"Remarkable, is it not? Very remarkable. We never know a moment when, from same most trifling cause, we may receive really some serious bodily harm. How true it is, Mr. Bannerworth, that in the midst of life we are in death."
"And equally true, perhaps," said Henry, "that in the midst of death there may be found a horrible life."
"Well, I should not wonder. There are really so many strange things in this world, that I have left off wondering at anything now."
"There are strange things," said Henry. "You wish to purchase of me the Hall, sir?"
"If you wish to sell."
"You—you are perhaps attached to the place? Perhaps you recollected it, sir, long ago?"
"Not very long," smiled Sir Francis Varney. "It seems a nice comfortable old house; and the grounds, too, appear to be amazingly well wooded, which, to one of rather a romantic temperament like myself, is always an additional charm to a place. I was extremely pleased with it the first time I beheld it, and a desire to call myself the owner of it took possession of my mind. The scenery is remarkable for its beauty, and, from what I have seen of it, it is rarely to be excelled. No doubt you are greatly attached to it."
"It has been my home from infancy," returned Henry, "and being also the residence of my ancestors for centuries, it is natural that I should be so."
"True—true."
"The house, no doubt, has suffered much," said Henry, "within the last hundred years."