(read chapter 1)

Chapter 2

Northanger Abbey

Eleanor rode in the chaise-and-four with the General, while Henry and Catherine rode together in the curricle. Frederick had decided to stay in Bath before he was to join his regiment. After a few hours of quiet travel, Henry exclaimed:

“Now! Look there!”

Catherine turned her head towards the direction he was pointing at, and there it was. Northanger Abbey. She was instantly awe-struck at the sight of so spectacular a building. Like Udolpho, it was made of grey stones and looked very antique and melancholy. Tho' it had been a monastic building, the battlements on top of the high walls made it look like a fortress from another time. “Silent, lonely, and sublime, it seemed to stand the sovereign of the scene, and to frown defiance on all, who dared to invade its solitary reign.” Catherine remembered by heart from her book.

“It is exactly as I imagined” she said. “It is just like what we read about.”

 “Ah yes, novels. Are you prepared, then, to encounter all of its horrors?” was Henry's amused reply.

“Horrors? Is Northanger haunted then?” cried Catherine, somewhat bemused.

“Well, that is the least of it. Dungeons and sliding panels, skeletons, strange, unearthly cries in the night that pierce your very soul.”

“And vampires? Do not say vampires. I could bear anything, but not vampires!”

Henry laughed, obviously gently mocking her. Becoming serious again, he added: “Well, I have to say, there is a kind of vampirism. No, let us just say that all houses have their secrets, and Northanger is no exception.”

By then, they had arrived in front of the main entrance. Henry helped Catherine alight from the carriage and they joined Eleanor and the General on the first steps.

“Welcome to Northanger Abbey, miss Morland!” exclaimed the General. “As you can see, it is but a modest country house. It was bought by our family under the reign of queen Elizabeth, and has been improved here and there since. As you will see when Eleanor shows you the house, the Western and Eastern wings date back to the 14^th century. The Southern wing, at the foot of which we are standing, was added by my father. It is very modern inside, but he insisted on using the same style as the rest of the buildings for the outside parts.” He paused to let Catherine note the details of the impressive wall. “And to finish with, the Northern wing, on the opposite side of the building, is very ancient. It dates from the 12^th century and used to be the monks' refectory and dormitory. You will not, though, have the possibility to see it, for it is a very old and dangerous place. My wife and I used to have our appartments there, but she died of an accident in the stairs which are very old. I have moved to the modern wing since, and have allowed no one to go there, for fear of losing another member of this family...” Henry and Eleanor glanced at each other with embarassed looks. Catherine assumed that they were ashamed of the very detached tone in which the General talked about their deceased mother. The General added: “Well, dinner will be served very soon. Let us all go to our rooms and meet in the hall at five o'clock.”

The group then dispersed. Eleanor shewed Catherine to her room, which was on the first story of the Eastern wing. It was vast and very modern indeed. It had been decorated with taste, perhaps a decade ago, no doubt by the General himself. Only one piece of furniture stood out. It was the very old wooden chest at the foot of the bed. It must have been brought there from the old wing, perhaps as a souvenir. Catherine tried to open it but it was locked. She looked for the key in every drawer, every corner of the room and under every single chair, bed and cupboard, but could not find it anywhere. What a shame! She would have loved so much to fold her gowns inside and pretend she was Emily arriving at Udolpho. Altho' she was delighted with the presence of the medieval chest, Catherine regretted not to have been given a more antique and gloomy room, as she felt certain there must be a lot of, especially in the restricted old wing.

She made sure to be in the hall a few minutes before five, for fear of irritating the General. Dinner was taken in the immense dining room, on whose mantlepiece the family motto was written in latin: fortis cadere, cedere non potest. “The brave may fall, but cannot yield” Henry translated in a whisper between two spoons of soup. Between dinner and tea, the brother and sister shewed the rest of the house to Catherine. Every room was bigger than the preceeding one, and every piece of furniture was huge, modern and fashionable at once. Catherine was also very impressed by the number of staff in the house. In addition to the butler, the housekeeper, the cook and her aid, she saw many maids and footmen, and felt quite sure that she had not seen them all yet. After tea, they spent the evening in the drawing-room, playing sharades about the names of characters and places of Catherine and Eleanor's favorite novels.

