For a moment, Mr. Stuart was too dumbfounded to
do anything; he could scarcely believe his senses. Who on earth was
this frantic female? Good Heavens! Jean! Impossible! How on earth had
she got there? And the tumultuous beating of his guilty heart turned
him sick and faint.
Then he glanced fearfully and covertly at his fiancee. _She_ must not
know the truth at any cost. Possibly he lost his head! At all events,
that is the kindest construction to put on his subsequent action,
for, dastardly as his behaviour had been to Jean in the past, one can
hardly imagine him capable of deliberately murdering her, and in so
horrible a fashion. There was not a second to lose; an instant more,
and the secret, that he had so assiduously hidden from the lady beside
him, would be revealed. Jean's mouth was already open to speak. He
waved her aside. She adhered to her post. He shouted to the postilion,
and the huge, lumbering vehicle was set in motion. At the first turn
of the wheels, Jean slipped from her perch, her dress caught in the
spokes, and she was crushed to death.
Her fate does not appear to have made any deep impression either on
Mr. Stuart or his lady-love, for they continued their drive.
The hauntings began that autumn. Mr. Stuart, as was only fit and
proper, being the first to witness the phenomenon. Returning home from
a drive one evening, he perceived to his surprise the dark outlines of
a human figure perched on the arched gateway of his house, exactly
opposite the spot where Jean had perished.
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