I had often heard it rumoured in the village that
Rownam avenue was haunted, and that the apparition was a lady in
white, and no other than Sir E.C.'s wife, whose death at a very early
age had been hastened, if not entirely accounted for, by her husband's
harsh treatment. Whether Sir E.C. was really as black as he was
painted I have never been able to ascertain; the intense animosity
with which we all regarded him, made us believe anything ill of him,
and we were quite ready to attribute all the alleged hauntings in the
neighbourhood to his past misdeeds. I believe my family, with scarcely
an exception, believed in ghosts; anyhow, the subject of ghosts was
so often discussed in my hearing that I became possessed of an
ungovernable curiosity to see one. If only "The White Lady" would
appear in the daytime, I thought, I should have no difficulty in
satisfying this curiosity, but unfortunately she did not appear till
night--in fact, not until long after boys of my age had been
ruthlessly ordered off to bed. I did not quite like the idea of
stealing out of the house at dead of night and going alone to see the
ghost, so I suggested to my schoolfellow that he should also break
loose one night and accompany me to Rownam to see "The White Lady." It
was, however, of no use. Much as he would have liked to have seen a
ghost in broad daylight, it was quite another matter at night, to say
nothing of running the risk of being caught trespassing by that
inveterate enemy, Sir E.
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