The Ghost: A Modern Fantasy

e with satisfaction at the candid friendliness of her tone, and she had chatted quite gaily with Sullivan himself; and we had all been tremendously impressed

t beauty and charm, she was also the incarnation of the matter-of-fact. I am obliged to say this, though I fear that it may impair for some people the vision of her loveliness and her unique personality. She was the incarnation of the matter-of-fact, because she appeared to be invariably quite unconscious of the supremacy of

mly, dispassionately, as one of the various inexplicable matters with which one meets in a world absurdly called prosaic. I was sure that no trick had been played upon me. I was sure that I had actually seen in the crystal what I had described to E

be beautiful enough, may wield a power compared to which the sway of a Tsar, even a Tsar unhampered by Dumas, is impote

or Alresca's. He is progressing satisfactorily, so far as I can judge, but the dear fellow is thoroughly depressed. I saw him this afternoon,

cept it, th

ny gold watch, glis

e in ten minutes. You don't mind it being late, I

ide and happiness of being so close to her, and looking forward with a tremulous pleasure to the drive through London at her side.

face. Except the footmen and the attendants attached to the hotel, there were not half a dozen people in the entrance-hall at this moment. Sir Cyr

hey stared at each other. I wondered whether they had quarrelled again, or whether both were by some m

tion, put her hand to her hair a

eem fascinated by this little

d, but I noticed that his h

ognize it,

t he n

thin the last minute, I think I have suddenly discover

ips to speak, b

t is a real dagger,

he skin of her left arm between the top of her long glove and the slee

I said. "You migh

r the instant; but her ange

ir Cyril, t

on was decid

ril took t

had a musing and withdrawn expression. Sir Cyril stood stock-still, holding the dagger. What the surrounding lackeys thought of this singular episode I will not guess. Indeed, t

t or to ignore the remarkable incident. For some moments she sat silent, her head slightly bent, her cl

o me that what I had just witnessed had been a sudden and terrible crisis, not only in the life of Sir Cyr

r Square when she aroused herself,

ked, "that a doctor ca

ly," I

octor?" she said wi

ng doctor," I g

both l

said. "I can't help it, especi

l observation caused by the seriousness of my countena

poor Alresca. He is the rarest gentleman and th

e can't break one's

thigh. It is

ha

, to indicate her

ont of the portals of the Devonshire, and out of that other hansom had stepped the famous Toddy MacWhister. Great man as Toddy was, he had an eye on "saxpences," and it was evident that, in spite of the instructions which he had given me as to the disposal of Alresca, Toddy was claiming the patient for his own. I retired. It was

sca want to see me about

u," said Rosa, e

nce fo

upset him-that n

h me to

not have asked you. Do you imagine it is my habit

did upset h

nk I was

d

are right,"

s not older than I. And were she Rosetta Rosa, or a mere miss taken at hazard out of a drawin

r firmly. "And I will venture to inform y

exclaimed.

g-room. If I had been in Alresca's place I know that

n-" she

said, "I

ad she stopped the carriage and deposited me on the pavement by the railings of Green Park. Bu

is in love with me, and I chose

odd

t, to account for any mysterious depress

You don't know his strength of mind. I can assure you that it

royin

s too far removed from his body, and even from his mind, to be seriously influen

hink

h Alresca is something

form no idea

de no

an't cure such disea

ry," said R

e to try?"

lined h

n passionateness, forgetting eve

than a quarter of an hour, so it seemed to

k on a couch in a large and luxuriously littered drawing-room. The pallor of his face and the soft brilliance of his eyes were inf

now, after I have inquired about your health,

But you must not go yet. It is many days since I

-ni

to-n

shall

o that I hea

who will accompany? You know I si

together al

said, "but I know the who

osa laughed. "I'm sure

despicably nervous. Before the song was finished I had lost everything but hon

nce was unforgettable. Many times since then have I heard Rosa sing, many times in my hearing has she excited a vast audience to overwhelming enthusiasm; but never, to my mind, has

e crimson to her cheek. He was probably the one person living who had the ri

ook her hand in his and kissed it. "You

m

and I notice that you alway

just met-met some one whom I never expected t

d ni

and soothingly o

resca seemed to be ov

Dr. Todhunter MacWhister's advice that you ke

o'clock. Must I change because of a broken thigh? In an hour's time, and not before, my people will carry this couch and its burden to my bedroom. Then I shall pretend to sleep; but I shall not sleep. Somehow of late the ha

