51

I had a lovely walk with the dogs today.

55:55

Ruby, Ruby's still on the holidays

55:57

so it was Callie and Jasper.

56:00

They had their coats on. They've got these coats. They

56:02

don't like their coats. It subdues them

56:04

a bit, but we walked around because it was snowing. It

56:07

was nobody much about. And then the snow stopped and

56:09

the sun came out and loads of it came out of the dogs.

56:12

We had a nice walk out in

56:14

the wild. We didn't see anybody for a bit. They

56:17

did enjoy the snow. They've never seen snow before.

56:19

This is the first snow they've seen because they

56:22

weren't here this time last year. So

56:24

me pups. My

56:27

puppy pups. There we are. And

56:31

everybody's okay, really. My

56:33

two girls are okay. My

56:35

mother's all right. She's getting better. She'd

56:38

been ill again. And you

56:40

can tell she's getting better because she gets some Krabby,

56:43

really. And so

56:45

she is a little bit Krabby at the moment. So but

56:48

this is life. One

56:50

good thing that's happened has been I was looking for

56:53

paperwork. We had to kind of do financial claims and

56:55

for her care and all sorts. And

56:57

I ended up finding a load of old pictures, a

57:00

load of old photographs that she's had in drawers

57:02

for years and years and years. So it was

57:04

nice that the past has never really gone, you

57:06

know. It's just we can't see

57:08

it. I do actually believe that. So

57:10

you don't lose anybody. It's

57:12

just they're in a slightly different place that you can't see

57:14

right now. But you will. You really will.

57:17

Anyway, with that cheery thought on a freezing

57:19

cold night, I will say good

57:21

night.