"You cannot bury her in consecrated ground." " She was not Christian." " This is my ground." "It is the Lord's ground." "Then let the Lord refuse her." "She will not rest with Christian dead." "She will not rest because she is not dead." "To me." "And she will not die because she willed not to die." "Is her will stronger than the Lord's?" "These are her words:" ""Man need not kneel before the angels," ""nor lie in death forever," ""but for the weakness of his feeble will."" " Blasphemy." " Benediction." "Now hear mine." "She desecrates the earth in which she lies." "And her will rots with her bones." "Both are as damned and dead as the devil's soul." "A nervous contraction." "Nothing more." "Nothing more." "So silent now?" "Why don't you speak?" "Or you?" "Or you?" "Pray speak." "Or has the cat got your tongues?" "You must have met in hell." " The fox may go to ground, my lord." " Damn the fox." "Where's my daughter?" "Hey, I say where's my daught..." "Rowena!" "Hello, Christopher!" "Come on, boy!" " Rowena, the fox is..." " Bother the fox." "I found something far more intriguing." "Ligeia." "Now, puss." " What do you want?" " I heard her scream." "She was thrown by her mount." "I thought it unwise for her to move immediately." " In preventing it, I have frightened her." " Yes, quite." " I thought the abbey was deserted." " It is." "Save for myself, a servant and..." " Is she alright?" " Yes, quite alright, Christopher." "Verden?" "Good Lord!" "I never would have..." "Those glasses." "The result of a rather morbid reaction to sunlight." "But I thought... that not hearing from you..." "After the funeral..." "Perhaps you had better fetch the lady's horse." "Yes, of course." "Don't be frightened." "He's an old friend." "Lady Rowena Trevanion of Tremaine, may I present Mr. Verden Fell." " How do you do?" " How do you do?" "Sorry to have trampled these lovely asphodels." "They're so bright." "The flowers of death." "How very appropriate." " Take her in." "I'll fetch her father." " That won't be necessary." "I'm afraid it will." " You aren't blind, are you?" " No." "I live at night." "My vision is painfully acute." "Oh, no." "No, please!" "That light!" " I'm sorry." "I only thought..." " No." "No, please." "I'm sorry." "Kenrick!" "Sherry and some linen bandages." "The same cat?" " Is it broken?" " Doesn't appear to be." "It needs binding, however." "Ma'am?" "Thank you." "You do that rather well." "Where did you learn?" "I see." "Do you suppose I could make you smile?" " Do you ever laugh, Mr. Fell?" " Only at myself." " I see." " Do you?" "You keep saying "I see"" "but I think your vision is even more limited than mine." "Here, Father." " Are you alright?" " May I present..." "The doctor's here already?" "Splendid." " No, Father..." " Sure you're alright?" " Yes." " Good, I want to show you this." "Damnedest fox you ever saw." "Must be a freak." "Queer markings." "Never seen anything like it." " Father, please." " Lord Trevanion, Mr. Fell is..." " The doctor." "Terribly rude of me." " He is not..." "Doctor, what do you think of this fox?" "Of course, foxes aren't much in your line." "It belongs to the species Vulpes pallida." "Peculiar to Upper Egypt and the Nubian desert." "In Egyptian art it is found at the feet of Ashtopeth, goddess of ill-omened marriages," "as her pet." "Really?" "If it belongs in Egypt, what's it doing here?" "It was once kept here by the Lady Ligeia." "As a pet?" "A fox?" "Who on earth would do a thing like that?" "My wife." "I think we ought to be going now." "Christopher, help me on with my boot." " I know, but..." " I'm fine now, Father." " Did I say something?" " Of course not." "It's alright, Father." " Hey, the fox." " In the wicker, my lord." " No, it's not." " Beg your pardon, my lord?" "I said it's not." "Oh." "Where could it...?" "I mean..." " How could it?" " Perhaps you can tell me." "Through here." "But the fox was dead." "The cat was not." "It appears that the cat has made off with the fox." "But is that possible?" "Were it not possible, the fox would still be here." "I trust that your ankle will give you no further trouble." "This is a bit awkward." "Do you mind if I send your fee by messenger, Doctor?" "That won't be necessary." "Thank you." "Goodbye then." "Well?" "Has Ligeia's death changed him greatly?" "He's certainly changed." "But I never knew her." "Was he always so morose?" "A bit mysterious perhaps." " Do you like him?" " I don't think so." " But what has that to do with it?" " To do with what?" "With whom one is drawn to." "Whom one loves." "Even whom one marries." " Marry who?" " The doctor, Father." "Now you see here, my dear." "Willful little