so.”
Well, if she wanted to get rid of him! Curtis was petulant just then. Dr. Blythe had said to him a few days before, “Just pick her up and carry her off. Everything will come right then.”
As if the doctor knew anything of the real situation! He did not even sympathize with Alice.
He, Curtis, was a failure in everything ... his sermons were beginning to be flat ... Mr. Sheldon had hinted that and he knew it himself ... he was losing interest in his work. Dr. Blythe had told him so bluntly ... he wished he had never come to Mowbray Narrows.
He leaned out of his window to inhale the scented summer air. The night was rather ghostly. The trees about the farmyard could assume weird, uncertain shapes in such clouded moonlight. Cool, elusive night smells came up from the garden. A car went by ... the Ingleside car ... the doctor had evidently been summoned out on a night call. What a life a doctor’s was! Worse than a minister’s. Never sure of a decent night’s sleep. Yet Dr. Blythe seemed a happy man and his wife was worshipped in Glen St. Mary. They often came to the Mowbray Narrows church, probably out of their friendship for Curtis, as they were ardent Presbyterians.
Curtis felt soothed ... cheered. After all, there must be some way out. In spite of the Epworth Rectory, Curtis had no belief in such manifestations of the supernatural. He was young ... the world was good, just because Lucia and Alice were in it. He wouldn’t give up yet awhile. The “ha’nt” would make a mistake sometime and be caught.
The moon suddenly broke out between the parting clouds. Curtis found himself looking through the opposite dormer window into the guest room, the blind of which happened to be up. The room was quite clear to him in the suddenradiance and in the mirror on the wall near the window Curtis saw a face looking at him ... sharply outlined against the darkness which surrounded it. He saw it only for a moment before the clouds swallowed up the moon but he recognized it. The face was the face of Lucia!
He thought nothing of it then. Doubtless she had heard some noise and had gone to the guest room to investigate.
But when at breakfast the next morning he asked her what had disturbed her she met his gaze with a cool blankness.
“I was not disturbed last night,” she said.
“When you went to the guest room window,” he explained.
“I wasn’t near the guest room last night,” she said coolly. “I went to bed very early ... I was very tired ... it was one of Alice’s bad days, you know ... and slept soundly all night.”
She rose as she spoke and went out. She did not return nor did she make any further reference to the matter. Why had she ... lied? An ugly word but Curtis did not soften it. He had seen her. True, it was but for a moment, in a moonlit mirror, but he knew he was not mistaken. It was Lucia’s face ... and she had lied to him! True, it was none of his business why she was there ... but a lie was a lie. Did she walk in her sleep? No, he would have been sure to have been told if she did. There was nothing he had not been told about the Fields, true and untrue, he thought.
Curtis decided to leave Long Alec’s. He would board at the station which would be very inconvenient but go he must. He was sick at heart. He no longer wanted to find out who the Field ghost was. He was afraid to find out ... he was afraid he knew, although motive and means were still foggy.
Lucia turned a little pale when he told her but said nothing. Long Alec, in his usual easygoing fashion, agreed that it wouldbe best. He stared a little when Curtis bluntly asked him if his sister had ever been a sleepwalker.
“No,” he said, a trifle stiffly. “We’ve had a lot of things said about us, but never that, as far as I know.”
Alice approved with tear-filled eyes.
“Of course you must go,” she agreed. “The situation here is impossible for you. I hear that Dr. Blythe says it will drive you out of your mind. For once
Well, if she wanted to get rid of him! Curtis was petulant just then. Dr. Blythe had said to him a few days before, “Just pick her up and carry her off. Everything will come right then.”
As if the doctor knew anything of the real situation! He did not even sympathize with Alice.
He, Curtis, was a failure in everything ... his sermons were beginning to be flat ... Mr. Sheldon had hinted that and he knew it himself ... he was losing interest in his work. Dr. Blythe had told him so bluntly ... he wished he had never come to Mowbray Narrows.
He leaned out of his window to inhale the scented summer air. The night was rather ghostly. The trees about the farmyard could assume weird, uncertain shapes in such clouded moonlight. Cool, elusive night smells came up from the garden. A car went by ... the Ingleside car ... the doctor had evidently been summoned out on a night call. What a life a doctor’s was! Worse than a minister’s. Never sure of a decent night’s sleep. Yet Dr. Blythe seemed a happy man and his wife was worshipped in Glen St. Mary. They often came to the Mowbray Narrows church, probably out of their friendship for Curtis, as they were ardent Presbyterians.
Curtis felt soothed ... cheered. After all, there must be some way out. In spite of the Epworth Rectory, Curtis had no belief in such manifestations of the supernatural. He was young ... the world was good, just because Lucia and Alice were in it. He wouldn’t give up yet awhile. The “ha’nt” would make a mistake sometime and be caught.
The moon suddenly broke out between the parting clouds. Curtis found himself looking through the opposite dormer window into the guest room, the blind of which happened to be up. The room was quite clear to him in the suddenradiance and in the mirror on the wall near the window Curtis saw a face looking at him ... sharply outlined against the darkness which surrounded it. He saw it only for a moment before the clouds swallowed up the moon but he recognized it. The face was the face of Lucia!
He thought nothing of it then. Doubtless she had heard some noise and had gone to the guest room to investigate.
But when at breakfast the next morning he asked her what had disturbed her she met his gaze with a cool blankness.
“I was not disturbed last night,” she said.
“When you went to the guest room window,” he explained.
“I wasn’t near the guest room last night,” she said coolly. “I went to bed very early ... I was very tired ... it was one of Alice’s bad days, you know ... and slept soundly all night.”
She rose as she spoke and went out. She did not return nor did she make any further reference to the matter. Why had she ... lied? An ugly word but Curtis did not soften it. He had seen her. True, it was but for a moment, in a moonlit mirror, but he knew he was not mistaken. It was Lucia’s face ... and she had lied to him! True, it was none of his business why she was there ... but a lie was a lie. Did she walk in her sleep? No, he would have been sure to have been told if she did. There was nothing he had not been told about the Fields, true and untrue, he thought.
Curtis decided to leave Long Alec’s. He would board at the station which would be very inconvenient but go he must. He was sick at heart. He no longer wanted to find out who the Field ghost was. He was afraid to find out ... he was afraid he knew, although motive and means were still foggy.
Lucia turned a little pale when he told her but said nothing. Long Alec, in his usual easygoing fashion, agreed that it wouldbe best. He stared a little when Curtis bluntly asked him if his sister had ever been a sleepwalker.
“No,” he said, a trifle stiffly. “We’ve had a lot of things said about us, but never that, as far as I know.”
Alice approved with tear-filled eyes.
“Of course you must go,” she agreed. “The situation here is impossible for you. I hear that Dr. Blythe says it will drive you out of your mind. For once
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