inquired I, anxious to learn
anything whatever that might throw a light upon the history of this
person, who seemed to have resolved to mix herself up in my fortunes. "Why, my lady," answered Martha, "the master often calls her the Dutch
hag, and other names you would not like to hear, and I am sure she is
neither English nor Irish; for, whenever they talk together, they speak
some queer foreign lingo, and fast enough, I'll be bound. But I ought
not to talk about her at all; it might be as much as my place is worth
to mention her, only you saw her first yourself, so there can be no
great harm in speaking of her now." "How long has this lady been here?" continued I. "She came early on the morning after your ladyship's arrival," answered
she; "but do not ask me any more, for the master would think nothing of
turning me out of doors for daring to speak of her at all, much less to
_you_, my lady." I did not like to press the poor woman further, for her reluctance to
speak on this topic was evident and strong. You will readily believe that upon the very slight grounds which my
information afforded, contradicted as it was by the solemn oath of my
husband, and derived from what was, at best, a very questionable source,
I could not take any very decisive measures whatever; and as to the
menace of the strange woman who had thus unaccountably twice intruded
herself into my chamber, although, at the moment, it occasioned me some
uneasiness, it was not, even in my eyes, sufficiently formidable to
induce my departure from Cahergillagh. A few nights after the scene which I have just mentioned, Lord
Glenfallen having, as usual, retired early to his study, I was left
alone in the parlour to amuse myself as best I might. It was not strange that my thoughts should often recur to the agitating
scenes in which I had recently taken a part. The subject of my reflections, the solitude, the silence, and the
lateness of the hour, as also the depression of spirits to which I had
of late been a constant prey, tended to produce that nervous excitement
which places us wholly at the mercy of the imagination. In order to calm my spirits I was endeavouring to direct my thoughts
into some more pleasing channel, when I heard, or thought I heard,
uttered within a few yards of me, in an odd, half-sneering tone, the
words,--

"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat." So vivid was the impression that I started to my feet, and involuntarily
placed my hand upon my neck. I looked around the room for the speaker, but in vain. I went then to the room-door, which I opened, and peered into the
passage, nearly faint with horror lest some leering, shapeless thing
should greet me upon the threshold. When I had gazed long enough to assure myself that no strange object was
within sight,--

"I have been too much of a rake lately; I am racking out my nerves,"
said I, speaking aloud, with a view to reassure myself. I rang the bell, and, attended by old Martha, I retired to settle for
the night. While the servant was--as was her custom--arranging the lamp which I
have already stated always burned during the night in my chamber, I was
employed in undressing, and, in doing so, I had recourse to a large
looking-glass which occupied a considerable portion of the wall in which
it was fixed, rising from the ground to a height of about six feet; this
mirror filled the space of a large panel in the wainscoting opposite the
foot of the bed. [Illustration: SOMETHING LIKE A BLACK PALL WAS SLOWLY WAVED.] I had hardly been before it for the lapse of a minute when something
like a black pall was slowly waved between me and it. "Oh, God! there it is," I exclaimed, wildly. "I have seen it again,
Martha--the black cloth." "God be merciful to us, then!" answered she, tremulously crossing
herself. "Some misfortune is over us." "No, no, Martha," said I, almost instantly recovering my collectedness;
for, although of a nervous temperament, I had never been superstitious. "I do not believe in omens. You know I saw, or fancied I saw, this thing
before, and nothing followed." "The Dutch lady came the next morning," replied she. "But surely her coming scarcely deserved such a dreadful warning," I
replied. "She is a strange woman, my lady," said Martha; "and she is not _gone_
yet--mark my words." "Well, well, Martha," said I, "I have not wit enough to change your
opinions, nor inclination to alter mine; so I will talk no more of the
matter. Good-night," and so I was left to my reflections. After lying for about an hour awake, I at length fell into a kind of
doze; but my imagination was very busy, for I was startled from this
unrefreshing sleep by fancying that I heard a voice close to my face
exclaim as before,--

"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat." The words were instantly followed by a loud burst of laughter. Quaking with horror, I awakened, and heard my husband enter the room. Even this was a relief. Scared as I was, however, by the tricks which my imagination had played
me, I preferred remaining silent, and pretending to sleep, to attempting
to engage my husband in conversation, for I well knew that his mood was
such, that his words would not, in all probability, convey anything that
had not better be unsaid and unheard. Lord Glenfallen went into his dressing-room, which lay upon the
right-hand side of the bed. The door lying open, I could see him by
himself, at full length upon a sofa, and, in about half an hour, I
became aware, by his deep and regularly drawn respiration, that he was
fast asleep. When slumber refuses to visit one, there is something peculiarly
irritating, not to the temper, but to the nerves, in the consciousness
that some one is in your immediate presence, actually enjoying the boon
which you are seeking in vain; at least, I have always found it so, and
never more than upon the present occasion. A thousand annoying imaginations harassed and excited me; every object
which I looked upon, though ever so familiar, seemed to have acquired
a strange phantom-like character, the varying shadows thrown by the
flickering of the lamplight seemed shaping themselves into grotesque and
unearthly forms, and whenever my eyes wandered to the sleeping figure
of my husband, his features appeared to undergo the strangest and most
demoniacal contortions. Hour after hour was told by the old clock, and each succeeding one found
me, if possible, less inclined to sleep than its predecessor. It was now considerably past three; my eyes, in their involuntary
wanderings, happened to alight upon the large mirror which was, as I
have said, fixed in the wall opposite the foot of the bed. A view of it
was commanded from where I lay, through the curtains.