"No one further from it," he dropped, and now he fixed his eyes on her face. Her eyes fell under his, when she went on.
"For some time past, I have suffered from a most frightful visitation in the night."
"Visitation! What sort of visitation?"
She turned visibly cold while she answered, "It was last Wednesday fortnight that I awoke in the middle of the night—that is between two and three in the morning, when it was getting quite light, and I saw—"
She choked a little, and stopped.
"Well!" said Mr. Gurney, "What did you see?"
"I saw at the bottom of the bed, a most hideous—a most detestable face—gibbering, and making mouths at me."
"A face!"
"Yes; I could see only the face (except, indeed, a hand upon the bedpost), because it peeped round the bedpost from behind the curtain. The curtains are drawn down to the foot of the bed."
She stole a look at Mr. Gurney. He was rolling his head; and there was a working about his mouth before he asked—