One November afternoon Leithen and I were coming home from a ride. We were cold and wet and
Ghost Stories
4 31
very tired.
`Let's look in at Fullcircle,' said Leithen. `It isn't far, and the Giffens will give us tea. You'll find a
few changes there.' `What changes?' I asked.
`Wait and see,' said Leithen with a smile.
I wondered about these changes as we rode towards the house. Nothing bad, surely; the little house
would never allow it.
The house was lovelier than ever. Outside it was a dark November day, but the house seemed full
of sunshine. A bright fire burned in the fireplace. There was a smell of wood smoke and flowers, and the
house felt as warm and as kind as summer.
We sat by the dining−room fire drinking our hot tea. I looked around for the changes that Leithen
had mentioned. I did not find them in Giffen. He was exactly as I remembered him, that June night after
our fishing. He looked like an intelligent, sensitive man, completely happy with his life. Was it my
imagination, or did he look a little like the picture of Lord Carteron? I looked at him, and then at the
picture. `Yes,' I thought. `There is something there.'
But his wife! Ah, the change was unmistakable. She was a little fatter, a little rounder. There were
rings on her pretty hands. She talked more and laughed more often.
`We're going to give a dance at Christmas,' she said. `Promise me you'll come. We must do
something to make the country cheerful in wintertime.'
`To me,' I said, `Fullcircle seems cheerful all through the year.
`How kind of you to say that!' she said. `If you say nice things about our house, you're really
saying them about us too. A house is just what its owners make of it.'
I was filling my pipe in the hall. I was just going to take it into the smoking−room when Giffen
stopped me.
`We don't smoke there now,' he said. He opened the door and I looked in. The bookshelves had
disappeared. It looked like a church. There was a little altar at one end of the room, and a big silver
cross. A silver lamp burned on the altar.
Giffen shut the door quietly. `Perhaps you didn't know. Some months ago my wife became a
Catholic. So we made this room into a chapel again. It always was a chapel, of course, in the days of the
Carterons and the Applebys.' `And you?' I asked.
`I don't think much about these things. But I'll do the same soon. It will please Ursula if we pray
together. And it can't harm anybody.'
One November afternoon Leithen and I were coming home from a ride. We were cold and wet andGhost Stories4 31very tired. `Let's look in at Fullcircle,' said Leithen. `It isn't far, and the Giffens will give us tea. You'll find afew changes there.' `What changes?' I asked. `Wait and see,' said Leithen with a smile. I wondered about these changes as we rode towards the house. Nothing bad, surely; the little housewould never allow it. The house was lovelier than ever. Outside it was a dark November day, but the house seemed fullof sunshine. A bright fire burned in the fireplace. There was a smell of wood smoke and flowers, and thehouse felt as warm and as kind as summer. We sat by the dining−room fire drinking our hot tea. I looked around for the changes that Leithenhad mentioned. I did not find them in Giffen. He was exactly as I remembered him, that June night afterour fishing. He looked like an intelligent, sensitive man, completely happy with his life. Was it myimagination, or did he look a little like the picture of Lord Carteron? I looked at him, and then at thepicture. `Yes,' I thought. `There is something there.' But his wife! Ah, the change was unmistakable. She was a little fatter, a little rounder. There wererings on her pretty hands. She talked more and laughed more often. `We're going to give a dance at Christmas,' she said. `Promise me you'll come. We must dosomething to make the country cheerful in wintertime.' 'ให้ฉัน ที่ผมบอกว่า, ' Fullcircle ดูเหมือนร่าเริงตลอดปี 'วิธีคุณใจจะบอกว่า ' เธอบอกว่า ' ถ้าคุณพูดสิ่งที่ดีเกี่ยวกับบ้านของเรา คุณจริง ๆบอกพวกเขาเกี่ยวกับเราเกินไป บ้านเป็นเพียงเจ้าของทำมัน.' ฉันก็เต็มท่อของฉันในห้องโถง ฉันเพียงจะนำไป smoking−room เมื่อ Giffenหยุดผม เขากล่าวว่า 'เราไม่สูบนั่นเลย เขาเปิดประตู และมองใน มีชั้นวางหนังสือหายไป มันดูเหมือนโบสถ์ ก็มีแท่นบูชาเล็ก ๆ ที่ปลายด้านหนึ่งของห้องพัก เงินใหญ่ข้าม ไฟสีเงินเผาบนแท่นบูชา Giffen ปิดประตูเงียบ ๆ ' คุณอาจไม่รู้จักกัน บางเดือนมาเป็นภรรยาของฉันมีคาทอลิก ดังนั้น เราทำห้องนี้ให้โบสถ์อีกครั้ง ก็จะได้ห้องสวดมนต์ แน่นอน ในวันCarterons และ Applebys .' ' และคุณ?' ถาม ' ผมไม่คิดมากเกี่ยวกับสิ่งเหล่านี้ แต่ฉันก็เหมือนกันเร็ว ๆ นี้ มันจะโปรด Ursula ถ้าเราอธิษฐานร่วมกัน และมันไม่สามารถทำอันตรายใคร '
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