The next morning, the three young persons took a long walk in the park, right after breakfast. The girls, once again, started to discuss what novel they would read next. After a few moments, Catherine turned to Henry and said:

“I see how you look at us. You must find us very silly to talk about fictional characters all day.”

“Not at all, my dear miss Morland. Indeed, you are greatly mistaken. I may be bound to become a man of God, but I do not believe that the Gospels only are worth reading. It is my opinion that the person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. I have read all Mrs Radcliffe's works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again; I remember finishing it in two days--my hair standing on end the whole time. Actually, I do believe that novels are very good for education.”

“Really? I am afraid I fail to understand why. After all, there are not so many murderers and bad persons in the real world as there are in novels.”

“Perhaps not so many murders and abductions... But broken hearts? Betrayals? Long-held grudges, schemes of revenge... Fear, hatred and dispair; are they not all part of our lives?”

“I don't know, I'd like to think not.”

“Well, then, I hope your expense of life is the exception that proves the rule. But let me assure you that there are more bad persons in the real world than there were in the world you grew up in. I do envy you your happy childhood, Miss Morland. You told me that your parents loved each other very much, and loved all of their children very much as well. I hear neither grievance nor envy when you talk about your siblings. And yet, such families are extremely rare in our world. Your education made you a very naive young lady, who may not be prepared to encounter real families from the real world. But thanks to your horrid novels, you now have a pretty good insight of what human nature can be like, according to the circumstances. That is why, in my opinion, there can be no such thing as reading too many novels.”

“What an inspiring speech indeed, Mr Tilney!” Catherine exclaimed. “I cannot wait to hear you talk about the Gospels in your own parish if you put only half as much fervour in it.”

“Thank you very much, Miss Morland. I do hope you will have such an opportunity, one day” he answered, addressing an enigmatic smile to his sister.

A servant then came to say that a visitor was waiting for Mr Henry in the parlour. Henry went back to the house with him and Catherine stayed alone with Eleanor. They turned to their right and entered a rather melancholy shrubbery.

“This was my mother's favorite place.” said Eleanor. “I used to walk so often here with her. Tho' I never loved it then as I have loved it since.”

“Her death must have been a great affliction” Catherine replied quite feelingly.

“A great and increasing one.”

“What was she like? Did she look like you?”

“I wish I could show you her portrait, but it hangs in my father's study.”

“Were you very young when she passed away?”

“Yes, very. It happened seventeen years ago. I was only five. Henry was nine, and Frederick eleven.”

“It must have been very hard. For all of you. I cannot imagine such a pain and I thank God that my parents are still both alive and in good health.”      

“What was very hard to me, was that I never was allowed to see her body. It may sound silly, or even sick, but I deeply regret not having been given an opportunity to say properly good-bye.”

“It does not sound silly or sick to me. I think I would feel the same.”

“Yes. Perhaps it could help me think of her at peace.”

Those last words, as well as the whole conversation, particularly struck Catherine. “To think of her at peace”. “Never allowed to see her body”. She could not help thinking that something was very odd about Eleanor's mother's death, as Isabella had once told her. Had she been so wrong about it, after all? Be it in Bath or at the Abbey, Henry and Eleanor's mother was never really mentionned among the family, and when she happened to be, it was always wrapped in some kind of strange melancholy. As if some words were not spoken. Important words. Catherine also remembered the time Henry had mentionned his mother's telling him about Frederick's tantrums as a child. His face definitely bore the same kind of suppressed melancholy as Eleanor's just had.