bitch, ain't she?" "Hell to be married to, I should think." "Her mother certainly was, God rest her soul." "I am told that Ligeia too was not without willfulness." "Peperel!" " Where the devil is..." " Behind you, my lord." "Damn me if I ever drink with Squire Daniels again." "Bad breeding only exceeded by worse whisky." "From Mr. Fell, sir." "Please see this reaches him imme..." "As soon as possible." " I'm riding to the village, I can..." " That won't be necessary." "Bye." "Well, off to the Assizes." " The Assizes?" " I've got an important brief." "How a gentleman can continue to practice law is beyond me." " My lady, I..." " Thank you, Peperel." "I thought it was..." "Never, never come here unannounced." "Do you understand?" "I do not like to be discovered unannounced." "Stop that!" "Stop it!" "I'll get you something." "I can't send you off shivering like a frightened kitten, can I?" "Come along." "Your hair." "It makes a shambles of the light." "Come along." "I dare say you've never had tea in the kitchen before." "No, I haven't." "Here." "Thank you." "Does she look like me?" "Who?" "The woman you seem so afraid will arrive unannounced." "Why did you come here?" "To deliver Christopher's reply to your note." "Really to see you." "Sugar?" "I have nothing to offer." "You make me want to offer you something." "Pity prompts you." "There are people one pities without being drawn to them." "I suppose I even pity Christopher." "He is blinded in his way too." "His life being simply law and logic." "To be so limited." "The beauty of such a life lies in its limitations." " And in accepting them." " Oh, I know." "I suppose I'm spoiled and terribly willful." "Willful?" "You don't even know the meaning of the word." "Now, I think you'd better go." "Why?" "Why must I go?" "Do you suppose I might be announced?" "I am expected." "Very good, sir." "You don't understand." "I can welcome no one here." " Not even in the kitchen?" " Wait." " Let me go." " Wait." "I'm sorry." "Please let me go." "That is after all what I want too, isn't it?" "To be let go." "Yes, of course." "Pale and cold and yet so much life." "It was her longing for life, only for life, that haunts me." "To want life so desperately that when she lost it her will to live remained alive." "My eyes see the shadows gather up her shape." "Seeing you." "And seeing her." "Yet when you thought I was Ligeia, you tried to attack me." "I don't remember." "Not very fetching, am I?" "Morose, moody and..." "I stagger about like some drunken Lord in the sun." "Seems as though you're always looking after my wounds." "Beg pardon, sir." "Mr. Christopher Gough wishes to be announced." "He's in the refectory." " Can I be helping, sir?" " Yes, Kenrick, please." "Take care of this." "Forgive me, my dear, but I must see Christopher." "Of course." "Kenrick, bring the Lady into the Great Hall when you've finished." "And please fetch my glasses." "I believe you'll find them by the portal." "Oh, and Kenrick," "I want that animal destroyed." "It's wax." "It's a reproduction." "I managed to make it myself." "You see, I am loath to open ancient tombs, rob a nation of its treasure, then call it archeology." " It's quite good." " Thank you." " 21st dynasty?" " No, 20th." "But a Delta dynasty." "Little known and less remembered." "You can tell by the eyes." "The eyes." "They confound me." "There's a blankness, a mindless sort of malice in some Egyptian arts." "They do not readily yield up the mystery they hold." "You were saying?" "Oh, yes, of course." "Forgive me." "Forgive my reverie." "Lately I seem to slip into reveries." "The Lady Rowena will join us presently." "But I have much to say to you before she does." "Not ten minutes ago I..." "I tried to kill a stray cat with a cabbage." "And all but made love to the Lady Rowena." "I succeeded in squashing the cabbage and badly frightening the Lady." "If only I could lay open my own brain as easily as I did that vegetable, what rot would be freed from its grey leaves?" "Let's go for a stroll." "A stroll, a walk." "What difference does it make?" "What was she, Kenrick?" " She, ma'am?" " Ligeia." "Perhaps none of you noticed but it seems she wasn't quite human." "So, what was she?" " Her hair was black, I believe." " Do you?" "Excellent." "Black on one of her heads and green on the other?" " Only one head, ma'am." " How disappointing." "But her eyes?" "Were they gold or silver?" "I don't remember." "But she did have eyes, I take it?" "Never mind, Kenrick." "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry." " Thank you." " I'm sorry, ma'am." " Are you?" " Yes, ma'am." "Early this day I found myself standing once again