it was not until a copious flood of tears had relieved her, that
she became sufficiently calm to relate the cause of her excitement and
distress. It was simply this. Almost immediately upon lying down upon
the bed she sank into a feverish and unrefreshing slumber; images of all
grotesque shapes and startling colours flitted before her sleeping fancy
with all the rapidity and variety of the changes in a kaleidoscope. At
length, as she described it, a mist seemed to interpose itself between
her sight and the ever-shifting scenery which sported before her
imagination, and out of this cloudy shadow gradually emerged a figure
whose back seemed turned towards the sleeper; it was that of a lady,
who, in perfect silence, was expressing as far as pantomimic gesture
could, by wringing her hands, and throwing her head from side to side,
in the manner of one who is exhausted by the over indulgence, by the
very sickness and impatience of grief; the extremity of misery. For
a long time she sought in vain to catch a glimpse of the face of the
apparition, who thus seemed to stir and live before her. But at length
the figure seemed to move with an air of authority, as if about to give
directions to some inferior, and in doing so, it turned its head so as
to display, with a ghastly distinctness, the features of Lady Ardagh,
pale as death, with her dark hair all dishevelled, and her eyes dim
and sunken with weeping. The revulsion of feeling which Miss
F----d experienced at this disclosure--for up to that point she had
contemplated the appearance rather with a sense of curiosity and of
interest, than of anything deeper--was so horrible, that the shock awoke
her perfectly. She sat up in the bed, and looked fearfully around the
room, which was imperfectly lighted by a single candle burning dimly, as
if she almost expected to see the reality of her dreadful vision lurking
in some corner of the chamber. Her fears were, however, verified, though
not in the way she expected; yet in a manner sufficiently horrible--for
she had hardly time to breathe and to collect her thoughts, when she
heard, or thought she heard, the voice of her sister, Lady Ardagh,
sometimes sobbing violently, and sometimes almost shrieking as if in
terror, and calling upon her and Lady D----, with the most imploring
earnestness of despair, for God's sake to lose no time in coming to her.
All this was so horribly distinct, that it seemed as if the mourner
was standing within a