choice, she meant to live and die a
maid.

After dinner was over, Herr Mahok remained in the dining-room to
entertain the Fraulein--that is to say, he seated himself in an
armchair, folded his hands upon his rotund stomach, closed his eyes,
and during a sweet doze heard the clatter of Emerenzia's sharp voice.

The abbe went with the countess into her private sitting-room. She sat
upon the sofa, her eyes on the ground, waiting with much inward
trepidation to hear what sentence so exalted a personage would
pronounce upon the demoniacal possession. As he did not speak, she in
a timid voice began--

"Has my confessor told you the terrible secret of the castle?"

"He has told me all that he knows."

"And what view would the authorities of the Church take, do you
think?"

"My individual opinion, countess, is that the whole thing is a
conspiracy of the living."

"Of the living!" repented the countess. "And my visions?"

"Those can be explained by psychological means. You are of a
susceptible, nervous temperament; your senses are made acquainted with
the first portion of the history, your imagination works out the
remainder. Your dreams, countess, are hallucinations, nothing else.
Visible ghosts do not exist; those who are dead cannot live and move,
for the reason that their organic powers are at an end."

The countess shook her head incredulously. To say the truth, she was
ill-pleased. She had expected from so high and intellectual an
ecclesiastic a very different explanation. If he could only tell us
this, it was, indeed, lost trouble to send so far for him.

Herr Samuel was quick enough to read in her face what was passing in
her mind, and hastened to apply a radical cure.

"Countess, I know you doubt what I say, because you have firm faith in
what your eyes have seen, your ears have heard. You are quite
convinced that you yourself have been many times in the haunted vault,
and have there seen the spirits of your departed ancestors."

"Only last night," whispered the countess, in an awed voice, "the
tumult was fearful. They told me they would come again to-night, that
they would expect me."

"And have you promised to go to them?"

"When day comes I shudder from the idea, but at night some strange,
mysterious power draws me to the vault; I know all fear will vanish,
and I shall not be able to stay away."

"Very good. Then to-night I shall go with you to the vault of your
ancestors."

At these words a su