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Page 65
"The warder retired, and I commenced my devotions. I continued at them
earnestly; pausing from time to time to put wood upon the fire. I did
not dare to look much around me, for I felt myself becoming a prey to
fearful fancies. The pictures appeared to become animated. If I regarded
one attentively, for any length of time, it seemed to move the eyes and
lips. Above all, the portraits of the Grand Seneschal and his lady,
which hung on each side of the great chimney, the progenitors of the
Foulquerres of T�tefoulque, regarded me, I thought, with angry and
baleful eyes: I even fancied they exchanged significant glances with
each other. Just then a terrible blast of wind shook all the casements,
and, rushing through the hall, made a fearful rattling and clashing
among the armor. To my startled fancy, it seemed something supernatural.
"At length I heard the bell of the hermit, and hastened to quit the
hall. Taking a solitary light, which stood on the supper-table, I
descended the winding stair-case; but before I had reached the vaulted
passage leading to the statue of the blessed Jeanne of France, a blast
of wind extinguished my taper. I hastily remounted the stairs, to light
it again at the chimney; but judge of my feelings, when, on arriving at
the entrance to the armory, I beheld the Seneschal and his lady, who had
descended from their frames, and seated themselves on each side of the
fire-place! "'Madam, my love,' said the Seneschal, with great formality,
and in antiquated phrase, 'what think you of the presumption of this
Castilian, who comes to harbor himself and make wassail in this our
castle, after having slain our descendant, the commander, and that
without granting him time for confession?'
"'Truly, my lord,' answered the female spectre, with no less stateliness
of manner, and with great asperity of tone; 'truly, my lord, I opine
that this Castilian did a grievous wrong in this encounter; and he
should never be suffered to depart hence, without your throwing him the
gauntlet.' I paused to hear no more, but rushed again down-stairs, to
seek the chamber of the warder. It was impossible to find it in the
darkness, and in the perturbation of my mind. After an hour and a half
of fruitless search, and mortal horror and anxieties, I endeavored
to persuade myself that the day was about to break, and listened
impatiently for the crowing of the cock; for I thought if I could hear
his cheerful note, I should be reassured; catching, in the disordered
state of my nerves, at the popular notion that ghosts never appear after
the first crowing of the cock.
"At length I rallied myself, and endeavored to shake off the vague
terrors which haunted me. I tried to persuade myself that the two
figures which I had seemed to see and hear, had existed only in my
troubled imagination. I still had the end of the candle in my hand, and
determined to make another effort to re-light it, and find my way to
bed; for I was ready to sink with fatigue. I accordingly sprang up the
stair-case, three steps at a time, stopped at the door of the armory,
and peeped cautiously in. The two Gothic figures were no longer in the
chimney corners, but I neglected to notice whether they had reascended
to their frames. I entered, and made desperately for the fire-place, but
scarce had I advanced three strides, when Messire Foolques Taillefer
stood before me, in the centre of the hall, armed cap-�-pie, and
standing in guard, with the point of his sword silently presented to
me. I would have retreated to the stair-case, but the door of it was
occupied by the phantom figure of an esquire, who rudely flung a
gauntlet in my face. Driven to fury, I snatched down a sword from the
wall: by chance, it was that of the commander which I had placed there.
I rushed upon my fantastic adversary, and seemed to pierce him through
and through; but at the same time I felt as if something pierced my
heart, burning like a red-hot iron. My blood inundated the hall, and I
fell senseless.
"When I recovered consciousness, it was broad day, and I found myself in
a small chamber, attended by the warder and the hermit. The former told
me that on the previous night, he had awakened long after the midnight
hour, and perceiving that I had not come to his chamber, he had
furnished himself with a vase of holy water, and set out to seek me. He
found me stretched senseless on the pavement of the armory, and bore me
to this room. I spoke of my wound, and of the quantity of blood that I
had lost. He shook his head, and knew nothing about it; and to my
surprise, on examination, I found myself perfectly sound and unharmed.
The wound and blood, therefore, had been all delusion. Neither the
warder nor the hermit put any questions to me, but advised me to leave
the castle as soon as possible. I lost no time in complying with their
counsel, and felt my heart relieved from an oppressive weight, as I left
the gloomy and fate-bound battlements of T�tefoulques behind me.
"I arrived at Bayonne, on my way to Spain, on the following Friday. At
midnight I was startled from my sleep, as I had formerly been; but it
was no longer by the vision of the dying commander. It was old Foulques
Taillefer who stood before me, armed cap-�-pie, and presenting the point
of his sword. I made the sign of the cross, and the spectre vanished,
but I received the same red-hot thrust in the heart which I had felt in
the armory, and I seemed to be bathed in blood. I would have called out,
or have arisen from my bed and gone in quest of succor, but I could
neither speak nor stir. This agony endured until the crowing of the
cock, when I fell asleep again; but the next day I was ill, and in a
most pitiable state. I have continued to be harassed by the same vision
every Friday night; no acts of penitence and devotion have been able to
relieve me from it; and it is only a lingering hope in divine mercy,
that sustains me, and enables me to support so lamentable a visitation."
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