"I thought I did, but I must have been mistaken. Terrified as we were, how could we trust the evidence of our senses? And do you suppose there's a lock in the house in proper order?"
"It must have been my fancy. Did you see nothing?"
How should I answer her? Revive her terror by telling her that she was under no delusion, but that the spectral figure of the young girl had really presented itself; or, out of kindness to her, strive to banish her fears by a pardonable falsehood?
Before I decided how to act I felt it necessary to ascertain whether the cat lying in full view to me was visible to her.
"Maria," I said, "take the evidence of your senses. Look round the room--at the door, at the walls, at the ceiling, on the floor--and tell me what you see."
With timid eyes she obeyed, and glanced in every direction, not omitting the spot upon which the skeleton cat was lying.
"I don't see anything, Edward."
"Does not that prove that the figure you spoke of was a trick of the imagination?"
"You actually saw nothing?"
"Nothing."