before Ligeia's grave, allowing me to observe a rather singular circumstance." "The date of her death had disappeared from Ligeia's tombstone." "Yet it was there yesterday when we came upon Lady Rowena." "I don't know which confounds me more, the defacing of the grave or the importance you put in it." " Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you?" " Well, it does." "It seems grotesque." " A malicious prank." " Whose malicious prank?" "Good Lord, Verden." "I don't know." "What are you trying to tell me?" "Simply that this occurrence is neither a prank nor malicious." "Look at that stone, Christopher." "Consider what has been cut from the marble." "Not her name, not the inscription." "Only the date of her death." "Where's the date of her birth?" "I never knew her age." "And consider how carefully it has been cut." "Surely not the work of any malicious prankster." "The ancients carved prophecies in their stone tombs." "This prank is also a prophecy." "Of what?" "From whom?" " Verden, this is surely something..." " Of return, Christopher." "Of Ligeia's return." "No." "Pray hear me out." "These words were among the last she ever spoke to me." ""Nor lie in death forever."" ""Man need not kneel before the angels," ""nor lie in death forever" ""save for the weakness of his feeble will."" "Ligeia's will was as fierce as her... as her body was frail." "Outwardly calm, even placid, she nevertheless pitted herself against death with a passion words are impotent to convey." "As her body progressively wasted she seemed to turn to the very stones of the abbey for renewed strength." "As if they could sustain that burning desire for life." "Only for life that ravaged her as much as the fever of disease." "In a sense Ligeia became the abbey." "She never entered or left a room, never walked down the darkest passageway without somehow illuminating it like a single moving candle." "Like a blind man, I could sense her presence when I could not see her in even the most trivial objects and actions." "Her voice in the rustle of draperies." "The lightness of her footfall in the fluttering of a moth's wing against a closed windowpane." "Even at the end she seemed to have vanquished death." "She smiled and said:" ""I will always be your wife." ""Your only wife." ""I have willed it."" "Have you ever tried to recall to memory something forgotten?" "Been upon the very verge of remembrance?" "And yet in the end being unable to remember?" "No." "If I fear, it's..." "It's for my mind that I fear." "What, after all, is madness but belief in... in what does not exist?" "I believed in Ligeia." "In her will." "And I believed too well." "Consider the skill and the instruments required to cut the date of her death from that stone." "And consider my skill with such instruments." "And consider my hand, guilty with marble." " I cut the date from that stone." " And you didn't know?" "Not until now." "So, you see, if I fear, it's..." " it's for my mind." " What?" "Why now?" "You must get away." "Find something, your work or someone..." "You're safe now, my darling." "You're safe with me." "When I was a child we stayed by the sea in a small house on a hill." "I remember very little of my childhood." "I lived with my father in the wild country." "What was your father like?" "Oh, he was a strong man." "His very manner was formed by the landscape." "In his forehead you could see the line of the hills against the sky." "I feel I want to begin again with you." "Take me somewhere I've never been." "Somewhere new, for us." "In Celtic religion, Stonehenge was a temple to the god of healing." "It was built more than 3,000 years ago." "And do you know why it remains today?" "Because it was built with a sense of purpose." "Stone by stone, like the pyramids in Egypt or like the Aztec towers in Mexico." " Like our abbey." " Yes, my dear." "Like our abbey." " Where are we?" " Won't be long now." "Christopher reached me by post when we were in Rome." "The papers for the sale of the abbey are almost all in order." "Tomorrow we'll have a party to celebrate our return and our leaving." "Well, here we are, my dear." "Come along." "For the moment this is your home, Rowena." "Welcome home, ma'am." "Your personal maid." " Ma'am." " Thank you." "Thank you." "They're simply lovely." "As long as we have to stay here, you will be comfortable." "I tell you it's not the fox, Doctor." "It's the hunt." "Your wits and a pack of hounds against sheer animal cunning?" " It's more than a sport." " For the fox, at any rate." "Your bride seems in an unusually reflective mood tonight." " The journey no doubt tired her." " Yes, I dare say." "What news on the sale of