Catherine's Quest Page #3

"Catherine's Quest" is a captivating novella by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, revolving around the titular character, Catherine. The story explores themes of love, identity, and the supernatural as Catherine embarks on a journey marked by mystery and intrigue. Set against a backdrop of rich Gothic elements, the narrative delves into her encounters with enigmatic figures and the struggles she faces in her search for truth and fulfillment. Le Fanu's evocative prose and gripping storytelling create an engaging tale that combines romance with an exploration of the darker facets of human nature.

• Horror

								

"but in order to quell the active imaginations which I can see are
running away with some of you"--here he looked round with a smile--"I
will send for Dr. Driscoll to come and examine them to-morrow. I have
also found a piece of parchment in the chest," he added; "but I have not
yet looked at its contents."

"Before you do that, Mr. Fanshawe, and before you send for the surgeon,"
interrupted Catherine suddenly in a clear voice, "I think I can tell you
all about the bones found in the chest, and how I guessed them to be
there."

"I should certainly be very glad to be told," my husband admitted, much
surprised; "though how you can possibly know, I cannot surmise."

"Listen, and I will tell you," answered Catherine; and feeling very glad
that our curiosity was at last to be gratified, we all "pricked up our
ears," as George would say, to listen.

I here transcribe Catherine's story word for word, as my son George
subsequently wrote it down from her dictation.

       *       *       *       *       *

"You all remember," she began, "my alarming you on New Year's eve at
midnight, and that I told you I was disturbed by a dreadful dream.

"I said so because I thought you would make fun of me if I called it a
vision; and yet it was much more like a vision, for I seemed to see it
waking, and it was more vivid and consecutive than any dream I ever had.

"Before I try to describe it, I want you all to understand that I seemed
intuitively to comprehend what I saw, and to recognize all the figures
which appeared before me, and their relation to one another, though I am
sure I never beheld them before in my life.

"When Ella left me that night, I lay propped up with pillows, staring
idly at the strange shadows thrown by the hidden lamp across the laundry
ceiling and over the floor. As I looked it seemed to me that a change
came over the room--a most unaccountable change.

"Instead of the blocked-up window, the rusty mangle, and the daïs at the
farther end, I saw the window clear and distinct from top to bottom, and
in front of a deep window-seat at its base stood an oaken chest, exactly
corresponding to the one discovered this morning. The room seemed
brilliantly lighted, and everything was clearly and distinctly visible;
and not only was it changed, but also peopled.

"Many figures passed up and down; brocaded silks swept the floor, and
old-world forms of men in strange costumes bowed in courtly style to the
dames by their side. Among all these figures I noticed only one couple
particularly, and I knew them to be bride and bridegroom. The man was
tall and broad, with dark hair and eyes, and a sensual and cruel face.
He seemed, however, to be quite enslaved by the woman by his side, whom
I hardly even now like to think of, there was something to me so
repellent in her presence.

"She was tall and of middle age, and would have been handsome were it
not for a sinister expression in her dark flashing eyes, which was
enhanced by the black eyebrows which met over them.

"She reminded me irresistibly of the effigy on the stone monument in
Craymoor church, which Ella and I named "the wicked woman."

"As I gazed on the strange scene before me I presently became aware of
three other figures which I had not noticed before. They were standing
in a small arched doorway in one corner of the room (where the servants'
bedroom now is) furtively watching the gay company. One was a pale,
careworn woman, apparently of about five-and-thirty, still beautiful,
though haggard and mournful-looking, with blue eyes and a fair
complexion.

"Her hands rested on the shoulders of two children, one a boy and the
other a girl, of about ten and eleven years of age respectively. They
much resembled their mother, and, like her, they were meanly dressed,
though no poverty of attire could hide the nobility of their aspect. I
noticed that the mother's eyes rested chiefly on the face of the tall
stately man before mentioned, who seemed unaware or careless of her
presence; and instinctively I knew him to be the father of her children
and the blighter of her life.

"As I looked and beheld all this, the lights vanished, the company
disappeared, and the room became dark and deserted. No, not quite
deserted, for I presently distinguished, seated on the window-seat by
the old oaken chest, the fair woman and her children again.

"The moonlight now streamed through the window upon the woman's face,
making it appear more ghastly and haggard than before. In her long thin
fingers she was holding up to the light a necklace of large pearls,
curiously interwoven in a diamond pattern, and on this the children's
eyes were fixed.

"She then hung it on the girl's fair neck, who hid it in her bosom. Both
children then twined their arms round their mother and kissed her
repeatedly, while her head sank lower and lower, and the paleness of
death overspread her features.

"This scene faded away as the other had done, and I saw the fair woman
no more.

"Then it seemed to me that many figures passed and repassed before the
window--the wicked woman (as I shall call her to distinguish her),
accompanied by a boy the image of herself, whom I knew to be her son. He
was apparently older than the fair-haired children, who also passed to
and fro, attired as servants, and generally employed in some menial
work.

"At last the wicked woman's son, with haughty gestures, ordered the
other boy to pick up something that lay on the ground, and when he
refused, he raised his cane as though to strike him. Before he could do
so, however, the boy flew at him, and they engaged in a fierce struggle.

"In the midst of this the wicked woman, whom I had learned to dread,
came forward and separated them; after which she pointed imperiously to
the door, and signed to the younger boy to go out.

"He obeyed her mandate, but first threw his arms round his sister in a
last embrace, and she detached the pearl necklace from off her neck and
gave it to him. He then went out, waving a last adieu to her, and I saw
him no more.

"Confused images seemed to crowd before me after this, and I remember
nothing clearly until I beheld an infirm and tottering figure led away
through the arched doorway, in whom I recognized the tall and stately
man I had first seen in company with the wicked woman, but who was now
an old man, apparently being supported to his bed to die. As he passed
out he laid one trembling hand upon the head of the fair girl, now a
blooming woman, and a softer shade came over his face. This the wicked
woman noted, and she marked her disapproval by a vindictive frown.

"She also was older-looking, but age had in no degree softened her
features; on the contrary, they appeared to me to wear a harsher
expression than before.

"In the next scene which came before me, the wicked woman's son was
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