During the rest of the day, one thing was constantly on Catherine's mind. The old wing. It represented all she had dreamed of finding in Northanger Abbey, and she was denied the very sight of it! How sad! And she felt so sure that the key to her chest must have been forgotten there that she could less and less refrain from having a look at it. At last, she decided to sneak in there at night. She waited for everybody to be fast asleep and tiptoed in the corridor with a candlestick. She had to be very careful and move slowly because the wooden floor was very old and kept creaking under her feet. Fortunately, the door at the end of the corridor onto which her room opened led directly into the old wing. Eleanor had told her so herself. After a yet rather long time, she finally pushed the wooden door and entered the old wing.

Of course, she could not see anything, apart from the air a few inches around her candle. She stopped and stood there for a few moments, in order to enable her eyes to get used to the darkness. After a minute or so, she started making out a few things. The windows, through which dilapidated shutters a few moonlight rays shone. A very huge cupboard, as big as a monster. The guardrail of the corridor, which seemed to encircle a vast hall. Putting one hand on the guardrail, she started to move forward. After a few steps, she froze again. She had heard a noise. A strange noise. It sounded like the wind howling, but she could feel no air. She waited. Nothing happened. She was starting to move again when she heard another sound. It was much less loud, and sounded like sobs. Was someone there? She listened again carefully, trying not to breath.

All of a sudden, there was a huge howl, coming out of nowhere. She started and her heart missed a beat. Frightened and panicked, she ran at once, as fast as she could, and only stopped when she had closed the door of her own room. Panting, sweating, she tried to compose herself and to understand what had happened. What was that sound? Was it the wind, or the howl of an animal? She wondered whether it did not sound a little human. And was it related to the sobs? Or perhaps she had imagined the sobs. Perhaps she had been reading too many novels, lately, whatever Henry said about it. She went to bed and tried to sleep, altho' for a very long time, she could not help wondering wether ghosts actually existed. After all, Henry had talked about a kind of vampirism!

Understandably, Catherine spent a very troubled night. Not until very late could she find sleep, and when she did, it was filled with nightmares. At first, she found herself alone in the shrubbery, in broad daylight. Blinking into the distance, she noticed several persons at the end of the path. As she moved forward, she made out the figures of Henry, Eleanor, Frederick and the General. They were all looking very sad. They were standing around a wooden box. Actually, it was not a box, it was a coffin. It was closed. Catherine knew who was inside. She looked towards Eleanor and her friend begged her “Please, Catherine. I need to see her.”. As she made toward the coffin to open it, the General threw himself in her way. He violently grabbed her wrists and shook her. Henry looked at them and to Catherine's surprise, very calmly said “Please, Catherine. You have to stop”. And suddenly, she found herself in the old wing, surrounded by howling white figures. The ghosts rushed towards her and passed through her as if they had no substance. She was frightened to death and curled up on the floor to protect herself. After a moment, she realised that she was screaming, but she had not noticed it before because her voice had been covered by those of the ethereal creatures.

The Mystery of Northanger Abbey

Based on and adapted from

Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey

and Jon Jones's film adaptation thereof

(about this short story)

Chapter 1

Bath

When Mr and Mrs Allen invited Catherine Morland to come with them to Bath, very little did the eighteen-year-old girl suspect that she was going to become an heroine, very much like the heroines of all the Gothic novels she spent so much time reading and dreaming about.

Catherine Morland was the eldest of ten children. She was of average beauty and divided her time between reading and helping her mother take care of the younger children. As a child, she had not been particularly fond of books, though. She would rather spend her time outside, running in the meadows, playing cricket or riding a horse. It was only when she turned fifteen that she discovered the pleasure of reading. She then devoted most of her free time to reading all the books that she could find in her father's, neighbour's and circulating libraries. Of late, after she had been through all the history books, she had been particularly drawn to Gothic novels. She had just began The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe.

The Allens were the Morlands' wealthiest neighbours in Fullerton. They were quite a common pair. They never seemed to agree on anything but would spend most of their time together. Mrs Allen was a real chatterbox. She always had something to say about fabrics, ribbons and fashion in general, while Mr Allen would express his perpetual exasperation by sighing every two minutes.

