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"I could have shaken the man for his stupidity."
Edith Wharton may be known world wide as the scribe behind Age of Innocence, but she equally adapt at making her star-crossed lovers, pine away in much darker circumstances. Her gothic short stories are abound, and deliver quite a punch. Rae Wilson shares her observations on Wharton's cautionary tale and and invites you question the limits of both vows and devotion.
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Sneaky Snitch by Kevin MacLeod http://incompetech.com
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Vanishing by Kevin MacLeod http://incompetech.com
"Vanishing" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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------------
Dark Shadows - by David Fesliyan
https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★In the oral tradition of storytelling, Echoes in the Dark, delivers classic works of gothic fiction weekly. Hosted and curated by Ms. Rae (an award-winning educator, actor, and literary analyst) the collection of stories spans popular works by authors like Edgar Allan Poe as well as lesser known works by authors such as Guy de Maupassant. Each story is followed by a literary analysis.
If you’re looking to enjoy more classic literature, struggle to find the time to read, hate reading, or just love listening to stories, then this podcast is for you.
A Note on Content: While these stories are generally appropriate for listeners aged 12 and up, classic Gothic literature frequently explores themes of murder, romantic affairs, and "tortured souls." Stories are performed exactly as written in their original historical context.
If you are looking to learn more ways to boost your literary analysis visit:
Speaker: Welcome to Echoes in the
Dark, a podcast dedicated to the
oral
Speaker: tradition of storytelling.
Speaker: If you're looking to enjoy
more classic literature, struggle to
Speaker: find the time to read, hate
reading, or just love listening to
Speaker: stories, then this podcast
is for you.
Speaker: At the end of each story,
I'll share my analysis on the
story's
Speaker: deeper meanings.
Speaker: The Lady's Maid's Bell by
Edith Wharton is a short story that
Speaker: was originally published in
1902 in Scribner's magazine.
Speaker: Wharton is best known for
the romantic golden age work, The
Age
Speaker: of Innocence, which was
later adapted into an award-winning
film.
Speaker: She wrote some 40 books and
another 85 short stories.
Speaker: The entire story is told in
first-person perspective.
Speaker: If you want to follow
along, you can get a copy on my
website,
Speaker: betteressywriting.com.
Speaker: And if you'd like to hear
more works by Wharton and her
contemporaries,
Speaker: pick up some underused and
possibly archaic words, then join me
Speaker: on Patreon and look for
stories with Ray.
Speaker: That's Patreon slash CW
slash stories with Ray, R-A-E, or
just
Speaker: click the link in the show
notes.
Speaker: The Lady's Maid's Bell by
Edith Warton.
Speaker: It was the autumn after I
had the typhoid.
Speaker: Most of my money was gone,
and after I'd bored it for two
months,
Speaker: thinking about the
employment agencies and answering
any advertisement
Speaker: that looked anyway
respectable, I pretty nearly lost
heart, for
Speaker: fretting hadn't made me
fatter, and I didn't see why my luck
should
Speaker: ever turn.
Speaker: It did, though, or I
thought so at the time.
Speaker: A misses Railton, a friend
of the lady that first brought me
out
Speaker: to the Saints, met me one
day and stopped to speak to me.
Speaker: She was one that had always
a friendly way with her.
Speaker: She asked me what ailed me
to look so white, and when I told
her,
Speaker: Why, Hartley, says she, I
believe I've got the very place for
Speaker:you.
Speaker: Come in tomorrow and we'll
talk about it.
Speaker: The next day, when I
called, she told me the lady she'd
in mine
Speaker: was a niece of hers, a
misses Brimpton, a youngish lady,
but something
Speaker: of an invalid who lived all
the year round at her country place
Speaker: on the Hudson, owing to not
being able to stand the fatigue of
Speaker: town life.
Speaker: Now, Hartley, misses
Raylton said, in that cheery way
that always
Speaker: made me feel things must be
going to take a turn for the better.
Speaker: Now, understand me, it's
not a cheerful place I'm sending you
Speaker:to.
Speaker: The house is big and
gloomy, my niece is nervous,
vaporish.
Speaker: Her husband well, he's
gently away.
Speaker: And the two children are
dead.
Speaker: A year ago I would as soon
have thought of shutting a rosy
active
Speaker: girl like you into a vault.
Speaker: But you're not particularly
brisk yourself just now, are you?
Speaker: And a quiet place, the
country air, and wholesome food in
early
Speaker: hours ought to be the very
thing for you.
Speaker: Don't mistake me, she
added, for I suppose I looked a
trifle downcast.
Speaker: You may find it dull, but
you won't be unhappy.
Speaker: My niece is an angel.
Speaker: Her former maid, who died
last spring, had been with her
twenty
Speaker: years and worshiped the
ground she walked on.
Speaker: She's a kind mistress to
all, and where the mistress is kind,
Speaker: as you know, the servants
are generally good humoured, so
you'll
Speaker: probably get on well enough
with the rest of the household.
Speaker: And you're the fairy woman
I want for my niece.
Speaker: Quiet, well mannered, and
educated above your station.
Speaker: You read aloud well, I
think?
Speaker: That's a good thing.
Speaker: My niece likes to be read
too.
Speaker: She wants a maid that can
be something of a companion.
Speaker: Her last was, and I can't
say how she misses her.
Speaker: It's a lonely life.
Speaker: Well, have you decided?
Speaker: Why, ma'am, I said, I am
not afraid of solitude.
Speaker: Well, then go.
Speaker: My niece will take you on
my recommendation.
Speaker: I'll telegraph her at once
and you can take the afternoon
train.
Speaker: She has no one to wait on
her at present, and I don't want you
Speaker: to lose any time.
Speaker: I was ready enough to
start, yet something in me hung
back.
Speaker: And to game time, I asked.
Speaker: And the gentleman, ma'am?
Speaker: Ah, the gentleman's almost
always away, I tell you, said Mrs.
Speaker: Ralston.
Speaker: Quick like and when he's
there, says she suddenly.
Speaker: You'll only have to keep
out of his way.
Speaker: I took the afternoon train
and got out at Devonton Station at
Speaker: about four o'clock.
Speaker: A groom and a dog cart was
waiting, and we drove off at a smart
Speaker: pace.
Speaker: It was a dull October day
with rain hanging close overhead,
and
Speaker: by the time we turned into
the Brimpton place, woods, the
daylight
Speaker: was almost gone.
Speaker: The drive wound through the
woods for a mile or two and came out
Speaker: on a gravel court shut in
with thickets of tall black looking
Speaker:shrubs.
Speaker: There were no lights in the
windows, and the house did look a
Speaker: bit gloomy.
Speaker: I was asked no questions of
the groom, for I never was one to
Speaker: get my notion of new
masters from their other servants.
Speaker: I prefer to wait and see
for myself.
Speaker: But I could tell by the
look of everything that I had gotten
to
Speaker: the right kind of house,
and that things were done
handsomely.
Speaker: A pleasant faced cook met
me at the back door and called the
housemaid
Speaker: to show me up to my room.
Speaker: You'll see, Madame Lydia,
she said.
Speaker: I hadn't fancied misses
Brimpton was a lady to have many
visitors,
Speaker: and somehow the words
cheered me.
Speaker: I followed the housemaid
upstairs and saw through a door on
the
Speaker: upper landing, the main
part of the house seemed well
furnished,
Speaker: with dark panelling and a
number of old portraits.
Speaker: Another flight of stairs
led us up to the servant's wing.
Speaker: It was almost dark now, and
the housemaid excused herself for
Speaker: not having brought the
light.
Speaker: But there's matches in your
room, she said.
Speaker: And if you go careful,
you'll be all right.
Speaker: Mind the step at the end of
the passage.
Speaker: Your room is just beyond.
Speaker: I looked ahead as she
spoke, and halfway down the passage
I saw
Speaker: a woman standing.
Speaker: She drew back into a
doorway as we passed, and the
housemaid didn't
Speaker: appear to notice her.
Speaker: She was a thin woman with a
white face and darkish stuffed gown
Speaker: and apron.
Speaker: I took her for the
housekeeper and thought it odd that
she didn't
Speaker: speak, but just gave me a
long look as she went by.
Speaker: My room opened into a
square hall at the end of the
passage.
Speaker: Facing my door was another
which stood open.
Speaker: The housemaid exclaimed
when she saw it.
Speaker: There, misses Blinder's
left that door open again, said she,
closing
Speaker: it.
Speaker: Is misses Blinder the
housekeeper?
Speaker: There's no housekeeper.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder's the cook.
Speaker: And is that her room?
Speaker: Moss no, said the housemaid
cross like.
Speaker: That's nobody's room.
Speaker: It's empty.
Speaker: I mean and the door hadn't
ought to be open.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Brimpton wants it kept
locked.
Speaker: She opened my door and led
me into a neat room nicely furnished
Speaker: with a pitcher or two on
the walls, and having lit a candle,
she
Speaker: took leave, telling me that
the servants' hall tea was at six,
Speaker: and that misses Brimpton
would see me afterwards.
Speaker: I found them a pleasant
spoken set in the servants' hall,
and
Speaker: by what they let fall I
gathered that, as misses Raylton had
said,
Speaker: misses Brimpton was the
kindest of laddies.
