At her bosom
was a bunch of heliotrope, which, deftly undoing, she raised to her
nose and then laughingly held out to me. I was charmed; I took a step
forward towards her. The instant I did so, a wild look of terror
distorted her face, she waved me back, something jarred against my
knee, and, in the place of the room, I saw only the blurred outline
of trees through the yellow window-panes.
Bitterly disappointed, but absolutely sure that what I had seen was
objective, I retraced my steps to my bedroom and passed the remainder
of the night in sound sleep.
After breakfast, however, unable to restrain my curiosity longer, I
sought Miss Amelia, who was easier to approach than her sister, and,
managing after several efforts to screw up courage, blurted out the
story of my nocturnal escapade.
My aunt listened in silence. She was always gentle, but on this
occasion she surpassed herself.
"I am not going to scold you, Esther," she said, smoothing out my
curls. "After what you have seen it is useless to conceal the truth
from you. God perhaps intends you to know all. Years ago, Esther, this
house was not as you see it now. It had two wings, and, in the one
that no longer exists was the bedroom you saw in your vision. We
called it the Green Room because everything in it was green, your Aunt
Alicia--an aunt you have never heard of--who slept there, having a
peculiar fancy for that colour.
"Alicia was our youngest sister, and we all loved her dearly.
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