“We are going to Bath because of Mr Allen's health,” said Mrs Allen, “but I expect to make some purchases in the finest shops while we are there, especially concerning muslins”. (Mr Allen sighed) “And it was Mr Allen who pointed out that dear Catherine could benefit from such an introduction into society”. Addressing Mrs Morland while turning her back to Mr Allen who was still sighing, she added “and you need not worry about her gowns, I am sure we will find everything we need once we arrive there.”

So it was settled. Catherine was to go to Bath with the Allens in their chaise-and-four. There, she would live with them. Her father gave her some money, but Mr Allen declared that he had too much money, even to spend on Mrs Allen's muslins, and that as a guest, Catherine should not use a penny during the stay. They set off a fortnight later, and after a two-day-long journey, arrived in their hired lodgings in Bath.

After a tremendous week spent shopping and trying new gowns, the ladies were finally ready to appear in society. To that purpose, they went to the Rooms. It was then Catherine realised that the only introduction she could get from the Allens was her physically entering Bath. They had absolutely no aquaintance whatsoever in the place, and this situation made Catherine very uncomfortable while sitting in a corner of the Tea Room. She could not talk to anybody without being properly introduced, but she did not know anybody who could possibly introduce her. After a few moments, she begged Mrs Allen to go back home. As they were exiting the room, a young man bumped into Mrs Allen.

“Oh!” she cried. “Catherine, do take this pin out of my sleeve.” Then adressing the gentleman, “It was not your fault, sir. Tho' I'm afraid it has torn a hole, already. Which is very sad, because it is a favorite gown. It cost but nine shillings a yard!”

“Nine shillings?” the gentleman replied. Casting a conniving smile in Catherine's direction, he added “That is exactly what I should have guessed.”

“Do you understand muslins, sir?”

“I understand them very well. My sister has often entrusted me in the choice of a gown.”

“Well, and I can never get Mr Allen to tell one of my gowns from another” Mrs Allen sighed.

The gentleman then very politely excused himself.

“I should not let you talk to him, Catherine” Mrs Allen whispered, “as he is a stranger. But he has such an understaning of muslins.”¹

The gentleman then came back, accompanied by the Master of Ceremony, who introduced him as Mr Henry Tilney. This formal introduction was very important because it now officially allowed the two ladies to converse with the gentleman, according to the rules of society. Catherine felt very grateful to him for rescuing them from public shame, and was genuinely surprised when Henry Tilney asked her “Might I request the pleasure of the next dance with you?” The two young persons then spent the evening in the Ball Room, sometimes dancing, sometimes talking, most of the time both at once. Mr Henry Tinley was the son of General Tilney. He had an older brother, Captain Frederick Tilney, and a younger sister, Eleanor. As the second son of a quite wealthy family, he was bound to become a clergyman, which career pleased him very well. But the most interesting piece of information Catherine learnt that evening was that his family lived in a place called Northanger Abbey.

Abbeys were of course supposed to house monks–or nuns–, but when king Henry VIII had had a lot of them closed, many monastic buildings had been bought by wealthy families to live therein. Northanger Abbey was one of those very ancient places. Catherine could picture it just like the castle of Udolpho: “though it was now lighted up by the setting sun, the gothic greatness of its features, and its mouldering walls of dark grey stone, rendered it a gloomy and sublime object. As she gazed, the light died away on its walls, leaving a melancholy purple tint, which spread deeper and deeper, as the thin vapour crept up the mountain, while the battlements above were still tipped with splendour. From those, too, the rays soon faded, and the whole edifice was invested with the solemn duskiness of evening. Silent, lonely, and sublime, it seemed to stand the sovereign of the scene, and to frown defiance on all, who dared to invade its solitary reign.”²

Later that evening, as she related all this to the Allens, she had the confirmation from Mr Allen that Northanger Abbey was a very grand and old place indeed.