Speaker: But I didn't take much
notice of their talk, for I was
watching
Speaker: to see the pale woman in
the dark gown come in.
Speaker: She didn't show herself,
however, and I wondered if she ate
apart.
Speaker: But if she wasn't the
housekeeper, why should she?
Speaker: Suddenly it struck me that
she might be a trained nurse, and in
Speaker: that case her meals would,
of course, be served in her room.
Speaker: If misses Brimpton was an
invalid, it was likely enough she
had
Speaker: a nurse.
Speaker: The idea annoyed me.
Speaker: I own, for they're not
always the easiest to get on with,
and
Speaker: if I'd known, I shouldn't
have taken the place.
Speaker: But there I was, and there
was no use pulling a long face over
Speaker: it.
Speaker: And not being one to ask
questions, I waited to see what
would
Speaker: turn up.
Speaker: When tea was over, the
housemaid said to the footman has
mister
Speaker: Ranford gone?
Speaker: And when he said yes, she
told me to come up with her to
misses
Speaker: Brimpton.
Speaker: Mrs Brimpton was lying down
in her bedroom, her lounge stood
near
Speaker: the fire, and beside it was
a shaded lamp.
Speaker: She was a delicate looking
lady, but when she smiled, I felt
there
Speaker: was nothing I wouldn't do
for her.
Speaker: She spoke very pleasantly
in a low voice, asking my name and
age
Speaker: and so on, and if I had
everything I wanted, and if I wasn't
afraid
Speaker: of feeling lonely in the
country.
Speaker: That with you I wouldn't
be, madam, I said, and the words
surprised
Speaker: me when I'd spoken them,
for I'm not an impulsive person, but
Speaker: it was just as if I thought
aloud.
Speaker: She seemed pleased at that,
and said she'd hoped I'd continue
Speaker: in the same mind.
Speaker: Then she gave me a few
directions about her toilet, and
said Agnes,
Speaker: the housemaid, would show
me next morning where things were
kept.
Speaker: I am tired tonight and
she'll dine upstairs.
Speaker: She said.
Speaker: Agnes will bring me my tray
that you may have time to unpack and
Speaker: settle yourself.
Speaker: And later you may come and
undress me.
Speaker: Very well, ma'am, I said.
Speaker: You'll ring, I suppose?
Speaker: I thought she looked odd.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: Um Agnes will fetch you,
says she quickly, and took up her
book
Speaker: again.
Speaker: Well, that was certainly
strange.
Speaker: A lady's maid having to be
fetched by the housemaid whenever
her
Speaker: lady wanted her.
Speaker: I wondered if there were no
bells in the house.
Speaker: By the next day I satisfied
myself that there was one in every
Speaker: room, and a special one
ringing from my mistress's room to
mine.
Speaker: And after that it did
strike me as queer that whenever
misses
Speaker: Brimpton wanted anything,
she rang for Agnes, who had to walk
Speaker: the whole length of the
servant's wing to call me.
Speaker: But that wasn't the only
queer thing in the house.
Speaker: The very next day I found
out that misses Brimpton had no
nurse.
Speaker: And then I asked Agnes
about the woman I had seen in the
passage
Speaker: the afternoon before.
Speaker: Agnes said she had seen no
one.
Speaker: And I saw that she thought
I was dreaming.
Speaker: To be sure?
Speaker: It was dusk when we went
down the passage, and she had
excused
Speaker: herself for not bringing a
light, but I had seen the woman
plain
Speaker: enough to know her again if
we should meet.
Speaker: I decided that she must
have been a friend of the cook's or
of
Speaker: one of the other woman's
servants.
Speaker: Perhaps she had come down
from town for a night's visit, and
the
Speaker: servants wanted it kept
secret.
Speaker: Some ladies are very stiff
about having their servants' friends
Speaker: in the house overnight.
Speaker: At any rate, I made up my
mind to ask no more questions.
Speaker: In a day or two, another
odd thing happened.
Speaker: I was chatting one
afternoon with misses Blinder, who
was a friendly
Speaker: disposed woman, and had
been longer in the house than the
other
Speaker: servants, and she asked me
if I was quite comfortable and had
Speaker: everything I needed.
Speaker: I said I had no fault to
find with my place or with my
mistress.
Speaker: But I thought it odd that
in so large a house there was no
sewing
Speaker: room for the lady's maid.
Speaker: Why?
Speaker: says she, there is one.
Speaker: The room you're in is the
old sewing room.
Speaker: Oh, said I, and where did
the other lady's maid sleep?
Speaker: At that she grew confused
and said hurriedly that the
servants'
Speaker: rooms had all been changed
about last year and she didn't
rightly
Speaker: remember.
Speaker: That struck me as peculiar.
Speaker: But I went on as if I
hadn't noticed.
Speaker: Well, there's a vacant room
opposite of mine, and I mean to ask
Speaker: Miss Bripton if I might use
that as a sewing room.
Speaker: To my astonishment, Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder went white and gave
my hand a kind of squeeze.
Speaker: Oh don't do that, my dear,
said she, trembling like.
Speaker: To tell you the truth, that
was Emma Saxon's room.
Speaker: And my mistress has kept it
closed ever since her death.
Speaker: And who was Emma Saxon?
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Brampton's former maid.
Speaker: Oh, the one that was with
her so many years, said I
remembering
Speaker: what Mrs.
Speaker: Reldon had told me.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder nodded.
Speaker: What sort of woman was she?
Speaker: No better walked the earth,
said Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder.
Speaker: My mistress loved her like
a sister.
Speaker: But I mean, what did she
look like?
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder got up and gave me
a kind of angry stare.
Speaker: I'm no great hand at
describing, she said, and I believe
my pastry's
Speaker: rising.
Speaker: And she walked off into the
kitchen and shut the door after her.
Speaker: I had been near a week at
Brimpton before I saw my master.
Speaker: Word came that he was
arriving one afternoon and a change
passed
Speaker: over the whole household.
Speaker: It was plain that nobody
loved him below stairs.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder took uncommon care
with the dinner that night, but she
Speaker: snapped at the kitchen maid
in a way quite unusual with her.
Speaker: And mister Wace, the
butler, a serious, slow spoken man,
went
Speaker: about his duties as if he'd
been getting ready for a funeral.
Speaker: He was a great Bible
reader, Mr.
Speaker: Wace was, and had a
beautiful assortment of text at his
command,
Speaker: but that day he used such
dreadful language that I was about
to
Speaker: leave the table when he
assured me it was all out of Isaiah.
Speaker: And I noticed that whenever
the master came, Mr.
Speaker: Waste took to the prophets.
Speaker: About seven, Agnes called
me to my mistress's room, and there
Speaker: I found Mr.
Speaker: Brimpton.
Speaker: He was standing on the
hearth, a big, fair, full-necked man
with
Speaker: a red face and little
bad-tempered blue eyes.
Speaker: The kind of man a young
simpleton might have thought
handsome
Speaker: and would have been like to
pay dear for thinking it.
Speaker: He swung about when I came
in and looked me over in a trice.
Speaker: I knew what the look meant
from having experienced it once or
Speaker: twice in my former places.
Speaker: Then he turned his back on
me and went on talking to his wife,
Speaker: and I knew what that meant
too.
Speaker: I was not the kind of
morsel he was after.
Speaker: The typhoid had served me
well enough in one way, but it kept
Speaker: that kind of gentleman at
arm's length.
Speaker: This is my new maid,
Hartley, said Mrs.
Speaker: Brampton in her kind voice,
and he nodded and went on with what
Speaker: he was a saying.
Speaker: In a minute or two he went
off and left my mistress to dress
for
Speaker: dinner.
Speaker: And I noticed as I waited
on her that she was white and
chilled
Speaker: to the touch.
Speaker: Mr Brimpton took himself
off the next morning and the whole
house
Speaker: drew a long breath when he
drove away.
Speaker: As for my mistress, she put
on her hat and furs, for it was a
Speaker: fine winter morning, and
went out for a walk in the gardens,
coming
Speaker: back quite fresh and rosy,
so that for a minute, before her
color
Speaker: faded, I could guess what a
pretty young lady she must have
been,
Speaker: and not so long ago either.
Speaker: She had met Mr Ranford in
the grounds, and the two came back
together.
Speaker: I remember, smiling and
talking as they walked along the
terrace
Speaker: under my window.
Speaker: That was the first time I
saw Mr Ranford, though I had often
heard
Speaker: his name mentioned in the
hall.
Speaker: He was a neighbor, it
appeared, living a mile or two
beyond Brimpton,
Speaker: at the end of the village,
and as he was in the habit of
spending
Speaker: his winters in the country,
he was almost the only company my
Speaker: mistress had at that
season.
Speaker: He was a slight tall
gentleman of about thirty, and I
thought
Speaker: him rather melancholy
looking, till I saw his smile, which
had
Speaker: a kind of surprise in it.
Speaker: Like the first warm day in
spring.
Speaker: He was a great reader, I
heard, like my mistress, and the two
Speaker: were forever borrowing
books of one another, and sometimes,
mister
Speaker: Wace told me, he would read
aloud to misses Brimpton by the hour
Speaker: in the big dark library
where she sat in the winter
afternoons.
Speaker: The servants all liked him,
and perhaps that's more of a
compliment
Speaker: than the masters suspect.
Speaker: He had a friendly word for
every one of us, and we were all
glad
Speaker: to think that Mrs.
