It seemed strange to me that so sinister a man as Lord
Rantremly, who, I had heard, cared for nothing but drink and gambling,
should have desired to promote this historical research, and, indeed,
I soon found he felt nothing but contempt for it. However, he had
undertaken it at the instance of his only son, then a young man of my
own age, at Oxford University.
'Lord Rantremly at that time was sixty-five years old. His countenance
was dark, harsh, and imperious, and his language brutal. He indulged
in frightful outbursts of temper, but he paid so well for service that
there was no lack of it, as there has been since the ghost appeared
some years ago. He was very tall, and of commanding appearance, but
had a deformity in the shape of a club-foot, and walked with the
halting step of those so afflicted. There were at that time servants
in plenty at the castle, for although a tradition existed that the
ghost of the founder of the house trod certain rooms, this ghost, it
was said, never demonstrated its presence when the living
representative of the family was a man with a club-foot. Tradition
further affirmed that if this club-footed ghost allowed its halting
footsteps to be heard while the reigning lord possessed a similar
deformity, the conjunction foreshadowed the passing of title and
estates to a stranger.
Pages:
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264