“Is it haunted?” she asked.

“No doubt, my dear, these abbeys usually are” was his reply. Catherine could not tell whether he was serious or just messing with her juvenile, naive and very easily impressed mind.

After such a delightful evening, Catherine expected Henry Tilney to call on her in the next days, but he never showed up and she did not meet him anywhere. She realised that he must have left Bath and felt very sad about it. Not only was he the only aquaintance that she had acquired in Bath, but she was also very eager to see him again and learn to know him better. She could not help thinking that her situation looked quite as in Cinderella, except that he had suddenly disappeard and was nowhere to be found, and she was desperate to find him. However, he had left no item in his flight that might be of some help in her research.

This helpless situation even led her to make the strangest dreams, in which the characters of her life in Bath embodied the characters of the horrid novels she was reading. Many times did she dream that Henry Tilney had been abducted by a vampire or a ghost to lure her into his lair, which perfectly matched Ann Radcliffe's description of the castle of Udolpho. She would find Henry in a bleak dunjeon, clad in chains and rags. She would then wake up with a start.

Fortunately, a few days later, Mrs Allen happened to bump into an old friend, which bumping brought more introductions and acquaintance into Catherine's social life in Bath. For some time, she befriended one of Mrs Allen's friend's daughters, Isabella, but eventually decided against this friendship when her new friend once told her “I am not altogether happy to learn that you are acquainted with the Tilneys. The whole family has a terrible reputation, something very strange about the mother's death”. Indeed, how could Isabella dare to speak ill of somebody she was absolutely not acquainted with–and was so charming and had rescued her from public infamy without even knowing her?

It was only a fortnight later, though, before she saw Henry Tilney again, in the Ball Room. Her heart leapt with joy, but her instantly drawn smile as quickly sank when she saw that he was in the company of a young lady. They seemed to be quite close indeed. He then saw her and they came forward to meet her.

“Miss Morland, allow me to introduce Eleanor, my sister.”

Catherine was immediately relieved. Of course it was his sister! They spoke together for five minutes, before a young man came to talk to Henry. Catherine then had a good opportunity to talk to Eleanor.

“You can't imagine how surprised I was to see your brother again! I felt so sure of his being quite gone from Bath.”

“Oh yes, when he saw you before, he was here to engage lodgings for us. He only stayed the one night. But he has told me so much about you that I could not wait to meet you and I begged him on our arrival to come straight to the Ball Room.”

After five more minutes of common talk, the words Udolpho and horrid stories were spoken, and the two young ladies discovered that, in addition to a very deep affection for Henry, they also shared an insatiable interest for Gothic novels. This was the beginning of a very long friendship. The two friends also both liked country walks very much and endeavoured to take one every morning without rain, which happened, fortunately, very often that year. When Henry was free of any other engagement, he would very gladly join them. As a friend of Henry and now Eleanor as well, Catherine was invited several times to dine with General Tilney. She felt very honoured, of course, and always attended these dinners with a great pleasure, but she could not help having mixed feelings towards the General. He was quite a handsome man, with very good manners. He could afford very fine lodgings in a very fashionable part of the city and had a very good taste for music and theater. But he was also a very strict man, especially when it came to dinner hours. “That must come from his military experience”, Catherine thought, and she would not have let it particularly bother her were it not for the strange looks she saw Henry and Eleanor exchange whenever the General mentionned money, marriage or fashinable things in general. His children seemed quite uncomfortable with their father's opinions, but never dared say so. They also seemed to always make sure not to mention a certain Mr Charles Collins, whom Eleanor confessed to Catherine she liked very much, altho' Catherine could not understand why her two friends endeavoured so heartily not to speak of him before their father.

Another member of the family that Catherine found quite hard to like was Captain Tilney, the General's eldest son. He joined them in Bath after a few weeks and never showed any interest in Catherine. Indeed, he barely talked to her on their first encounter.