Speaker: Brimpton had a pleasant,
companionable gentleman like that to
Speaker: keep her company when the
master was away.
Speaker: Mr Ranford seemed on
excellent terms with Mr Brimpton
too, though
Speaker: I couldn't but wonder that
two gentlemen so unlike each other
Speaker: should be so friendly.
Speaker: But then I knew how the
real quality can keep their feelings
to
Speaker: themselves.
Speaker: As for Mr Brimpton, he came
and went, never staying more than
Speaker: a day or two, cursing the
dullness and the solitude, grumbling
Speaker: at everything, and, as I
soon found out, drinking a deal more
Speaker: than was good for him.
Speaker: After misses Brimpton left
the table he would sit half the
night
Speaker: over the old Brimpton port
and Madeira, and once, as I was
leaving
Speaker: my mistress's room rather
than later than usual, I met him
coming
Speaker: up the stairs in such a
state that I turned sick to think of
what
Speaker: some ladies have to endure
and hold their tongues about.
Speaker: The servants said very
little about their master, but from
what
Speaker: they let drop, I could see
it had been an unhappy match from
the
Speaker: beginning.
Speaker: Mr Brimpton was coarse,
loud, and pleasure loving.
Speaker: My mistress, quiet,
retiring, and perhaps a trifle cold.
Speaker: Not that she was not always
pleasant spoken to him.
Speaker: I thought her wonderfully
forbearing.
Speaker: But to a gentleman as free
as Mr Brimpton, I dare say she
seemed
Speaker: a little offish.
Speaker: Well, things went on
quietly for several weeks.
Speaker: My mistress was kind, my
duties were light, and I got on well
Speaker: with the other servants.
Speaker: In short, I had nothing to
complain of.
Speaker: Yet there was always a
weight on me.
Speaker: I can't say why it was so,
but I know it was not the loneliness
Speaker: that I felt.
Speaker: I soon got used to that,
and being still languid from the
fever,
Speaker: I was thankful for the
quiet and the good country air.
Speaker: Nevertheless, I was never
quite easy in my mind.
Speaker: My mistress, knowing I had
been ill, insisted that I should
take
Speaker: my walk regular and often
invented errands for me, a yard of
ribbon
Speaker: to be fetched from the
village, a letter posted, or a book
returned
Speaker: to Mr.
Speaker: Ranford.
Speaker: As soon as I was out of
doors, my spirits rose and I looked
forward
Speaker: to my walks through the
bare, moist smelling woods.
Speaker: But the moment I caught
sight of the house again my heart
dropped
Speaker: down like a stone in a
well.
Speaker: It was not a gloomy house
exactly.
Speaker: Yet I never entered it, but
a feeling of gloom came over me.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Brimpton seldom went out in
winter, while Only on the finest
days
Speaker: did she walk an hour at
noon on the South Terrace.
Speaker: Excepting mister Ranford,
we had no visitors, but the doctor
who
Speaker: drove over from Devington
about once a week.
Speaker: He sent for me once or
twice to give me some trifling
direction
Speaker: about my mistress, and
though he never told me what her
illness
Speaker: was, I thought, from a waxy
look she had now and then of a
morning,
Speaker: that it might be the heart
that ailed her.
Speaker: The season was soft and
unwholesome, and in January we had a
long
Speaker: spell of rain.
Speaker: That was a sore trial to
me.
Speaker: I own, for I couldn't go
out and sitting over my sewing all
day,
Speaker: listening to the drip drip
of the eaves, I grew so nervous that
Speaker: the least sound made me
jump.
Speaker: Somehow the thought of that
locked room across the passage began
Speaker: to weigh on me.
Speaker: Once or twice, in long
rainy nights, I fancied I heard
noises
Speaker:there.
Speaker: But that was nonsense, of
course, and the daylight drove such
Speaker: notions out of my head.
Speaker: Well, one morning, Mrs.
Speaker: Brampton gave me quite a
start of pleasure by telling me she
wished
Speaker: me to go to town for some
shopping.
Speaker: I hadn't known till then
how low my spirits had fallen.
Speaker: I set off in high glee, and
my first sight of the crowded
streets
Speaker: and the cheerful looking
shops quite took me out of myself.
Speaker: Toward afternoon, however,
the noise and confusion began to
tire
Speaker: me, and I was actually
looking forward to the quiet of
Brimpton
Speaker: and thinking how I should
enjoy the drive home through the
dark
Speaker: woods when I ran across an
old acquaintance, a maid I had once
Speaker: been in service with.
Speaker: We had lost sight of each
other for a number of years, and I
had
Speaker: to stop and tell her what
had happened to me in the interval.
Speaker: When I mentioned where I
was living, she rolled up her eyes
and
Speaker: pulled a long face.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: The misses Brampton that
lives all the year at her place on
the
Speaker: Hudson.
Speaker: My dear, you won't stay
there three months Oh, but I don't
mind
Speaker: the country, says I,
offended somehow at her tone.
Speaker: Since the fever I'm glad to
be quiet.
Speaker: She shook her head.
Speaker: It's not the country I'm
thinking of.
Speaker: All I know is she's had
four maids in the last six months.
Speaker: And the last one who was a
friend of mine, told me nobody could
Speaker: stay in the house.
Speaker: Did she say why?
Speaker: I asked.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: She wouldn't give me her
reason, but she says to me Mrs Ansi,
Speaker: she says, if ever a young
woman as you know of thinks a goin'
Speaker: there, you tell her it's
not worth while to unpack her boxes.
Speaker: Is she young and handsome?
Speaker: said I, thinking of mister
Brimpton.
Speaker: Not her.
Speaker: She's the kind that mothers
engage when they've gay young
gentlemen
Speaker: at college.
Speaker: Well, though I knew the
woman wasn't idle gossip, the words
stuck
Speaker: in my head, and my heart
sank lower than ever as I drove up
to
Speaker: Brimpton in the dusk.
Speaker: There was something about
the house.
Speaker: I was sure of it now.
Speaker: When I went in to tea, I
heard that mister Brimpton had
arrived,
Speaker: and I saw at a glance that
there had been a disturbance of some
Speaker: kind.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder's hand shook so
that she could hardly pour the tea,
and
Speaker: mister Wace quoted the most
dreadful text full of brimstone.
Speaker: Nobody said a word to me
then, but when I went up to my room,
Speaker: misses Blinder followed me.
Speaker: Oh my dear, says she,
taking my hand, I'm so glad and
thankful
Speaker: you've come back to us.
Speaker: That struck me, as you may
imagine.
Speaker: Why?
Speaker: said I, did you think I was
leaving for good?
Speaker: No, no, to be sure, said
she, a little confused, but I can't
bear
Speaker: to have Madame left alone
for a day even.
Speaker: She pressed my hand hard
and Oh misses Hartley, says she, be
good
Speaker: to your mistress, as you're
a Christian woman.
Speaker: And with that she hurried
away and left me staring.
Speaker: A moment later, Agnes
called me to misses Brimpton.
Speaker: Hearing Mr Brimpton's voice
in her room, I went round by the
dressing
Speaker: room, thinking I would lay
out her dinner gown before going in.
Speaker: The dressing room is a
large room with a window over the
portico
Speaker: that looks toward the
gardens.
Speaker: Mr Brimpton's apartments
are below.
Speaker: When I went in, the door
into the bedroom was ajar and I
heard
Speaker: Mr Brimpton saying angrily,
one would suppose he was the only
Speaker: person fit for you to talk
to.
Speaker: I don't have many visitors
in winter, misses Brimpton answered
Speaker: quietly.
Speaker: You have me, he flung at
her sneering.
Speaker: You are here so seldom,
said she.
Speaker: Well, whose fault is that?
Speaker: You make the place about as
lively as a family vault.
Speaker: With that I rattled the
toilet things to give my mistress
warning,
Speaker: and she rose and called me
in.
Speaker: The two dined alone, as
usual, and I knew by mister Wace's
manner
Speaker: at supper that things must
be going badly.
Speaker: He quoted the prophet
something terrible and worked on the
kitchen
Speaker: maid so that she declared
she wouldn't go down alone to put
the
Speaker: cold meat in the ice box.
Speaker: I felt nervous myself, and
after I had put my mistress to bed,
Speaker: I was half tempted to go
down again and persuade misses
Blinder
Speaker: to sit up a while over a
game of cards.
Speaker: But I heard her door
closing for the night, and so I went
on to
Speaker: my own room.
Speaker: The rain had begun again,
and the drip drip drip seemed to be
Speaker: dropping into my brain.
Speaker: I lay awake listening to
it, and turning over what my friend
in
Speaker: town had said.
Speaker: What puzzled me was that it
was always the maids who left.
Speaker: After a while I slept, but
suddenly a loud noise wakened me.
Speaker: My bell had rung.
Speaker: I sat up, terrified by the
unusual sound, which seemed to go on
Speaker: jangling through the
darkness.
Speaker: My hands shook so that I
couldn't find the matches.
Speaker: At length, I struck a light
and jumped out of bed.
Speaker: I began to think I must
have been dreaming, but I looked at
the
Speaker: bell against the wall and
there was the little hammer still
quivering.
Speaker: I was just beginning to
huddle on my clothes when I heard
another
Speaker: sound.