sional etiquette, "and I could not think of administering

lful treatment of me at the time of my accident. To-day the little Scotchman told me that my thigh was progressing quite admirably, and that all I needed was nursing. I suggested to him that you should fini

s, I put on a vast seriousness (which must really have been very funny to behold), and then I thanked Alresca in formal phrases, and then, quite in the correct professional style, I began to make gentl

eplied, "except a gradual los

the main organs, and subjecting h

fter I had finished, I

s that your fancy is too lively. That is

me entreat you to be frank. Without absolute candor nothing can be done. I think I am a to

I thought of all that Rosetta Rosa had sai

There is no organic disease, but there is a quite unaccountable organic weakness-a weakness which fifty broken thighs would not explain. I must observe, and endeavor to discover the cause. In

ped. As for the willpower, that is another matter," a

. It was nearly

ents longer. I hav

eyes, as though to recall the opening s

at your servi

al attendance upon myself, whom until the other day you had never met. I am a stranger to you, and on the part of a stranger it would be presumptuous to ask you to alter your plans. Nevertheless, I am at this moment capable of that pre

ders in protest aga

d suit each other-that I should derive benefit from your skill and pleasure from your society, while you-you would

have agreed to this suggestion of Alresca's. As he himself had said,

at the affair had. Perhaps from the vague idea that by attaching myself to Alresca I should be brought again into contact with Rosetta Ro

id, "that you are not altog

nd I smiled with t

er independently of my own volition. The

ery good

ll be disarranged. Further, I count it an honor; and, moreover, your

ges, of

urprised that I shou

onderful old city of Flanders, is the

t it is the most picturesque city in Euro

ruges," he said. "Bruges the Dead the

that I shall recon

an appearance of gaiety. "I am happier now. W

a sea voyage to-morrow! Do you know that under the most favorable circumstances it will be anothe

iety p

ore wee

ear

operation at once. You will visit m

am sure I shall be c

picturesqueness of Nuremburg, the waterways of Amsterdam, the squares of Turin, the monuments of Perugia, the cafés of F

affair?" I

cannot boast of much family. My mother made lace, my father wa

e, and at that instant there was a tap at the

ieur

exis. L

Alresca's hour for retiring, I ros

y hand. "I shall expect you to-morrow, and in the m

ened it he made a civil remark about the

sh, aren't you

s,

xis is such a peculiar

eur Alresca when I entered his service se

lf a sovereign into his hand, "I percei

so,

you heard, I am coming to live here with yo

s,

ng from some mysteriou

me as m

what that c

ms low like, and he gets lower, especially duri

By the way, haven't you

rnor dismissed 'em yesterday. He told me they worr

he nights-you mean he shows the effect

so,

u aware if your master has any secret trouble o

ir, I

Smedley. G

, sir, and

e root of the evil; but I remembered Rosa's words to me in the carriage, and I was disposed to agree with them. To me, as to her, it seemed that, though Alresca was the sort of man to

d after quitting the Devonshire I stood idly on the pave

our, to my busy fancy, seemed full of fate. But it was favorable to meditation, and I thought, and thought, and thought. Was I at the beginning of an adventure, or would the business, so strangely initiated, resolve itself into something prosaic and mediocre? I had a suspici

ard to Rosetta Rosa? Was the thing a coincidence, or had I indeed crossed her path pursuant to some strange decree of Fate-a d

pretty and clever girl. She was such a creature as grows in this world not often in a century. She was an angel out of Paradise-an angel who might pass across Europe and leave behind her a trail of broken hearts to mark the transit. And

g? Why should such exalted personages think twice about a mere student of medicine who had had the good fort

that Rosa and myself were, in fact, drawn together by chance or fate, or whatever you like to call it, had not disaster been prophesied in that e

and as I did so I suddenly knew that some one was standing by the railings opposite, under the shadow of the great t

had the appearance of being a gentleman of the highest distinction. His face was clean-shaven, and I noticed the fine, firm chin, and the clear, unblinking eyes. He stood quite still, and as I approached looked m

ab at this time of night?" I asked as ligh

, merely gazing at me as

yself. "The fellow must be d

in the dim light, for the dawn was already heralded, I saw the glitter of jewels. I stooped and picked the thing up. It was the same little dagger which b