"It must be put to herself, as a matter for her own consideration," said
Mr. Marchdale, "if she will consider herself sufficiently safe with the
company and protection of your mother only." "It would be a pity were we not all three present at the examination of
the coffin," remarked Henry. "It would, indeed. There is ample evidence," said Mr. Marchdale, "but we
must not give Flora a night of sleeplessness and uneasiness on that
account, and the more particularly as we cannot well explain to her
where we are going, or upon what errand." "Certainly not." "Let us talk to her, then, about it," said Henry. "I confess I am much
bent upon the plan, and fain would not forego it; neither should I like
other than that we three should go together." "If you determine, then, upon it," said Marchdale, "we will go to-night;
and, from your acquaintance with the place, doubtless you will be able
to decide what tools are necessary." "There is a trap-door at the bottom of the pew," said Henry; "it is not
only secured down, but it is locked likewise, and I have the key in my
possession." "Indeed!" "Yes; immediately beneath is a short flight of stone steps, which
conduct at once into the vault." "Is it large?" "No; about the size of a moderate chamber, and with no intricacies about
it." "There can be no difficulties, then." "None whatever, unless we meet with actual personal interruption, which
I am inclined to think is very far from likely. All we shall require
will be a screwdriver, with which to remove the screws, and then
something with which to wrench open the coffin." "Those we can easily provide, along with lights," remarked Mr.
Marchdale. "I hope to Heaven that this visit to the tomb will have the effect of
easing your minds, and enabling you to make a successful stand against
the streaming torrent of evidence that has poured in upon us regarding
this most fearful of apparitions." "I do, indeed, hope so," added Henry; "and now I will go at once to
Flora, and endeavour to convince her she is safe without us to-night." "By-the-bye, I think," said Marchdale, "that if we can induce Mr.
Chillingworth to come with us, it will be a great point gained in the
investigation." "He would," said Henry, "be able to come to an accurate decision with
respect to the remains--if any--in the coffin, which we could not." "Then have him, by all means," said George. "He did not seem averse last
night to go on such an adventure." "I will ask him when he makes his visit this morning upon Flora; and
should he not feel disposed to join us, I am quite sure he will keep the
secret of our visit." All this being arranged, Henry proceeded to Flora, and told her that he
and George, and Mr. Marchdale wished to go out for about a couple of
hours in the evening after dark, if she felt sufficiently well to feel a
sense of security without them. Flora changed colour, and slightly trembled, and then, as if ashamed of
her fears, she said,--

"Go, go; I will not detain you. Surely no harm can come to me in
presence of my mother." "We shall not be gone longer than the time I mention to you," said
Henry. "Oh, I shall be quite content. Besides, am I to be kept thus in fear all
my life? Surely, surely not. I ought, too, to learn to defend myself." Henry caught at the idea, as he said,--

"If fire-arms were left you, do you think you would have courage to use
them?" "I do, Henry." "Then you shall have them; and let me beg of you to shoot any one
without the least hesitation who shall come into your chamber." "I will, Henry. If ever human being was justified in the use of deadly
weapons, I am now. Heaven protect me from a repetition of the visit to
which I have now been once subjected. Rather, oh, much rather would I
die a hundred deaths than suffer what I have suffered." "Do not allow it, dear Flora, to press too heavily upon your mind in
dwelling upon it in conversation. I still entertain a sanguine
expectation that something may arise to afford a far less dreadful
explanation of what has occurred than what you have put upon it. Be of
good cheer, Flora, we shall go one hour after sunset, and return in
about two hours from the time at which we leave here, you may be
assured." Notwithstanding this ready and courageous acquiescence of Flora in the
arrangement, Henry was not without his apprehension that when the night
should come again, her fears would return with it; but he spoke to Mr.
Chillingworth upon the subject, and got that gentleman's ready consent
to accompany them. He promised to meet them at the church porch exactly at nine o'clock,
and matters were all arranged, and Henry waited with much eagerness and
anxiety now for the coming night, which he hoped would dissipate one of
the fearful deductions which his imagination had drawn from recent
circumstances. He gave to Flora a pair of pistols of his own, upon which he knew he
could depend, and he took good care to load them well, so that there
could be no likelihood whatever of their missing fire at a critical
moment. "Now, Flora," he said, "I have seen you use fire-arms when you were much
younger than you are now, and therefore I need give you no instructions. If any intruder does come, and you do fire, be sure you take a good aim,
and shoot low." "I will, Henry, I will; and you will be back in two hours?" "Most assuredly I will." The day wore on, evening came, and then deepened into night. It turned
out to be a cloudy night, and therefore the moon's brilliance was
nothing near equal to what it had been on the preceding night Still,
however, it had sufficient power over the vapours that frequently
covered it for many minutes together, to produce a considerable light
effect upon the face of nature, and the night was consequently very far,
indeed, from what might be called a dark one. George, Henry, and Marchdale, met in one of the lower rooms of the
house, previous to starting upon their expedition; and after satisfying
themselves that they had with them all the tools that were necessary,
inclusive of the same small, but well-tempered iron crow-bar with which
Marchdale had, on the night of the visit of the vampyre, forced open the
door of Flora's chamber, they left the hall, and proceeded at a rapid
pace towards the church. "And Flora does not seem much alarmed," said Marchdale, "at being left
alone?" "No," replied Henry, "she has made up her mind with a strong natural
courage which I knew was in her disposition to resist as much as
possible the depressing effects of the awful visitation she has
endured." "It would have driven some really mad." "It would, indeed; and her own reason tottered on its throne, but, thank
Heaven, she has recovered." "And I fervently hope that, through her life," added Marchdale, "she may
never have such another trial." "We will not for a moment believe that such a thing can occur twice." "She is one among a thousand. Most young girls would never at all have
recovered the fearful shock to the nerves."