Speaker: This time it was a door of
the locked room opposite mine softly
Speaker: opening and closing.
Speaker: I heard the sound
distinctly and it frightened me so
that I stood
Speaker: stock still.
Speaker: Then I heard a footstep
hurrying down the passage towards
the
Speaker: main house, the floor being
carpeted.
Speaker: The sound was very faint,
but I was quite sure it was a
woman's
Speaker: step.
Speaker: I turned cold with the
thought of it, and for a minute or
two
Speaker: I durst breathe or move.
Speaker: Then I came to my senses.
Speaker: Alice Hartley, says I to
myself, someone left that room just
now
Speaker: and ran down the passage
ahead of you.
Speaker: The idea isn't pleasant,
but you may as well face it.
Speaker: Your mistress has rung for
you, and to answer her bell, you've
Speaker: got to go the way that
other woman has gone.
Speaker: Well I did it.
Speaker: I never walked faster in my
life, yet I thought I should never
Speaker: get to the end of the
passage or reach misses Brampton's
room.
Speaker: On the way I heard nothing
and saw nothing.
Speaker: All was dark and quiet as
the grave.
Speaker: When I reached my
mistress's door, the silence was so
deep that
Speaker: I began to think I must be
dreaming, and was half minded to
turn
Speaker: back.
Speaker: Then a panic seized me and
I knocked.
Speaker: There was no answer.
Speaker: And I knocked again loudly.
Speaker: To my astonishment the door
was opened by mister Brimpton.
Speaker: He started back when he saw
me, and in the light of my candle
Speaker: his face looked red and
savage.
Speaker: You, he said in a queer
voice, how many of you are there in
God's
Speaker: name?
Speaker: At that I felt the ground
give under me, but I said to myself
Speaker: that he had been drinking
and answered as steadily as I could
Speaker: May I go in, sir?
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Brimpton has rung for me.
Speaker: You may all go in for what
I care, says he, and pushing by me
Speaker: walked down the hall to his
own bedroom.
Speaker: I looked after him as he
went, and to my surprise, I saw that
Speaker: he walked as straight as a
sober man.
Speaker: I found my mistress lying
very weak and still, but she forced
Speaker: a smile when she saw me,
and signed to me to pour out some
drops
Speaker: for her.
Speaker: After that she lay without
speaking, her breath coming quick,
Speaker: and her eyes closed.
Speaker: Suddenly, she groped out
with her hand and Emma, says she
faintly.
Speaker: It's Hartley, madam, I
said.
Speaker: Do you want anything?
Speaker: She opened her eyes wide
and gave me a startled look.
Speaker: I was dreaming, she said.
Speaker: You may go now, Hartley,
and thank you kindly.
Speaker: I'm quite well again, you
see.
Speaker: And she turned her face
away from me.
Speaker: There was no more sleep for
me that night, and I was thankful
Speaker: when daylight came.
Speaker: Soon afterwards, Agnes
called me to misses Brimpton.
Speaker: I was afraid she was ill
again, for she seldom sent for me
before
Speaker: nine, but I found her
sitting up in bed, pale and drawn
looking,
Speaker: but quite herself.
Speaker: Hardly, says she quickly.
Speaker: Will you put on your things
at once and go down to the village
Speaker: for me?
Speaker: I want this prescription
made up.
Speaker: Here she hesitated a minute
and blushed.
Speaker: And I should like you to be
back again before mister Bripton is
Speaker: up.
Speaker: Certainly, madam, I said.
Speaker: And stay a moment.
Speaker: She called me back as if an
idea had just struck her.
Speaker: While you're waiting for
the mixture, you'll have time to go
on
Speaker: to mister Renfort's with
this note.
Speaker: It was a two mile walk to
the village, and on my way I had
time
Speaker: to turn things over in my
mind.
Speaker: It struck me as peculiar
that my mistress should wish the
prescription
Speaker: made up without Mr
Brimden's knowledge, and putting
this together
Speaker: with the scene of the night
before, and with much else that I
Speaker: had noticed and suspected,
I began to wonder if the poor lady
Speaker: was weary of her life and
had come to the mad resolve of
ending
Speaker: it.
Speaker: The idea took such hold of
me that I reached the village on a
Speaker: run and dropped breathless
into a chair before the chemist's
counter.
Speaker: The good man, who was just
taking down his shutters, stared at
Speaker: me so hard that it brought
me to myself.
Speaker: Mr Limo, I says, trying to
speak indifferent, will you run your
Speaker: eye over this and tell me
if it's quite right?
Speaker: He put on his spectacles
and studied the prescription.
Speaker: Well, it's one of doctor
Walton's, says he.
Speaker: What should be wrong with
it?
Speaker: Well, is it dangerous to
take?
Speaker: Dangerous?
Speaker: How do you mean?
Speaker: I could have shaken the man
for his stupidity.
Speaker: I mean if a person was to
take too much of it, by mistake, of
Speaker: course, says I, my heart in
my throat.
Speaker: Lord bless you no, it's
only lime water.
Speaker: You might feed it to a baby
by the bottle pool.
Speaker: I gave a great sigh of
relief and hurried on to mister
Ranford's.
Speaker: But on the way, another
thought struck me.
Speaker: If there was nothing to
conceal about my visit to the
chemist,
Speaker: was it my other errand that
misses Brimpton wished me to keep
Speaker:private?
Speaker: Somehow, that thought
frightened me worse than the other.
Speaker: Yet the two gentlemen
seemed best friends, and I would
have staked
Speaker: my head on my mistress's
goodness.
Speaker: I felt ashamed of my
suspicions and concluded that I was
still
Speaker: disturbed by the strange
events of the night.
Speaker: I left a note at Mr
Ranford's and hurrying back to
Brimpton, slipped
Speaker: in by a side door without
being seen as I thought.
Speaker: An hour later, however, as
I was carrying in my mistress's
breakfast,
Speaker: I was stopped in the hall
by Mr Brimpton.
Speaker: What were you doing out so
early?
Speaker: he says, looking hard at
me.
Speaker: Uh early me, sir?
Speaker: I said in a tremble.
Speaker: Come, come, he says, an
angry red spot forming on his
forehead.
Speaker: Didn't I see you scuttling
home through the shrubbery an hour
Speaker: or more ago?
Speaker: I'm a truthful woman by
nature, but at that a lie popped out
ready
Speaker: made.
Speaker: No, sir, you didn't, said
I, and looked straight back at him.
Speaker: He shrugged his shoulders
and gave a sullen laugh.
Speaker: I suppose you think I was
drunk last night, he asked suddenly.
Speaker: No, sir, I didn't, I
answered, this time truthfully
enough.
Speaker: He turned away with another
shrug.
Speaker: A pretty notion my servants
have of me, I heard him mutter as
Speaker: he walked off.
Speaker: Not till I had settled down
to my afternoon sewing did I realize
Speaker: how the events of the night
had shaken me.
Speaker: I couldn't pass that locked
door without a shiver.
Speaker: I knew I had heard someone
come out of it and walked down the
Speaker: passage ahead of me.
Speaker: I thought of speaking to
misses Blinder or to mister Wace,
the
Speaker: only two in the house who
appeared to have any inkling of what
Speaker: was going on, but I had a
feeling that if I questioned them
they
Speaker: would deny everything, and
that I might learn more by holding
Speaker: my tongue and keeping my
eyes open.
Speaker: The idea of spending
another night opposite the locked
room sickened
Speaker: me, and once I was seized
with the notion of packing my trunk
Speaker: and taking the first train
to town.
Speaker: But it wasn't in me to
throw over a kind mistress in that
manner,
Speaker: and I tried to go on with
my sewing as if nothing had
happened.
Speaker: I hadn't worked ten minutes
before the sewing machine broke
down.
Speaker: It was one I had found in
the house, a good machine, but a
trifle
Speaker: out of order.
Speaker: misses Blinder said it had
never been used since Emma Saxon's
Speaker:death.
Speaker: I stopped to see what was
wrong, and as I was working at the
machine,
Speaker: a drawer which I had never
been able to open slid forward and
Speaker: a photograph fell out.
Speaker: I picked it up and sat
looking at it in amaze.
Speaker: It was a woman's likeness
and I knew I had seen the face
somewhere.
Speaker: The eyes had an asking look
that I had felt on me before.
Speaker: And suddenly I remembered
the pale woman in the passage.
Speaker: I stood up, cold all over
and ran out of the room.
Speaker: My heart seemed to be
thumping in the top of my head, and
I felt
Speaker: as if I should never get
away from the look in those eyes.
Speaker: I went straight to misses
Blinder.
Speaker: She was taking her
afternoon nap and sat up with a jump
when I
Speaker: came in.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder, said I, who is
that?
Speaker: And I held out the
photograph.
Speaker: She rubbed her eyes and
stared.
Speaker: Why, Emma Saxon, says she.
Speaker: Where did you find it?
Speaker: I looked hard at her for a
minute.
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder, I said.
Speaker: I've seen that face before.
Speaker: Mrs Blinder got up and
walked over to the looking glass.
Speaker: Dear me, I must have been
asleep, she says.
Speaker: My front is all over on one
ear.
Speaker: And now do run along, Miss
Hartley, dear, for I hear the clock
Speaker: striking four, and I must
go down this very minute and put on
Speaker: the Virginia ham for mister
Brimpton's dinner.