“Do not let my brother offend you, miss Morland”, Henry told her, “that is how he is, I am afraid. Indeed, he was already ill-mannered as a baby.”

“How could you know what he was like as a baby? Catherine asked in amazement. “When he was a baby, you were nothing at all!”

“Sure enough”, he answered with a conniving smile. After a pause, he added “My mother told me of it.” He then smiled again, but Catherine could not help but notice that this smile was much less jovial than earlier and wondered about it. Actually, it was quite a sad smile. No wonder of course, since Henry had lost his mother. Still, that was such a long time ago. But since Henry made no further mention of his mother and never showed a sad smile again, she soon forgot about it and simply enjoyed the company of her new but very dear friends.

She had not known the Tilneys for more that four weeks when the General decided to quit Bath. Henry and Eleanor were to go back to Northanger Abbey with him, and Catherine felt her heart sink in her chest when they told her so. Great was then her surprise, and theirs, when the General stepped forward and told her very solemnly: “Miss Morland. I am afraid we must leave Bath very soon. I have one request, though. Can you be prevailed on to quit the scene of public triomph and oblige us with your company at Northanger Abbey?”

Catherine needed a few moments to understand the words, and a few more to think of what to say. Her reply was thus: “Well, sir, if Mr and Mrs Allen agree to it, it would be an honour.”

And this is how Catherine Morland set off to the place where she was bound, altho' she had no idea of it herself, to become a true heroine.

If you have read The Lovers of Reading Abbey on this blog, you may already know that two years ago, I helped my pupil, The Royal Shrimp, write a detective story for her English class in high school. As she didn't like detective stories, I suggested we work on a "what if" alternate version of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.

During the writing process, we got further and further away from the original material, and I can't remember precisely which idea came from whom... But my original idea stuck, and after a looong time, I finally finished writing my own version. This means that if you have read The Royal Shrimp's story, you might find similar elements in mine.

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy both stories!

Crimson Peak

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Release date: October 2015

Plot summary: 10-year-old Edith Cushing, who didn't get to properly say goodbye to her mother because of the closed casket, is visited at night by her ghost. The monster warns her about "Crimson Peak". 14 years later, the now would-be novelist encounters a charming English baronet, Sir Thomas Sharpe. Although her father does not sanction the match, his sudden death - murder - removes any obstacle. Edith, Thomas - and his sister Lucille - thus leave America together to start their new life in the family manor in England. But her mother is not the only ghost Edith is bound to encounter in her life...

As I am supposed to be working on my Master's dissertation - about Jane Austen and Ann Radcliffe - I found myself, of late, doing my best to avoid the subject almost entirely and finding always new ways of culturally entertaining myself instead of actually reading the books... This led me to discover - and incidentally become a huge fan of - Tom Hiddleston (a long review of the Thor series is coming soon(er or later)). Browsing through his filmography, I discovered that he had actually taken inspiration from The Mysteries of Udolpho (the supposed topic of my dissertation) and other gothic romances for his character in Crimson Peak. That was, then, the perfect excuse for me to watch this hugely handsome talented actor while somehow documenting *cough cough* the atmosphere of gothic romances.

Lire la suite...

Actually, there were three flowers shops in the main street of Reading. Anne went in the first shop and asked if they sold yellow roses. They didn’t, neither did the second shop. But the third one did! With her charming smile she asked the owner of the shop who bought yellow roses. He told her that there was only one person. His name was John Wolf, and he lived in a beautiful house near Reading.

Anne immediately deduced that this John Wolf was obviously Mrs. Hamilton’s lover!

She went to his house which was real pretty and welcoming. She found him in his garden and introduced herself as Frederick’s friend. Then Anne asked him a few questions about the General:

“Just before I visit you, I went downtown to find the only flower shop which sells yellow roses. The owner told me that you were the only person who buys them. Reading Abbey is a mysterious place and I’m sure that there is something strange about the death of Mrs. Hamilton. I found some clues and I’m searching for proofs. The gardener told me that it was forbidden to have yellow flowers in the Abbey, but he happened to see Mrs. Hamilton with some. I was thinking that she may have a lover who gave her the roses.”

