Young minds have a
reluctance almost insurmountable to believing, upon anything short of
unquestionable proof, the existence of premeditated guilt in anyone
whom they have ever trusted; and in support of this feeling I was
assured that if the assertion of Lord Glenfallen, which nothing in
this woman's manner had led me to disbelieve, were true, namely that
her mind was unsound, the whole fabric of my doubts and fears must
fall to the ground. I determined to state to Lord Glenfallen freely and accurately the
substance of the communication which I had just heard, and in his words
and looks to seek for its proof or refutation. Full of these thoughts,
I remained wakeful and excited all night, every moment fancying that I
heard the step or saw the figure of my recent visitor, towards whom I
felt a species of horror and dread which I can hardly describe. There was something in her face, though her features had evidently been
handsome, and were not, at first sight, unpleasing, which, upon a nearer
inspection, seemed to indicate the habitual prevalence and indulgence
of evil passions, and a power of expressing mere animal anger with an
intenseness that I have seldom seen equalled, and to which an almost
unearthly effect was given by the convulsive quivering of the sightless
eyes. You may easily suppose that it was no very pleasing reflection to me to
consider that, whenever caprice might induce her to return, I was within
the reach of this violent and, for aught I knew, insane woman, who had,
upon that very night, spoken to me in a tone of menace, of which her
mere words, divested of the manner and look with which she uttered them,
can convey but a faint idea. Will you believe me when I tell you that I was actually afraid to leave
my bed in order to secure the door, lest I should again encounter the
dreadful object lurking in some corner or peeping from behind the
window-curtains, so very a child was I in my fears? The morning came, and with it Lord Glenfallen. I knew not, and indeed I
cared not, where he might have been; my thoughts were wholly engrossed
by the terrible fears and suspicions which my last night's conference
had suggested to me. He was, as usual, gloomy and abstracted, and I
feared in no very fitting mood to hear what I had to say with patience,
whether the charges were true or false. I was, however, determined not to suffer the opportunity to pass, or
Lord Glenfallen to leave the room, until, at all hazards, I had
unburdened my mind. "My lord," said I, after a long silence, summoning up all my firmness,
"my lord, I wish to say a few words to you upon a matter of very great
importance, of very deep concernment to you and to me." I fixed my eyes upon him to discern, if possible, whether the
announcement caused him any uneasiness; but no symptom of any such
feeling was perceptible. "Well, my dear," said he, "this is no doubt a very grave preface, and
portends, I have no doubt, something extraordinary. Pray let us have it
without more ado." He took a chair, and seated himself nearly opposite to me. "My lord," said I, "I have seen the person who alarmed me so much a
short time since, the blind lady, again, upon last night." His face,
upon which my eyes were fixed, turned pale; he hesitated for a moment,
and then said:

"And did you, pray, madam, so totally forget or spurn my express
command, as to enter that portion of the house from which your promise,
I might say your oath, excluded you? Answer me that!" he added fiercely. "My lord," said I, "I have neither forgotten your _commands_, since
such they were, nor disobeyed them. I was, last night, wakened from my
sleep, as I lay in my own chamber, and accosted by the person whom I
have mentioned. How she found access to the room I cannot pretend to
say." "Ha! this must be looked to," said he, half reflectively. "And pray,"
added he quickly, while in turn he fixed his eyes upon me, "what did
this person say? since some comment upon her communication forms, no
doubt, the sequel to your preface." "Your lordship is not mistaken," said I; "her statement was so
extraordinary that I could not think of withholding it from you. She
told me, my lord, that you had a wife living at the time you married me,
and that she was that wife." Lord Glenfallen became ashy pale, almost livid; he made two or three
efforts to clear his voice to speak, but in vain, and turning suddenly
from me, he walked to the window. The horror and dismay which, in the
olden time, overwhelmed the woman of Endor when her spells unexpectedly
conjured the dead into her presence, were but types of what I felt when
thus presented with what appeared to be almost unequivocal evidence of
the guilt whose existence I had before so strongly doubted. There was a silence of some moments, during which it were hard to
conjecture whether I or my companion suffered most. Lord Glenfallen soon recovered his self-command; he returned to the
table, again sat down, and said:

"What you have told me has so astonished me, has unfolded such a tissue
of motiveless guilt, and in a quarter from which I had so little reason
to look for ingratitude or treachery, that your announcement almost
deprived me of speech; the person in question, however, has one excuse,
her mind is, as I told you before, unsettled. You should have remembered
that, and hesitated to receive as unexceptionable evidence against the
honour of your husband, the ravings of a lunatic. I now tell you that
this is the last time I shall speak to you upon this subject, and, in
the presence of the God who is to judge me, and as I hope for mercy in
the day of judgment, I swear that the charge thus brought against me is
utterly false, unfounded, and ridiculous. I defy the world in any point
to taint my honour; and, as I have never taken the opinion of madmen
touching your character or morals, I think it but fair to require that
you will evince a like tenderness for me; and now, once for all, never
again dare to repeat to me your insulting suspicions, or the clumsy and
infamous calumnies of fools. I shall instantly let the worthy lady who
contrived this somewhat original device understand fully my opinion upon
the matter. Good morning." And with these words he left me again in doubt, and involved in all the
horrors of the most agonizing suspense. I had reason to think that Lord Glenfallen wreaked his vengeance upon
the author of the strange story which I had heard, with a violence which
was not satisfied with mere words, for old Martha, with whom I was a
great favourite, while attending me in my room, told me that she feared
her master had ill-used the poor blind Dutchwoman, for that she had
heard her scream as if the very life were leaving her, but added a
request that I should not speak of what she had told me to any one,
particularly to the master. "How do you know that she is a Dutchwoman?"