Speaker: To all appearances, things
went on as usual for a week or two.
Speaker: The only difference was
that Mr Brampton stayed on instead
of
Speaker: going off as he usually
did, and that Mr Ranford never
showed
Speaker:himself.
Speaker: I heard Mr Brimpton remark
on this one afternoon when he was
senting
Speaker: in my mistress's room
before dinner.
Speaker: Where's Ranford?
Speaker: says he.
Speaker: He hasn't been near the
house for a week.
Speaker: Does he keep away because
I'm here?
Speaker: Mrs.
Speaker: Brimpton spoke so low that
I couldn't catch her answer.
Speaker: Well, he went on, two's
company and three strumpery.
Speaker: I'm sorry to be in
Ranford's way, and I suppose I shall
have to
Speaker: take myself off again in a
day or two and give him a show.
Speaker: And he laughed at his own
joke.
Speaker: The very next day, as it
happened, mister Ranford called.
Speaker: The footman said the three
were very merry over their tea in
the
Speaker: library, and mister
Brimpton strolled down to the gate
with Mr
Speaker: Ranford when he left.
Speaker: I have said that things
went on as usual.
Speaker: And so they did with the
rest of the household.
Speaker: But as for myself, I had
never been the same since the night
my
Speaker: bell had rung.
Speaker: Night after night, I used
to lie awake listening for it to
ring
Speaker: again, and for the door of
the locked room to open stealthily.
Speaker: But the bell never rang,
and I heard no sound across the
passage.
Speaker: At last, the silence began
to be more dreadful to me than the
Speaker: most mysterious sounds.
Speaker: I felt that someone were
cowering there behind the locked
door,
Speaker: watching and listening as I
watched and listened, and I could
Speaker: almost have cried out,
whoever you are, come out and let me
see
Speaker: your face, but don't lurk
there and spy on me in the darkness.
Speaker: Feeling as I did, you may
wonder I didn't give warning.
Speaker: Once I very nearly did so,
but at the last moment something
held
Speaker: me back, whether it was
compassion for my mistress, who had
grown
Speaker: more and more dependent on
me, or unwillingness to try a new
place,
Speaker: or some other feeling that
I couldn't put a name to.
Speaker: I lingered on as if
spellbound, though every night was
dreadful
Speaker: to me, and the days but
little better.
Speaker: For one thing, I didn't
like misses Brimpton's looks.
Speaker: She had never been the same
since that night, no more than I
had.
Speaker: I thought she would
brighten up after mister Brimpton
left, but
Speaker: though she seemed easier in
her mind, her spirits didn't revive,
Speaker: nor her strength either.
Speaker: She had grown attached to
me, and seemed to like to have me
about.
Speaker: And Agnes told me one day
that since Emma Saxton's death, I
was
Speaker: the only maid her mistress
had taken to.
Speaker: This gave me a warm feeling
for the poor lady, though, after
all,
Speaker: there was little I could do
to help her.
Speaker: After mister Brimpton's
departure, mister Renford took to
coming
Speaker: again, though less often
than formerly.
Speaker: I met him once or twice in
the grounds or in the village, and
Speaker: I couldn't but think there
was a change in him too, but I set
Speaker: it down to my disordered
fancy.
Speaker: The weeks passed, and Mr
Brimpton had now been a month
absent.
Speaker: We heard he was cruising
with a friend in the West Indies,
and
Speaker: mister Waist said that was
a long way off.
Speaker: But though you had the
wings of a dove and went to the
uttermost
Speaker: parts of the earth, you
couldn't get away from the Almighty.
Speaker: Agnes said that as long as
he stayed away from Brimpton, the
Almighty
Speaker: might have him and welcome.
Speaker: And this raised a laugh,
though Mrs.
Speaker: Blinder tried to look
shocked, and Mr.
Speaker: Wace said the bears would
eat us.
Speaker: We were all glad to hear
the West Indies were a long way off,
Speaker: and I remember that in
spite of Mr.
Speaker: Wace's solemn looks, we had
a very merry dinner that day in the
Speaker: hall.
Speaker: I don't know if it was
because of my being in better
spirits,
Speaker: but I fancy Mrs.
Speaker: Brimpton looked better too,
and seemed more cheerful in her
manner.
Speaker: She had been for a walk in
the morning and after luncheon she
Speaker: laid down in her room and I
read aloud to her.
Speaker: When she dismissed me, I
went to my own room feeling quite
bright
Speaker: and happy, and for the
first time in weeks walked past the
locked
Speaker: door without thinking of
it.
Speaker: As I sat down to my work, I
looked out and saw a few snowflakes
Speaker: falling.
Speaker: The sight was pleasanter
than the eternal rain, and I
pictured
Speaker: to myself how pretty the
bear gardens would look in their
white
Speaker: mantle.
Speaker: It seemed to me as if the
snow would cover up all the
dreariness
Speaker: indoors as well as out.
Speaker: The fancy had hardly
crossed my mind when I heard a step
at my
Speaker: side.
Speaker: I looked up, thinking it
was Agnes.
Speaker: Well well, Agnes, said I,
and the words froze on my tongue,
for
Speaker: there, in the doorway stood
Emma Saxon.
Speaker: I don't know how long she
stood there.
Speaker: I only know I couldn't stir
or take my eyes from her.
Speaker: Afterward I was terribly
frightened, but at the time it
wasn't
Speaker: fear I felt, but something
deeper and quieter.
Speaker: She looked at me long and
long, and her face was just one dumb
Speaker: prayer to me.
Speaker: But how in the world was I
to help her?
Speaker: Suddenly she turned and I
heard her walk down the passage.
Speaker: This time I wasn't afraid
to follow.
Speaker: I felt that I must know
what she wanted.
Speaker: I sprang up and ran out.
Speaker: She was at the other end of
the passage, and I expected her to
Speaker: take the turn toward my
mistress's room, but instead of
that,
Speaker: she pushed open the door
that led to the backstairs.
Speaker: I followed her down the
stairs and across the passageway to
the
Speaker: back door.
Speaker: The kitchen and hall were
empty at that hour, the servants
being
Speaker: off duty except for the
footman who was in the pantry.
Speaker: At the door she stood still
a moment, with another look at me,
Speaker: then she turned the handle
and stepped out.
Speaker: For a minute I hesitated.
Speaker: Where was she leading me
to?
Speaker: The door had closed softly
after her, and I opened it and
looked
Speaker: out, half expecting to find
that she had disappeared.
Speaker: But I saw her a few yards
off, hurrying across the courtyard
to
Speaker: the path through the woods,
her figure looked black and lonely
Speaker: in the snow, and for a
second my heart failed me, and I
thought
Speaker: of turning back.
Speaker: But all the while she was
drawing me after her, and catching
an
Speaker: old shawl of misses
Blinder's, I ran out into the open.
Speaker: Emma Saxon was in the wood
path now.
Speaker: She walked on steadily and
I followed at the same pace till we
Speaker: passed out of the gates and
reached the high road.
Speaker: Then she struck across the
open fields to the village.
Speaker: By this time the ground was
white, and as she climbed the slope
Speaker: of a bare hill ahead of me,
I noticed that she left no
footprints
Speaker: behind her.
Speaker: At sight of that, my heart
shriveled up within me and my knees
Speaker: were water.
Speaker: Somehow it was worse here
than indoors.
Speaker: She made the whole
countryside seem lonely as the
grave, with
Speaker: none but us two in it, and
no help in the wide world.
Speaker: Once I tried to go back,
she turned and looked at me, and it
was
Speaker: as if she had dragged me
with ropes.
Speaker: After that I followed her
like a dog.
Speaker: We came to the village, and
she led me through it, past the
church,
Speaker: and the blacksmith's shop,
and down the lane to mister
Ranford's.
Speaker: Mr Ranford's house stands
close to the road, a plain old
fashioned
Speaker: building with a flagged
path leading to the door between box
borders.
Speaker: The lane was deserted, and
as I turned into it I saw Emma Saxon
Speaker: pause under the old elm by
the gate.
Speaker: And now another fear came
over me.
Speaker: I saw that we had reached
the end of our journey and that it
was
Speaker: my turn to act.
Speaker: All the way from Brimpton I
had been asking myself what she
wanted
Speaker: of me, but I had followed
in a trance as if it were, and not
till
Speaker: I saw her stop at Mr
Ramford's gate did my brain begin to
clear
Speaker: itself.
Speaker: It stood a little way off
in the snow, my heart beating fit to
Speaker: strangle me, and my feet
frozen to the ground, and she stood
under
Speaker: the elm and watched me.
Speaker: I knew well enough that she
hadn't led me there for nothing.
Speaker: I felt there was something
I ought to say or do, but how was I
Speaker: to guess what it was?
Speaker: I had never thought harm of
my mistress and mister Ranford, but
Speaker: I was sure now that, from
one cause or another, some dreadful
Speaker: thing hung over them.
Speaker: She knew what it was.
Speaker: She would tell me if she
could.
Speaker: Perhaps she would answer if
I questioned her.
Speaker: It turned me faint to think
of speaking to her, but I plucked
Speaker: up heart and dragged myself
across the few yards between us.
Speaker: As I did so I heard the
house door open, and saw Mr Ranford
approaching.
