“How, then, did you know anything about it?”
“By inference. Given an old castle, inferred a haunted room. Come, now, show it to us, dear Mrs. Kelsy.”
“No, you cannot see the haunted chamber, young miss. It has not been opened for ten years or more.”
“Come! This is getting to be exciting, and I declare I will see it, if I die for it,” said Wynnette.
“Not through my means, you will not, young lady. But there is the luncheon bell, and we had better go down.”
They returned to the inhabited parts of the house, and were shown by the housekeeper to the morning room, where the luncheon table was spread.
There they found Mr. and Mrs. Force. Their host had not yet joined them.
“My dear,” said Mr. Force, in a low voice, addressing Odalite, “we have had a consultation in the library. It is almost certain that Lady Mary Anglesea died one year before the time stated as that of her death. It is best, however, that we go down to Angleton and search for evidence in the church and mausoleum. Therefore, it is decided that Leonidas and myself go to Lancashire to-morrow to investigate the facts, leaving your mother, sisters, and self here. We shall only be absent for a few days.”
“Oh, papa! then you will take poor John Kirby’s letter and parcel to his old father there? You see, they live only a few miles from Angleton,” said Wynnette.
“Yes, dear, I will take them,” assented the squire. “And, Odalite, my love,” he added, turning to his eldest daughter, “if all goes well we shall have a merry marriage here at Enderby.”