"What more was needed to set me longing for it? 'Here is a very beautiful book,' said Mr. Almer, 'full of wonderful pictures; it is yours, if you like--but, beware, you must not open it.' Think of saying that to a woman!"
"You are a true daughter of Eve. Almer's offer was unwise; his caution still more unwise."
"The moment he warned me against the villa, I fell in love with it. I shall discover a romance there."
"I, too, would warn you against it----"
"You are but whetting my curiosity," she interrupted playfully.
"Seriously, though. Master Lamont, in his letter, says that the house has not been inhabited for nearly a generation----"
"There must be ghosts there," she said, again interrupting him. "It will be delightful."
"And Master Lamont's remark," continued the Advocate, "that there have been comedies and tragedies enacted within its walls is not a recommendation."
"I have heard you say, Edward, that they are enacted within the walls of the commonest houses."
"But this particular house has been for so long a time deserted! I am in ignorance of the stories attached to it; that they are in some sense unpleasant is proved by Almer's avoidance of the place. What occurs to me is that, were it entirely desirable, Almer would not have made it a point to shun it."