Speaker: He looked handsome and
cheerful as my mistress had looked
that
Speaker: morning.
Speaker: And at sight of him, the
blood began to flow again in my
veins.
Speaker: Why, Hartley?
Speaker: said he, what's the matter?
Speaker: I saw you coming down the
lane just now and came out to see if
Speaker: you had taken root in the
snow.
Speaker: He stopped and stared at
me.
Speaker: What are you looking at?
Speaker: he says.
Speaker: I turned toward the elm as
he spoke, and his eyes followed me,
Speaker: but there was no one there.
Speaker: The lane was empty as far
as the eye could reach.
Speaker: A sense of helplessness
came over me.
Speaker: She was gone, and I had not
been able to guess what she wanted.
Speaker: Her last look had pierced
me to the marrow, and yet it had not
Speaker: told me.
Speaker: All at once I felt more
desolate than when she had stood
there
Speaker: watching me.
Speaker: It seemed as if she had
left me all alone to carry the
weight
Speaker: of the secret I couldn't
guess.
Speaker: The snow went round me in
great circles, and the ground fell
away
Speaker: from me.
Speaker: A drop of brandy and the
warmth of Mr Renford's fire soon
brought
Speaker: me to, and I insisted on
being driven back at once to
Brimpton.
Speaker: It was nearly dark, and I
was afraid my mistress might be
wanting
Speaker: me.
Speaker: I explained to Mr Ranford
that I had been out for a walk and
had
Speaker: been taken with a fit of
giddiness as I passed this gate.
Speaker: This was true enough, yet I
never felt more like a liar than
when
Speaker: I said it.
Speaker: When I dressed misses
Brimpton for dinner, she remarked on
my
Speaker: pale looks and asked me
what ailed me.
Speaker: I told her I had a
headache, and she said she would not
require
Speaker: me again that evening,
advised me to go to bed.
Speaker: It was a fact that I could
scarcely keep on my feet, yet I had
Speaker: no fancy to spend a
solitary evening in my room.
Speaker: I sat downstairs in the
hall as long as I could hold my head
up,
Speaker: but by nine I crept
upstairs, too weary to care what
happened
Speaker: if I could but get my head
on a pillow.
Speaker: The rest of the household
went to bed soon afterward.
Speaker: They kept early hours when
the master was away and before ten
Speaker: I heard misses Blinder's
door close and mister Wace's soon
after.
Speaker: It was a very still night,
earth and air all muffled in snow.
Speaker: Once in bed I felt easier
and lay quiet, listening to the
strange
Speaker: noises that come out in a
house after dark.
Speaker: Once I thought I heard a
door open and close again below.
Speaker: It might have been the
glass door that led to the gardens.
Speaker: I got up and peered out of
the window.
Speaker: But it was in the dark of
the moon and nothing visible outside
Speaker: but the streaking of snow
against the panes.
Speaker: I went back to bed and must
have dozed, for I jumped awake to
Speaker: the furious ringing of my
bell.
Speaker: Before my head was clear I
had sprung out of bed and was
dragging
Speaker: on my clothes.
Speaker: It is going to happen now,
I heard myself saying, but what I
meant
Speaker: I had no notion.
Speaker: My hands seemed to be
covered with glue.
Speaker: I thought I could never get
into my clothes.
Speaker: At last I opened my door
and peered down the passage.
Speaker: As far as my candle flame
carried, I could see nothing unusual
Speaker: ahead of me.
Speaker: I hurried on breathless.
Speaker: But as I pushed open the
biased door leading to the main
hall,
Speaker: my heart stood still, for
there at the head of the stairs was
Speaker: Emma Saxon, peering
dreadfully down into the darkness.
Speaker: For a second I couldn't
stir, but my hand slipped from the
door
Speaker: and as it swung shut the
figure vanished.
Speaker: At the same instant there
came another sound from below
stairs,
Speaker: a stealthy, mysterious
sound, as of a latch key turning in
the
Speaker: house door.
Speaker: I ran to misses Brimpton's
room and knocked.
Speaker: There was no answer.
Speaker: And I knocked again.
Speaker: This time I heard someone
moving in the room.
Speaker: The bolt slipped back and
my mistress stood before me.
Speaker: To my surprise, I saw that
she had not undressed for the night.
Speaker: She gave me a startled
look.
Speaker: What is it, Hartley?
Speaker: she says in a whisper.
Speaker: Are you ill?
Speaker: What are you doing here at
this hour?
Speaker: I am not ill, madam, but my
bell rang.
Speaker: At that she turned pale and
seemed about to fall.
Speaker: You are mistaken, she said
harshly.
Speaker: I didn't ring.
Speaker: You must have been
dreaming.
Speaker: I had never heard her speak
in such a tone.
Speaker: Go back to bed, she said,
closing the door on me.
Speaker: But as she spoke, I heard
sounds again in the hall below.
Speaker: A man's step this time.
Speaker: And the truth leaped out on
me.
Speaker: Madam, I said, pushing past
her, there is someone in the house.
Speaker: Someone Mr Brimpton, I
think?
Speaker: I hear his step below.
Speaker: A dreadful look came over
her, and without a word, she dropped
Speaker: flat at my feet.
Speaker: I fell on my knees and
tried to lift her.
Speaker: By the way she breathed, I
saw it was no common faint.
Speaker: But as I raised her head
there came quick steps on the stairs
Speaker: and across the hall.
Speaker: The door was flung open,
and there stood Mr Brimpton in his
travelling
Speaker: clothes, the snow dripping
from him.
Speaker: He drew back with a start
as he saw me kneeling by my
mistress.
Speaker: What the devil is this?
Speaker: he shouted.
Speaker: He was less high colored
than usual, and the red spot came
out
Speaker: on his forehead.
Speaker: Mrs Brimpton has faded,
sir, said I.
Speaker: He laughed unsteadily and
pushed by me.
Speaker: It's a pity she didn't
choose a more convenient moment.
Speaker: I'm sorry to disturb her,
but I raised myself up aghast at the
Speaker: man's action.
Speaker: Sir, said I, are you mad?
Speaker: What are you doing?
Speaker: Going to meet a friend,
said he, and seemed to make for the
dressing
Speaker: room.
Speaker: At that my heart turned
over.
Speaker: I don't know what I thought
or feared, but I sprang up and
caught
Speaker: him by the sleeve.
Speaker: Sir, sir, said I, for
pity's sake, look at your wife.
Speaker: He shook me off furiously.
Speaker: It seems that's done for
me, says he, and caught hold of the
dressing
Speaker: room door.
Speaker: At that moment I heard a
slight noise inside.
Speaker: Slight as it was, he heard
it too, and tore the door open, but
Speaker: as he did so he dropped
back.
Speaker: On the threshold stood Emma
Saxon.
Speaker: All was dark behind her,
but I saw her plainly.
Speaker: And so did he.
Speaker: He threw up his hands as if
to hide his face from her, and when
Speaker: I looked again, she was
gone.
Speaker: He stood motionless as if
the strength had run out of him.
Speaker: And in the stillness, my
mistress suddenly raised herself,
and
Speaker: opening her eyes, fixed a
look on him.
Speaker: Then she fell back, and I
saw the death flutter pass over her.
Speaker: We buried her on the third
day in a driving snowstorm.
Speaker: There were few people in
the church, for it was bad weather
to
Speaker: come from town, and I've a
notion my mistress is one that
hadn't
Speaker: many near friends.
Speaker: Mr Renford was among the
last to come, just before they
carried
Speaker: her up the aisle.
Speaker: He was in black, of course,
being such a friend in the family,
Speaker: and I never saw a gentleman
so pale.
Speaker: As he passed me, I noticed
that he leaned a trifle on a stick
Speaker: he carried, and I fancy Mr
Brimpton noticed it too, for the red
Speaker: spot came out sharp on his
forehead, and all through the
service
Speaker: he kept staring across the
church at Mr.
Speaker: Ranford, instead of
following the prayers as a mourner
should.
Speaker: When it was over, and we
went out to the graveyard, Mr.
Speaker: Ranford had disappeared,
and as soon as my poor mistress's
body
Speaker: was underground, Mr.
Speaker: Brimpton jumped into the
carriage nearest the gate and drove
off
Speaker: without a word to any of
us.
Speaker: I heard him call out to the
station.
Speaker: And we servants went back
alone to the house.
Speaker: That was The Lady's Bell by
Edith Wharton, and I have to say
this
Speaker: one kept me glued to my
screen, uh, scrolling as I read
through,
Speaker: eager to find out what
happened next.
Speaker: No, I try not to deliver
things that I feel are just not
enjoyable
Speaker: to me and not worth your
time.
Speaker: I don't shy away from
saying, eh, I don't really love
that.
Speaker: But if it's truly horrific,
I just refuse to record it and
present
Speaker: it.
Speaker: And so with that being
said, for this story, I really love
how
Speaker: Wharton leaves us with a
ton of questions at the end.
Speaker: Does she wrap things up and
give us a resolution?
Speaker: She does, but she there's
so much she does not explain.
Speaker: Unlike uh our friend Edgar
Allan Poe, another one of my
favorite
Speaker: authors, but uh he always
leaves uh things answered for the
most
Speaker: part.
Speaker: We're left with very few
questions when it comes to his
stories,
Speaker: and often in the beginning,
he will tell you straight up this
Speaker: is exactly where this is
going.
