THE DARK SIRE: ACCOLADES (Special Edition Issue, March 2021) | Page 26

“ Then , one night , as an experiment that held little hope , Jeffries retired to my bed . And the emanation appeared to him instead . For some unfathomable reason , it did not find me that night , but treated my faithful butler to the brief but wretched torment . Alas , the feint does not work twice in a row . By the second night , the scene locates me even if I have placed a surrogate in my bed . Still , if I have been in my room for a month or more at a stretch , I can get Jeffries to substitute for me one night and I can then experience true uninterrupted sleep while the spirits are , shall we say , confused ? His kindness is all that has kept my sanity , and I have compensated him well .”
Lord Kettering ended his tale with a long draught of brandy that Jeffries had placed before him . Then he turned dark eyes upon me . “ When I learned of your visit several weeks ago , I stayed in my own room every night until you arrived with the hope that the emanation would take you for me . When I was not visited last night at 12:15 , I knew that you had been , and sent Jeffries at once to see to you .
“ So you can understand what I mean when I say that it is I who is haunted , though you unknowingly relieved my agony for one precious night . It was a cruel thing to do , but now you understand . Do you suppose your readers will ?”
I had listened to the end of this tale with a sense of great hopelessness , and of pity for my host . “ I cannot think they will . It is incomprehensible that a human soul be made to endure such torment and retribution . With nothing to be done ? Dear God — that such purgatories exist on earth !”
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