akorn - Mighty Old Tales Retold

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XXII - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XXII
Wilkie Collins
Having closed and secured the door on Lady Montbarry's departure, Agnes put on her dressing-gown, and, turning to her open boxes, began the business of unpacking. In the hurry of making her toilet for dinner, she had taken the first dress that lay uppermost in the trunk, and had thrown her travelling costume on the bed. She now opened the doors of the wardrobe for the first time, and began to hang her dresses on the hooks in the large compartment on one side.
 

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XXI - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XXI
Wilkie Collins
Lord and Lady Montbarry were received by the housekeeper; the manager being absent for a day or two on business connected with the affairs of the hotel.
The rooms reserved for the travellers on the first floor were three in number; consisting of two bedrooms opening into each other, and communicating on the left with a drawing-room. Complete so far, the arrangements proved to be less satisfactory in reference to the third bedroom required for Agnes and for the eldest daughter of Lord Montbarry, who usually slept with her on their travels. The bed-chamber on the right of the drawing-room was already occupied by an English widow lady.

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XX - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XX
Wilkie Collins
Shall I see you again?' she asked, as she held out her hand to take leave. 'It is quite understood between us, I suppose, about the play?'
Francis recalled his extraordinary experience of that evening in the re-numbered room. 'My stay in Venice is uncertain,' he replied. 'If you have anything more to say about this dramatic venture of yours, it may be as well to say it now. Have you decided on a subject already? I know the public taste in England better than you do—I might save you some waste of time and trouble, if you have not chosen your subject wisely.'

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XIX - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XIX
Wilkie Collins
Avoiding the crowd under the colonnades, Francis walked slowly up and down the noble open space of the square, bathed in the light of the rising moon.
Without being aware of it himself, he was a thorough materialist. The strange effect produced on him by the room—following on the other strange effects produced on the other relatives of his dead brother—exercised no perplexing influence over the mind of this sensible man. 'Perhaps,' he reflected, 'my temperament is more imaginative than I supposed it to be—and this is a trick played on me by my own fancy?

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XVIII - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Ch XVIII
Wilkie Collins
Before the end of the week, the manager found himself in relations with 'the family' once more. A telegram from Milan announced that Mr. Francis Westwick would arrive in Venice on the next day; and would be obliged if Number Fourteen, on the first floor, could be reserved for him, in the event of its being vacant at the time.
The manager paused to consider, before he issued his directions.

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Chs XVI and XVII - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Fourth Part, Chs XVI and XVII
Wilkie Collins
It was only the twentieth of September, when Agnes and the children reached Paris. Mrs. Norbury and her brother Francis had then already started on their journey to Italy—at least three weeks before the date at which the new hotel was to open for the reception of travellers.
The person answerable for this premature departure was Francis Westwick.

The Haunted Hotel - Third Part, Chs XIV and XV - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Third Part, Chs XIV and XV
Wilkie Collins
As the summer months advanced, the transformation of the Venetian palace into the modern hotel proceeded rapidly towards completion.
The outside of the building, with its fine Palladian front looking on the canal, was wisely left unaltered. Inside, as a matter of necessity, the rooms were almost rebuilt—so far at least as the size and the arrangement of them were concerned. The vast saloons were partitioned off into 'apartments' containing three or four rooms each. The broad corridors in the upper regions afforded spare space enough for rows of little bedchambers, devoted to servants and to travellers with limited means. Nothing was spared but the solid floors and the finely-carved ceilings.

The Haunted Hotel - Third Part, Ch XIII - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Third Part, Ch XIII
Wilkie Collins
In the spring of the year 1861, Agnes was established at the country-seat of her two friends—now promoted (on the death of the first lord, without offspring) to be the new Lord and Lady Montbarry. The old nurse was not separated from her mistress. A place, suited to her time of life, had been found for her in the pleasant Irish household. She was perfectly happy in her new sphere; and she spent her first half-year's dividend from the Venice Hotel Company, with characteristic prodigality, in presents for the children.
Early in the year, also, the Directors of the life insurance offices submitted to circumstances, and paid the ten thousand pounds.

The Haunted Hotel - Second Part, Ch XII - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Second Part, Ch XII
Wilkie Collins
“Do you think she is mad?' Agnes asked.
'I think she is simply wicked. False, superstitious, inveterately cruel—but not mad. I believe her main motive in coming here was to enjoy the luxury of frightening you.'
'She has frightened me. I am ashamed to own it—but so it is.'
Henry looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and seated himself on the sofa by her side.
'I am very anxious about you, Agnes,' he said.

The Haunted Hotel - Second Part, Ch XI - Wilkie Collins

The Haunted Hotel - Second Part, Ch XI
Wilkie Collins
Lady Montbarry, Miss.'
Agnes was writing a letter, when the servant astonished her by announcing the visitor's name. Her first impulse was to refuse to see the woman who had intruded on her. But Lady Montbarry had taken care to follow close on the servant's heels. Before Agnes could speak, she had entered the room.
'I beg to apologise for my intrusion, Miss Lockwood. I have a question to ask you, in which I am very much interested. No one can answer me but yourself.