f then, my good friend? you are not
superstitious?' 'No, not superstitious; but, to tell you the truth,
lady, nobody likes to go near that chateau, after dusk.' 'By whom is it
inhabited,' said Emily, 'that it is so formidable?' 'Why, ma'amselle,
it is scarcely inhabited, for our lord the Marquis, and the lord of all
these find woods, too, is dead. He had not once been in it, for these
many years, and his people, who have the care of it, live in a cottage
close by.' Emily now understood this to be the chateau, which La Voisin
had formerly pointed out, as having belonged to the Marquis Villeroi, on
the mention of which her father had appeared so much affected.

'Ah! it is a desolate place now,' continued La Voisin, 'and such a
grand, fine place, as I remember it!' Emily enquired what had occasioned
this lamentable change; but the old man was silent, and Emily, whose
interest was awakened by the fear he had expressed, and above all by
a recollection of her father's agitation, repeated the question, and
added, 'If you are neither afraid of the inhabitants, my good friend,
nor are superstitious, how happens it, that you dread to pass near that
chateau in the dark?'

'Perhaps, then, I am a little superstitious, ma'amselle; and, if you
knew what I do, you might be so too. Strange things have happened
there. Monsieur, your good father, appeared to have known the late
Marchioness.' 'Pray inform me what did happen?' said Emily, with much
emotion.

'Alas! ma'amselle,' answered La Voisin, 'enquire no further; it is not
for me to lay open the domestic secrets of my lord.'--Emily, surprised
by the old man's words, and his manner of delivering them, forbore to
repeat her question; a nearer interest, the remembrance of St. Aubert,
occupied her thoughts, and she was led to recollect the music she heard
on the preceding night, which she mentioned to La Voisin. 'You was not
alone, ma'amselle, in this,' he replied, 'I heard it too; but I have so
often heard it, at the same hour, that I was scarcely surprised.'

'You doubtless believe this music to have some connection with the
chateau,' said Emily suddenly, 'and are, therefore, superstitious.' 'It
may be so, ma'amselle, but there are other circumstances, belonging to
that chateau, which I remember, and sadly too.' A heavy sigh followed:
but Emily's delicacy restrained the curiosity these words revived, and
she enquired no further.

On reaching the cottage, all the violence of her grie