the abbey?" "Something rather awkward." "More difficulty over the estate lying in two counties?" "No." "What, then?" "The deed to the abbey is in Ligeia's name." "I could locate no certificate of her death." " What can be done?" " Nothing, without that." "There never was a certification." "Surely the authorities would have insisted on finding the cause of death." "The confusion of the two counties again." "Each assumed the other had seen to it - simple as that." "It's not as simple as that." "The abbey, much of the estate, is in her name." "Should this be discovered, there'll be an inquest." "Possibly more." "No one." "No one will go near Ligeia's grave." "We all hunt for different things in our lives, Baron." "A colleague of mine in Switzerland, a charlatan really, one Franz Mesmer, claims to have brought to ground some subtle and invisible fluid with miraculous healing powers." "Mesmer may be a charlatan, Doctor, but the power which he calls hypnotism is quite real." " You know the man?" " No." "But I knew an interested disciple." "One who sought relief from an incurable ill." "Were they cured?" "I say, were they cured?" " I think not." " You don't seem certain." "At any rate, hypnotism's effect on memory interests me more than its curative powers." "Through it one is able to call to mind things long forgotten." "Or to forget things best not called to mind." "And might we see a demonstration?" "Remember, I can't effect the sale until something more is done." "You see, legally Ligeia is still alive." " Still your wife." " I await your pleasure, sir." "Christopher, I must talk to you." "Until moments before you arrived, I've not seen Verden." "And something else." "Something horrible." "We mustn't keep our guests waiting." "This is a very pleasant surprise." "Is Lady Rowena going to assist you?" "Would you mind, my dear?" "Assisting me?" " No." " Sit down." "Kenrick, put out the candles." "My lord, I shall need your assistance too." "Please." "Doctor?" "Christopher." "Now, Rowena." "Just one thing." "What do you remember of your mother?" "Nothing, really." "Other than portraits." "She died when I was three." " Now, my dear..." " I missed you last night." "You had but to come to me." "I never left my room." "You must trust me." "Give over your will to mine." "No harm... no harm will come to you." "Give over your will to mine." "Your hands are melting into mine." "Very soon they will be one with mine." "You will try but you will not be able to." "You will try soon." "You will try soon." "You will try now." "But you will not, you cannot move them." "Close your eyes." "You may let loose of my hands now." "You wish to let loose of my hands now." "Because when you do, it will make you very happy." "Very young." "So young." "All brightness, and butterflies are a wonder to behold." "See them?" " See them?" " Yes." "There's one resting on a rose bush." "One whose wings you can almost touch." "Reach out, Rowena." "Touch those wings." "You can almost..." "No, it flew away." "No tears, Rowena." "There is no need to weep." "Your mother is coming." "Can you see her?" "What is she doing?" "What does your mother usually do when you are about to cry?" "She sings to me." "She sings to you." "What does she sing, Rowena?" "Sing it for us." "Will." "Who knoweth the mysteries of the will?" "The will herein lies which dies not." "Man need not kneel before the angels, nor lie in death forever, but for the weakness of his feeble will." "I will always be your wife." "Kenrick, the lights." "I'm so sleepy." "She'll rest more easily now." "I confess I am somewhat confounded by what I've just seen." " Should your require my assistance..." " Thank you, Doctor." " Good night." " Good night." "Don't go." "Please don't leave me tonight." "You need rest." "But there are things I must ask you." " Tell you." " Hush, my dear." "Tomorrow will be soon enough." "Should you need me, I'll be in my room." " But, Verden, I..." " Good night, my dear." "Good night." "I..." "Some things appeared in my room." "A dead fox, a saucer of milk." "Where have you been?" "Alone." "I was alone." "But where?" "Walking." "I awoke, dressed and walked." "I was restive." "Verden, for whom?" "Why have you got that food?" "Why?" "Sir, I thought I heard..." "Kenrick, can you explain this plate of food?" " I, sir?" " Yes, I found it outside of my room." "Well?" "Perhaps one of the maids may have mislaid it, sir." "One of the maids." "Yes." "Well, look into it." "Yes, sir." "Oh, and..." "Kenrick, the Lady Rowena found some... some things in her room." "Have them removed." "I'll join you at breakfast, my dear." "In the meanwhile, rest." "Ma'am?" "Please show