Speaker: Wharton, however, took us
on a delightful adventure in which
she
Speaker: introduced multiple
characters and each player followed
the motto
Speaker: of ask me no questions and
I'll tell you no lies.
Speaker: So, for people who are in
positions of servitude, it is quite
Speaker: common for them to move
about the house and to choose to be
seen
Speaker: only when the employer
wants them to be seen.
Speaker: Otherwise, you kind of move
under the radar.
Speaker: This is also similar to say
hi in restaurants, where you are
seen
Speaker: really only when the people
who need your service need you.
Speaker: Other than that, be in the
background.
Speaker: As someone who has worked
in the service industry, I myself
have
Speaker: had to resist participating
in conversations that I overhear at
Speaker: a table because it's not my
place.
Speaker: My place is simply to serve
that food, check on them to make
sure
Speaker: it's okay, and to
completely disregard anything that I
hear.
Speaker: And so that's what we have
here.
Speaker: Now, the motto of Ask Me No
Questions and I'll Tell You No Lies
Speaker: is not exclusively held by
those in positions of servitude,
because
Speaker: we also have the lady of
the house, Mrs.
Speaker: Bripton, who does not ask
her husband um why he stays away for
Speaker: so long.
Speaker: And we have the husband who
really doesn't ask his wife why Mr.
Speaker: Ranford visits so much.
Speaker: And what is the connection?
Speaker: We do wonder, perhaps these
two, uh Mrs.
Speaker: Brampton and Mr.
Speaker: Ranford having a little
dalliance of some sort.
Speaker: And maybe Emma Saxon knew
about it.
Speaker: Now we don't really know
why Emma Saxon died.
Speaker: Did Mr.
Speaker: Brimpton have something to
do with it?
Speaker: Um did she take ill on her
way to Mr.
Speaker: Ranford's one day?
Speaker: Not really sure.
Speaker: But lo and behold, we know
that she is no longer living and she
Speaker: is the one thing that is
able to keep connected um the lady
of
Speaker: the house and Mr.
Speaker: Ranford.
Speaker: Now the idea of ask me no
questions, and I'll tell you no
lies,
Speaker: is very much today still
honored by children.
Speaker: And if you really think
about it, are the servants, at least
our
Speaker: main character, Mrs.
Speaker: Hartley, are they not a bit
like children?
Speaker: Um, you know, be seen and
not heard for the most part.
Speaker: Children are also very
perceptive of what is going on in a
household.
Speaker: Parents are not happily
married, the home is financially
struggling.
Speaker: Um, they can sense things
out.
Speaker: Holiday gifts hidden
somewhere, kids are going to have a
hint
Speaker: of what is going on.
Speaker: So that is one thing that
comes to mind in this story.
Speaker: Now, another thing that
comes to my mind are the it's the
idea
Speaker: of servants keeping their
master secrets.
Speaker: We know that there have
been four maids throughout the past
year
Speaker: prior to Miss Hartley
arriving, and none of them survived
this
Speaker: household.
Speaker: None of them were able to
stick it out.
Speaker: Why is it that they weren't
able to stick it out?
Speaker: Now, this kind of brings me
back to Mr.
Speaker: Brimden.
Speaker: Is it that he has uh
pursued the young maids and uh as
such um
Speaker: the ghostly powers that be
ensure that those maids do not last?
Speaker: Um that's that's one
thought.
Speaker: Did he have a little
dalliance with Emma Saxon?
Speaker: That is one thought that
comes to mind when you think about
the
Speaker: fact that he sees her at
the bathroom door and he is really
shocked
Speaker: and taken back, like, oh my
god, what is that?
Speaker: Then again, I'm tempted to
withdraw that idea.
Speaker: Here's why.
Speaker: When Hartley goes to her
mistress's door after hearing the
bell
Speaker: the first time, he
Brimpton, Mr.
Speaker: Brimpton says to her, Um,
you can come in, all of you, like I
Speaker: all the maids, doesn't
matter how many, something to that
effect.
Speaker: So there is this
implication that someone has already
gone in
Speaker: before her.
Speaker: And then, of course, we
have the mistress who takes her
medication
Speaker: and calls out the word
Emma, right?
Speaker: She calls out the wrong
name and then fully opens her eyes
and
Speaker: like, oh, sorry.
Speaker: I said the wrong name, must
have been dreaming.
Speaker: Hmm.
Speaker: So Emma's already been in
that room.
Speaker: He's already seen Emma.
Speaker: So actually, I'm gonna say
that no, his reaction was not to um
Speaker: seeing the deceased Emma
and him feeling regret, maybe that
he
Speaker: had caused her demise and
death.
Speaker: Okay, I'm gonna take that
off the table because he's already
seen
Speaker: her in the house um within
this past year.
Speaker: So we're gonna we're gonna
drop that.
Speaker: And we're gonna just say
that his shock is purely related to
the
Speaker: fact that he expected to
find Mr.
Speaker: Ranford hiding in his
wife's dressing room, and instead
it's another
Speaker: maid.
Speaker: He's like, good gracious,
what on earth?
Speaker: And that maid looks pale
and ghostly.
Speaker: Ah, all right.
Speaker: So that's all I got for you
on that.
Speaker: Um, but yeah, uh, nobody in
this house is willing to tell what's
Speaker: going on.
Speaker: None of the servants.
Speaker: It's a little interesting.
Speaker: The the um, oh gosh, was
the butler who makes a point to like
Speaker: say all these biblical
phrases every time his master comes
around?
Speaker: Um, I know the guy's not
nice, but what's up with all the
biblical
Speaker: phases?
Speaker: So do we feel that the Mr.
Speaker: of the house has done
someone some wrong?
Speaker: Was he the cause of Emma's
death?
Speaker: I'm curious.
Speaker: Um, or is he just being
strictly seen as the cause for his
wife's
Speaker: illness and ailment?
Speaker: Hmm, interesting.
Speaker: Speaking of illness and
ailment, the wife is drinking lime
water,
Speaker: we find out, and it's
harmless.
Speaker: And so this makes me think:
is the doctor just prescribing this
Speaker: wealthy woman a basic
placebo, just because there's really
nothing
Speaker: wrong with her.
Speaker: Uh, she's just like
depressed, pretty much.
Speaker: And so back in those days,
it'd be like, oh, well, you know, go
Speaker: get some country air and
take this and you'll be fine.
Speaker: Nice little contrast to the
um mate, Mrs.
Speaker: Hartley, who's just
overcome uh typhoid fever.
Speaker: So, you know, we have
someone who really was incredibly
sick,
Speaker: taking care of someone
who's just melancholy.
Speaker: Okay, so she's taking lime
water.
Speaker: Does this mean that she's
not really sick at all?
Speaker: Has never Really been sick?
Speaker: Is she just mopey and
depressed because she can't be with
Mr.
Speaker: Ranford, her boyfriend?
Speaker: Uh assuming they are having
an affair, when did this affair
start?
Speaker: Had it been going on for
years, and only a year prior did her
Speaker: husband put an end to it?
Speaker: Uh maybe he caught Emma
sneaking out, right?
Speaker: We have Hartley who was
sent off on this errand and to drop
off
Speaker: a note for Ranford.
Speaker: So maybe the husband
catches Emma sneaking out and uh
puts it
Speaker: into it.
Speaker: Maybe puts an end to her.
Speaker: Uh but then again, if he
had put an end to her, he would have
Speaker: reacted when she came in to
service the mistress the first time.
Speaker: So as much as I want to
make him a murderer, it's just not
sinking,
Speaker: locking into place.
Speaker: It's he's not a murderer.
Speaker: He's just a jerk.
Speaker: Okie dokie.
Speaker: Another question that this
uh lovely tale brings up.
Speaker: What will you do for the
ones you vow to care for and for the
Speaker: ones that you love?
Speaker: So we've got the husband
who is just at this point, he's just
Speaker: like, You're I don't even
believe that you're sick.
Speaker: I think you just want to
not be near me, okay?
Speaker: He's not happy with his
wife.
Speaker: Um, he's probably cheated
on her many times.
Speaker: She's been out here in the
country for quite some time.
Speaker: And um then we have, you
know, it's I like his comment.
Speaker: Uh, you keep this place as
welcoming as a family vault.
Speaker: I thought that was pretty
funny.
Speaker: And if you think about it,
I mean, she's all sick and barely
alive.
Speaker: There's a ghost running
around.
Speaker: So yeah, it's like a, you
know, Emma's like family.
Speaker: It's like the home of the
dead.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Anyway, um, so yeah, the
four of the ones that you love.
Speaker: So we have Hartley saying
to Mr.
Speaker: Blimpton, hey, sir, your
wife is passed out on the ground.
Speaker: Could you pay attention to
her?
Speaker: And he's like, Yeah,
whatever.
Speaker: She's putting on a show.
Speaker: I'm gonna see who's behind
this door.
Speaker: I know exactly why she's
putting on a show because she has a
secret.
Speaker: A secret, right?
Speaker: We have Mrs.
Speaker: Hartley who thinks a couple
times, you know what?
Speaker: I'm not gonna put up with
this.
Speaker: I'm getting out of here.
Speaker: This place is just
depressing and creepy and weird, and
I'm out
Speaker: of here.
