“It stood,” he said, “in the corner by the window, leaning over your desk. As I regarded it, it turned, looked at me, and was gone.” He paused a moment, before he went on. “I was calm on the whole; I searched the room thoroughly; there was no explanation. Some might say, perhaps, that the very nature of our business invites its visitations. If you feel nervous—that spot, henceforth, and its associations—”
She rose hurriedly, interrupting him. Seeing her so white, he instinctively advanced an arm to her support. She caught and held to it, more in her secret heart from emotion than weakness.
“I would not surrender it—the place where I sit—for the world,” she said, in a low full voice—“the least if I thought that any troubled soul had sought it for help and counsel.”
“Now, before God,” said Gilead, “that is to regard it in the gentle light—not Christian but Christlike. Yes, some troubled soul. You shame me out of fear.”
“Tell me,” she said, looking in his face—“did you see this apparition plainly?”
“For the moment,” he answered, “as plainly as I see you now.”
“Can you describe it?”
“Yes, I can describe it. It bore the appearance of—no, it was a young woman, very young and in a way attractive. There was an expression on her face—how can I explain it? Can you imagine a spoilt child, its tearful pettishness corrected for the first time in its life by a heavy blow? The shock, the amazement, the rising flood of self-pity—they seemed all there in suspense. I am putting it very badly, I know, but that is the impression it conveyed to me. As to distinctive features, there was a very definite vertical line between the eyebrows, apparent even in repose, and quite peculiar in so pretty a face. That, and the protruding very scarlet lower lip—but, after all, I am no more than generalizing; and it was vivid—ineffaceable. Does it suggest anything whatever to you?”
“I cannot be quite sure—the general impression—tell me, how was she dressed?”
“Ah! dressed? I am not certain I can remember. She was slight; she wore a large black mushroom-shaped hat with cherries in it; I noticed that her neck was white, because her frock was cut rather low about it, and that her arms were bare from the elbow. And I noticed—yes, I noticed that she had on a wedding-ring, for her closed left hand was lifted to the light.”