, as might have been anticipated, very
materially affected the gay house-keeping of the castle; and the dark
and melancholy spirit of its master seemed to have communicated itself
to the very domestics, almost to the very walls of the mansion.

Several years rolled on in this way, and the sounds of mirth and wassail
had long been strangers to the castle, when Sir Robert requested his
lady, to her great astonishment, to invite some twenty or thirty of
their friends to spend the Christmas, which was fast approaching, at
the castle. Lady Ardagh gladly complied, and her sister Mary, who still
continued unmarried, and Lady D---- were of course included in the
invitations. Lady Ardagh had requested her sisters to set forward as
early as possible, in order that she might enjoy a little of their
society before the arrival of the other guests; and in compliance with
this request they left Dublin almost immediately upon receiving the
invitation, a little more than a week before the arrival of the festival
which was to be the period at which the whole party were to muster.

For expedition's sake it was arranged that they should post, while Lady
D----'s groom was to follow with her horses, she taking with herself
her own maid and one male servant. They left the city when the day was
considerably spent, and consequently made but three stages in the first
day; upon the second, at about eight in the evening, they had reached
the town of K----k, distant about fifteen miles from Castle Ardagh.
Here, owing to Miss F----d's great fatigue, she having been for a
considerable time in a very delicate state of health, it was determined
to put up for the night. They, accordingly, took possession of the best
sitting-room which the inn commanded, and Lady D----remained in it
to direct and urge the preparations for some refreshment, which the
fatigues of the day had rendered necessary, while her younger sister
retired to her bed-chamber to rest there for a little time, as the
parlour commanded no such luxury as a sofa.

Miss F----d was, as I have already stated, at this time in very delicate
health; and upon this occasion the exhaustion of fatigue, and the dreary
badness of the weather, combined to depress her spirits. Lady D----
had not been left long to herself, when the door communicating with the
passage was abruptly opened, and her sister Mary entered in a state of
great agitation; she sat down pale and trembling upon one of the chairs,
and