Speaker: She never really says, I'm
not gonna be able to get another
job.
Speaker: She never really says that.
Speaker: Um, and I would imagine
after being in care of this woman
for
Speaker: a little bit of time, her
prospects of getting another job
would
Speaker: greatly be improved.
Speaker: But lo and behold, she
feels it's her duty to stay and to
care
Speaker: for her mistress because
her mistress has been so kind to
her.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Even though it's causing
her suffering, right?
Speaker: All of the other people in
the house who will not say what
happened
Speaker: to Emma Saxon, they will
not say, so you know, something not
good
Speaker: happened to this girl.
Speaker: Um, lo and behold, and
maybe, maybe, no, let me back that
up.
Speaker: Maybe it's not just because
something bad happened to her, maybe
Speaker: it's also because her ghost
still haunts the house, but probably
Speaker: something bad happened to
her.
Speaker: So, what bad happened to
her?
Speaker: Someone please tell us.
Speaker: But no one will say.
Speaker: And is this out of loyalty
duty for someone they love, being
their
Speaker: mistress?
Speaker: Everyone loves the lady of
the house, but they hate the
husband.
Speaker: And I would kind of feel
like, why not hate the lady of the
house
Speaker: for making you guys hang
out with a ghostly spirit?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I'm just saying I'd have a
little bit of hard feelings towards
Speaker: her for that.
Speaker: Or for having you bear
witness to whatever horrible thing
happened
Speaker: to Emma Saxon.
Speaker: What happened to her?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Maybe we'll never know.
Speaker: I'm sure someone online
somewhere has some theory about what
happened.
Speaker: But Edith Wharton ain't
telling us, so you know.
Speaker: Okay, we know that there
were at least four other maids
during
Speaker: the one-year gap between um
Emma Saxon's death and Hartley's
arrival.
Speaker: So all we know is that they
can't stay in the house.
Speaker: We don't know if they can't
stay in the house because the house
Speaker: feels dreary, because
they've seen Emma's ghosts, because
the
Speaker: lady of the house hasn't
really taken to them.
Speaker: We're not really giving any
explanation.
Speaker: We just know that they
can't stay there.
Speaker: I was kind of expecting for
Hartley to die, to be honest.
Speaker: I mean, she came to this
house, she's sickly, she's running
out
Speaker: in the snow without any
shoes on.
Speaker: I thought she was gonna
die, but she does not.
Speaker: Wharton does not give us
this kind of ending, and I
appreciate
Speaker: it.
Speaker: I kind of like the fact
that okay, so hear me out.
Speaker: The lady passes on.
Speaker: She can now be with Emma in
death, I guess.
Speaker: We're gonna assume that uh
once she died, um Emma is no longer
Speaker: needed in the house, and so
Emma can go be peace.
Speaker: So they can all both go and
be dead together, right?
Speaker: There, there you go.
Speaker: You guys are dead.
Speaker: Um, and Randolph, um, what
is this guy's name?
Speaker: Lover Boy.
Speaker: Um, Ranford, he is leaning
on a cane.
Speaker: So maybe he'll kill over
soon, and then everyone can be
happy.
Speaker: And, you know, uh, Mr.
Speaker: Blimpton has already parted
till death do you part.
Speaker: I'm out of here.
Speaker: He's like, get me away from
this horrible, evil place.
Speaker: Um, and so lo and behold,
the fact that all the servants go
back
Speaker: to the house, I don't know
that this guy is really gonna sell
Speaker: his summer home.
Speaker: He doesn't really have any
need to do so anytime soon.
Speaker: So it's a kind of a nice
little gift by the lady of the
house,
Speaker: right?
Speaker: Like, you know, you guys,
you helped me out when I was having
Speaker: an affair, and you didn't
reveal my secrets when the ghost of
Speaker: my former maid was haunting
the house and still caring for me.
Speaker: So my gift to you is a home
to live in and keep up while my
husband,
Speaker: who has a summer home, is
never going to visit it unless he
bothers
Speaker: to like remarry or
something.
Speaker: Interesting though, I just
remember it's said in the beginning
Speaker: that she had two children,
but they were dead.
Speaker: So, what is going on with
this household?
Speaker: Um, I'm just going back
there.
Speaker: Let's see here.
Speaker: Uh, my niece will take the
recommendation.
Speaker: Let's see here.
Speaker: I want for quiet.
Speaker: My niece is an angel.
Speaker: And read aloud.
Speaker: Just going back.
Speaker: Rosie girl like you.
Speaker: Do do do do do do do.
Speaker: Her former maid died last
spring.
Speaker: Have been there with her 20
years and worship the ground she
walked
Speaker: on.
Speaker: She's a kind mistress to
all, uh, kind to everybody.
Speaker: Servants are all good
humored.
Speaker: And okay.
Speaker: Oh dear.
Speaker: Yeah, okay.
Speaker: Basically, stay out of his
way.
Speaker: She wants a maid that can
be something of a companion.
Speaker: Why can't I find this right
now?
Speaker: Well mannered and educated
above your station.
unknown: Okay.
Speaker: Ah, okay.
Speaker: My niece is nervous,
vaporish.
Speaker: Her husband, well, he's
generally away.
Speaker: I love that description of
him.
Speaker: Yeah, well, not much to say
about him.
Speaker: Everybody thinks he's a
jerk.
Speaker: It's not that he's just a
jerk to the servants, but uh he's
apparently
Speaker: a jerk to the aunt of the
lady of the house.
Speaker: And the two children are
dead.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: A year ago, I would as soon
have thought of shutting a rosy
active
Speaker: girl like you into a vault.
Speaker: Okay, so um, I wouldn't
have done this as well ago, but hey,
look
Speaker: at you.
Speaker: You're you're sickly.
Speaker: You could use some country
air.
Speaker: That's that's quite
interesting.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So this woman's kids are
dead.
Speaker: What happened to her kids?
Speaker: Emma was with her for 20
years.
Speaker: How long?
Speaker: Who lived all the year
round at her country place on the
Hudson?
Speaker: So she's been up at this
house.
Speaker: She may not have been up at
the house for 20 years, but she's
Speaker: been there a while, had the
same maid for a while.
Speaker: What happened to her kids?
Speaker: You can't tell me the
husband killed the kids and the
maid.
Speaker: That just don't make no
sense.
Speaker: It's like, oh, these kids,
they're hiding your affair.
Speaker: Blah, I'll kill them.
Speaker: We don't even know like the
age the kids died.
Speaker: Um, so much we don't know.
Speaker: Dun dun dun.
Speaker: You know, my thought is,
hey, after her kids pass, maybe
typoid
Speaker: fever had been going
around.
Speaker: So um, I get the phone, the
kids may have been dead for a little
Speaker: while, but um, you know,
maybe the kids got sick when they
were
Speaker: young and they both passed
away, some kind of fever or
something,
Speaker: plague.
Speaker: And so she is melancholy,
goes to the country estate, and kind
Speaker: of never really gets out of
her funk.
Speaker: She's kind of hating her
life, mate goes with her, and then
she
Speaker: sees the neighbor guy.
Speaker: We never get the sense that
he's got a lady.
Speaker: So, why does this bachelor
guy have a summer estate?
Speaker: Not a hundred percent sure.
Speaker: Maybe he used to be
married, maybe he is never been
married and
Speaker: just a bachelor guy and
inherited this place.
Speaker: But lo and behold, he goes
there during his summer and they
spend
Speaker: some time together, and
after a while, her spirits are
lifted
Speaker: and she feels better, and
she can put on her coat and go
outside
Speaker: when she sees him, but when
she sees her husband, oh no, she's
Speaker: all gloom and get the
doctor so I can have some more lime
water.
Speaker: And after the while, the
husband's just like, oh, this is a
little
Speaker: crap.
Speaker: And I'm tired of this maid
keeping your secrets.
Speaker: So there's that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Uh Wharton gives us some
lovely messages on uh the the you
know
Speaker: the risk of not asking
questions, the dangers of trying to
keep
Speaker: a life where you are honest
at all times, right?
Speaker: Because the maid does not
want to lie.
Speaker: No one wants to lie.
Speaker: Even the mid lady of the
house doesn't want to lie.
Speaker: She gets to the point where
she plum, dumb, uh faints and
shortly
Speaker: dies of shock, basically.
Speaker: Uh because that's far
easier than telling the truth.
Speaker: Who's in that bathroom?
Speaker: My ghost friend.
Speaker: Um so yeah.
Speaker: Sacreds, they can be a
killer.
Speaker: And you know, just a little
cautionary tale about unhappy
marriages
Speaker: as well.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: And oh, you know, I see
what I say, cautionary tale about
lying
Speaker: to yourself.
Speaker: Because this woman knows
that she's not as sick as she
pretends
Speaker: to be, right?
Speaker: I mean, she's certainly
magically healthy when Mr.
Speaker: Ranford's around.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And she's just drinking
lime water.
Speaker: So, you know, there's that
uh placebo effect going to work.
Speaker: And so there you have it.
Speaker: That's all I got for you on
this one.
Speaker: But I hope you enjoyed this
story.
Speaker: Um, and yeah, we shall have
more Edith Wharton.
Speaker: We shall, we shall.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Well, until next time,
right?
Speaker: I hope you enjoyed this
story and do come back for another
Gothic
Speaker: tale.