CASE VII
"PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK
Few ghosts have obtained more notoriety than "Pearlin' Jean," the
phantasm which for many years haunted Allanbank, a seat of the
Stuarts.
The popular theory as to the identity of the apparition is as
follows:--
Mr. Stuart, afterwards created first baronet of Allanbank, when on a
tour in France, met a young and beautiful French Sister of Charity of
the name of Jean, whom he induced to leave her convent. Tiring of her
at length, Mr. Stuart brutally left her, and, returning abruptly to
Scotland, became engaged to be married to a lady of his own
nationality and position in life. But Jean was determined he should
not escape her so easily. For him she had sacrificed everything: her
old vocation in life was gone, she had no home, no honour,--nothing,
so she resolved to leave no stone unturned to discover his
whereabouts. At last her perseverance was rewarded, and, Fortune
favouring her, she arrived without mishap at Allanbank.
The truth was then revealed to her: her cruel and faithless lover was
about to be wedded to another. But despair gave her energy, and,
burning with indignation, she hastened to his house to upbraid him.
She reached the spot just as he was driving out with his fiancee. With
a cry of anguish, Jean rushed forward and, swinging herself nimbly on
to the fore-wheel of the coach, turned her white and passionate face
towards its occupants.
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