Part 16 (1/2)
Miss Porter might have been in a dream all through the night--granted.
But in these cases it is the ”morning that brings counsel.” We are all aware of the extraordinary lifelike dreams which, with the return of normal memory, we recognise as dream visions, no matter how vivid and credible they may have appeared to us in the night.
But with Miss Porter this normal process was reversed. She went to sleep quite calmly, and first realised, upon waking in the morning, how thoroughly _abnormal_ her experiences had been.
I pa.s.s on to the next criticism, which a little ”editing” on my part could have averted:
”Is it credible that a woman, only just recovering from the surprise and marvel of such an experience, should write about it, within a few hours, to a favourite cousin, as if she were preparing a story for _The Family Herald_?”
I confess that this was my own feeling when the record was placed in my hands.
We must, however, remember--first, that the percipient was obviously a lady of great courage, or she would not have followed her ghost into the garden; secondly, that she was a keen observer and very accurate in details. Probably, many generations of schoolboys, pa.s.sing through her hands, may have quickened her perceptions in both these ways.
As for the stilted style, that presents little difficulty, when one remembers that people of a certain rank in life never use a short word when a long one will answer the purpose!
I claim nothing for the story, beyond the points already mentioned.
These are matters of _fact_.
Each one must interpret it according to his own views and prejudices.
It is quite enough for me to be responsible for the truth and accuracy of _my own_ experiences, to which we will now return.
_Note._--Since writing the above I have consulted the ”Century Encyclopaedia,” and find there:
”Oglethorpe--James Edward, born in London, December 21st, 1696, died at Cranham Hall, Ess.e.x, England, 1785. An English General and Philanthropist. He projected the Colony of Georgia for insolvent debtors, and persecuted Protestants; conducted the expedition for its settlement, 1733, and returned to England, 1743.”
The apparent discrepancy between the date 1733 given in the Encyclopaedia, and the 1738 of Captain Carbury's ghostly narrative, may be due to one of two causes:
The young girl copying Miss Porter's letter may have mistaken a three for an eight rather easily.
Again, Captain Carbury did not state that he landed _with_ General Oglethorpe, 19th September 1738, but with General Oglethorpe's regiment.
This latter may have been a reinforcement sent out to the General after his first landing in the Colony.
CHAPTER VII
LADY CAITHNESS AND AVENUE WAGRAM
Having spent the winter months of 1894 (from January to April) in Egypt, I was returning thence in the latter month with my friend Mrs Judge of Windsor. Our route was _via_ Paris, and I had arranged to spend a week there in the same hotel as the young Swedish lady whom I first met in India, and who has been referred to more than once in this record.
She told me she had made the acquaintance that winter of the famous ”Countess of Caithness and d.u.c.h.esse de Pomar,” and thinking it would interest me to meet this lady, she had asked for permission to introduce me to her.
As it turned out, Madame Brugel was unable to accompany me to the house, having several engagements for the afternoon, but she promised to ”put in an appearance” later. So Mrs Judge and I drove off to the well-known mansion in the Avenue de Wagram, and were received very cordially by Lady Caithness.
I had once tried to read a very abstruse and mystic book by this lady, and had heard her spoken of as a more or less hopeless lunatic, ”who imagined herself Mary Queen of Scots,” and so forth.
Otherwise I went without prejudice, and being accustomed to judge for myself in such matters, came to the conclusion that Lady Caithness was an extremely shrewd woman, with her head remarkably ”well screwed on,”