h, which is now swallowing its
thousands in the streets of the great city, was foretold six months
agone, under the exorcisms of a country minister, by a visible and
suppliant ghost! And what pleasures and improvements do such deny
themselves who scorn and avoid all opportunity of intercourse with souls
separate, and the spirits, glad and sorrowful, which inhabit the unseen
world!"

VIII

THE GHOST OF LORD CLARENCEUX

By ARNOLD BENNETT[2]

In the chair which stood before the writing-table in the middle of the
room sat the figure of Lord Clarenceux. The figure did not move as I
went in; its back was towards me. At the other end of the room was the
doorway, which led to the small bedroom, little more than an alcove, and
the gaze of the apparition was fixed on this doorway. I closed the door
behind me and locked it, and then stood still. In the looking-glass over
the mantelpiece I saw a drawn, pale, agitated face, in which all the
trouble in the world seemed to reside; it was my own face. I was alone
in the room with the ghost--the ghost which, jealous of my love for the
woman it had loved, meant to revenge itself by my death. The ghost, did
I say? I looked at it; no one would have taken it for an apparition.
Small wonder that till the previous evening I had never suspected it to
be other than a man. It was dressed in black; it had the very aspect of
life. I could follow the creases in the black coat, the direction of the
nap of the silk hat. How well by this time I knew the faultless black
coat and that impeccable hat! Yet it seemed that I could not examine
them too closely. I pierced them with the intensity of my fascinated
glance. Yes, I pierced them, for, showing faintly through the coat, I
could discern the outline of the table which should have been hidden by
the man's figure, and through the hat I could see the handle of the
French window.

As I stood motionless there, solitary in the glow of the electric light
with this fearful visitor, I began to wish that it would move. I wanted
to face it--to meet its gaze with my gaze, eye to eye, and will against
will. The battle between us must start at once, I thought, if I was to
have any chance of victory, for, moment by moment, I felt my resolution,
my manliness, my mere physical courage slipping away.

But the apparition did not stir. Impassive, remorseless, sinister, it
was content to wait, well aware that all suspense was in its favour.
Then I said to m