Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for ChristmasCrowe, Catherine
General
Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for Christmas
Crowe, Catherine
Folklore -- Great Britain; Ghosts -- Great Britain; Legends -- Great Britain
"She had done her duty to De la Cruz, but she was miserable; and when,
shortly afterwards, her grandfather arrived, accompanied by Dr. Pecher,
the family physician, they found her exceedingly ill, and confined to
her bed. This Dr. Pecher was a clever and worthy man; and having been
necessarily made the confidant of the painful secret, it had been
privately arranged between him and Monsieur de Givry, that he should
marry the girl; and that they should, thereupon, quit the
country,--Monsieur de G. making ample provision for their future
maintenance.
"But the main thing needful, was to restore her to health; and in the
course of his attendance on her, he learnt from her maid how she had
been first attacked; and then elicited from herself, the cause of her
alarm. Of course, he looked upon the vision as an illusion; in short,
the premonitory symptoms of her illness,--and mentioned it in that
light, to Monsieur de Givry. But to his surprise, Monsieur de G. took a
different view of the matter; and hastening to Adeline's room, he made
her repeat to him the exact description of what she had seen; after
which, he started immediately for Paris, without explaining the motive
of this sudden departure.
"On his arrival, he presented himself before his daughter, and taxed her
with having deceived him; what her motive could be he was unable to
imagine; he supposed it to be pecuniary, and that she did not wish to
part with the large portion to be paid to Adeline on her marriage; but
he believed that the traditionary apparition of his family would not
have appeared to any one who was not a member of it; and that therefore
the girl, who had accurately described the appearance of these figures,
of which the young people were always kept in entire ignorance, must be
actually his granddaughter.
"Madame de Lignerolles persisted in her story, and all she could be
brought to own was, that it was possible, the woman, Collett, had
deceived her. Strong in his own opinion, Monsieur de Givry returned to
Chateau Noir, Dr. Pecher having recommended the young lady's removal;
and after writing his daughter a very urgent and serious letter, he
started on a tour of a few weeks, with Adeline, for the recovery of her
health.
"No answer reached him for some time, but at the end of a month, he
received one, acknowledging the cruel deception she had practiced,
alleging as her excuse, an ardent passion for Rodriguez de la Cruz; and
the wish to detach him from Adeline, and marry him herself. But she had
failed, and he was on the point of marriage with a lady selected for him
by his father. The letter concluded by the announcement, that she was
about to retire to a convent where she should, in due time, take the
veil.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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