“To be completely honest with you, your suspicions were right. Indeed I was Susan Hamilton’s lover. It’s me who sent her yellow roses because she was not allowed to buy any by herself. I’m really surprised that I’m not the only one who thinks that there is something wrong with this Abbey. Twelve years ago, Susan and I met and we fell in love. She was one of the most incredible creatures I had ever seen in my life. We decided to elope with her three children during the night she died. We had an appointment at the exit of the town, but I never saw her coming. During the following day, I learnt that she died because of a broken step.”

Anne was shocked about what she was hearing. The husband might have been jealous of her lover and decided to kill her. He could have pushed her in the stairs.

“And what do you think about the General? I mean, he scares me a lot!”

“I always thought that it was him who killed my Susan. Who else could it be?!”

“Yes of course he was one of my suspects! But, I mean, if you are the only person who buys yellow roses, why did I find a yellow petal in front of Mr. Swan’s room?”

“Mr. Swan? Oh yes I understand now. Matthew is the brother of the man you spoke to in the flowers shop. He only told you who buys what in his shop, but his brother doesn’t need to buy them. But it makes no sense, why did he have yellow roses? He never ever liked Susan! Unless… Do you think it’s insane to believe that she is still alive? ”

Suddenly, Anne remembered the noises that she heard when she just arrived in the Abbey and realized something terrible. The noises weren’t simple noises like a crack or something. No, they sounded like a female voice! Therefore if Susan was alive, she must be in the old wing. And if the butler wasn’t there, the night the accident happened, the General must be guilty! He wasn’t brave enough to kill her, so she became his prisoner. Therefore Mr. Swan brought her food every night when everyone was asleep. It explained everything! General Hamilton could live his love story with the butler without any witnesses. There was just one strange thing. Why did Matthew have yellow flowers? Anne thought that he must have some remorse and brought her very often some yellow roses, so she can keep some hope.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt you but I have to go. It’s almost night and every one must be waiting for me. I think I have the answer to your question, sir.”

She rushed at the Abbey. After dinner, she waited in her bedroom until everyone fell asleep, and ran to the old wing. There, in a big bedroom, she found Mr. Swan with Mrs. Hamilton who was crying.

“You! I knew it was you!” Anne cried.

When the butler heard the sound of Anne’s voice, he left the place as fast as he could. Anne didn’t pay attention to it because she had to save Mrs. Hamilton. The prisoner told her the whole story, exactly the same as Anne had imagined in her head.

The “savior” went to Frederick and Charlotte’s rooms, and woke them up! In ten minutes, everyone in the Abbey was awake. They all rushed, including the General, to the old wing. Everyone was shocked about what they saw. It was the first time Emma saw her mother. Mrs. Hamilton was tired but really happy and relieved to finally meet her children again.

The reunion was short because they heard someone screaming in the kitchen. Indeed it was Catherine who had found Mr. Swan hanged. He had committed suicide because he felt too ashamed about what he had done. Actually, when he had escaped from Anne, he was too scared to run away and had so many regrets, therefore he had killed himself. However just before, he had written a letter to the family where he said that he was sorry and he had remorse. He didn’t want to hurt anyone but because he loved the general so much, he did everything he told him to do. Everyone was focused on the corpse and the letter. The General took advantage of this mess to run away from the Abbey. The family decided to go to the police who started to look for him.

Frederick felt very embarrassed and suggested to bring Anne back in her family. However, she refused. Frederick’s mother was really afflicted and they needed some help to start afresh. Therefore, Anne decided to stay. It was a new opportunity for them to spend time together and on the 31^st of March, they finally got married.

The police finally found out that General Hamilton had bought a ticket for the boat named The Titanic. The boat had just left Southampton on the 10^th of April 1912, two days before, at a quarter past twelve.

THE END