me what has disturbed you." "I shan't be able to show you what has disturbed me." "Perhaps you could show me." "I'm truly sorry, ma'am." "I sleep alone," "I eat alone." "That's as it should be." "After all, I'm not his wife." "Am I?" "It's a legal technicality." "Is it, now?" "Along with the fox, the food, the saucer of milk." "My hairbrush filled with black hair, with her." "Are they just legal technicalities as well?" "But you said that these objects disappeared when..." "Someone else besides myself was there?" "Did you imagine her words on my lips last night?" "Words I had never heard before." " No." " That woman is alive." "There." "From somewhere in the abbey she comes to devil me, destroy me." "Somewhere in the abbey, her abbey, she is alive." "And with her husband." "Let's walk for a bit, my dear." "Make me a promise." "Don't ask for explanations." "We must be in a position to demand them." "And by tonight, we will be." "Promise." "Ma'am." "Is there something else I can fetch you, ma'am?" "Just my husband, Kenrick." "I'm sorry to come unannounced but..." "Oh, you always did stand on ceremony." "Yes, quite." "May I?" "Don't leave us, please." "Sir?" "Where is your master?" "As I've told the Lady Rowena, he's working on some ancient treasure." "In his study?" "Splendid." " Then send for him." " He's not there, sir." "Where else might he work?" "I say, where else might he work?" "I can't quite say, sir." "You can't say or you won't say?" "Which is it?" "Now, sit." "Go on." "If you are unsure of your master's whereabouts," " perhaps you'll answer another question." " Yes, sir?" "Where is Ligeia?" "I should have thought the answer to that is obvious." "She's lying beneath a white stone and a carpet of pretty red flowers." " Isn't that the case, Kenrick?" " Of course, sir." " It was only that..." " Yes?" "It was such a strange question to ask." "Quite." "Yes, quite." "Why do you suppose I should ask so strange a question?" " I..." " Come on, speak up." "Perhaps the Lady Ligeia has wearied of her final resting place." "Perhaps she prefers the company of Verden to the dubious comforts of her coffin." "Or perhaps..." "Look at me." " Perhaps she has never left his side." " No." " No, sir." " Well..." "Perhaps we shall have to look into Ligeia's grave and see." "Please, sir." "No more, please." "I've no wish to torment you." "Produce your master or point the way for me to find him." "Give me leave, sir." "You must give me leave." "Go to your room." "Lock the door." "In no circumstances leave it until I return." " But if Verden comes...?" " I can't promise all will be well." "But it will be done with, soon." " Have you another spade?" " Yes, sir." "Ma'am?" "Excuse me, ma'am." "These want watering." "I'll take them." "Thank you." " Anything else, then?" " No." "Thank you." "Good night, ma'am." " That'll do." " Right, sir." "You've earned your ale tonight." "It's wax!" "You must hurry, sir." "He's beyond my help now." "It's no use, Rowena." "He's beyond any of us now." "Beyond any shock." "Come with us." "He'll come alone when he can." "It's not his doing, ma'am." "It's hers." "The Lady Ligeia's." "Her eyes." "Before dying she held him with her eyes." "Like he did with you." "She told him she was not dying." "Would never die but would remain here waiting for him." "And that every night he must care for her, be with her." "And that during the day he must forget the nights." "And he would forget." "And yet sometimes I've seen him struggle to remember." "Struggle against her madness." "But the night always fell." "And with it, her madness always fell upon him." "And did you never try to tell him?" "When I tried he became still." "Like now." "He wouldn't see and wouldn't listen." "He's still held by her word." "Only she can release him." "And she is dead." "Verden, you must trust me." "Give over your will to mine." "Soon." "Very soon you will see standing before you Ligeia." "Look at me." "I am Ligeia." "Look at me now." "And listen." "And remember." "Remember everything." "Remember all I've ever asked of you." "And when you do remember, you will be free." "My will fails me, Verden." "I am dying." "I am dying." "And when I do, you will see me dead" "and remember it all." "AII." "It's too late, Christopher." "She wants a place to rest." "Please." "Leave me alone with my wife." "So you murdered her after all." "She killed Rowena and I killed Ligeia." "But that's Rowena's body." "It's Rowena." "But it was Ligeia." "It was Ligeia." "Christopher, take her and leave." "Think me mad, think whatever you will but leave this abbey now." "I know who is responsible." "Take Rowena out of here!" "Hello, Christopher."