“Do not let him speak thus to the old man,”
said the young woman, in a low, earnest tone, to Redclyffe.
He was surprised and startled; it seemed like a voice
that has spoken to his boyhood.
Note 2. Author’s note.—“Redclyffe’s
place is next to that of the proprietor at table.”
Note 3. Author’s note.—“Dwell
upon the antique liveried servants somewhat.”
Note 4. Author’s note.—“The
rose-water must precede the toasts.”
Note 5. Author’s note.—“The
jollity of the Warden at the feast to be noticed;
and afterwards explain that he had drunk nothing.”
Note 6. Author’s note.—“Mention
the old silver snuffbox which I saw at the Liverpool
Mayor’s dinner.”
Note 1. This is not the version of the story
as indicated in the earlier portion of the romance.
It is there implied that Elsie is the Doctor’s
granddaughter, her mother having been the Doctor’s
daughter, who was ruined by the then possessor of
the Braithwaite estates, and who died in consequence.
That the Doctor’s scheme of revenge was far
deeper and more terrible than simply to oust the family
from its possessions, will appear further on.
Note 2. The foregoing passage was evidently
experimental, and the author expresses his estimate
of its value in the following words, —“What
unimaginable nonsense!” He then goes on to make
the following memoranda as to the plot. It should
be remembered, however, that all this part of the
romance was written before the American part.
“Half of a secret is preserved in England; that
is to say, in the particular part of the mansion in
which an old coffer is hidden; the other part is carried
to America. One key of an elaborate lock is retained
in England, among some old curiosities of forgotten
purpose; the other is the silver key that Redclyffe
found beside the grave. A treasure of gold is
what they expect; they find a treasure of golden locks.
This lady, the beloved of the Bloody Footstep, had
been murdered and hidden in the coffer on account
of jealousy. Elsie must know the baselessness
of Redclyffe’s claims, and be loath to tell him,
because she sees that he is so much interested in
them. She has a paper of the old Doctor’s
revealing the whole plot,—a death-bed confession;
Redclyffe having been absent at the time.”
The reader will recollect that this latter suggestion
was not adopted: there was no death-bed confession.
As regards the coffer full of golden locks, it was
suggested by an incident recorded in the “English
Note-Books,” 1854. “The grandmother
of Mrs. O’Sullivan died fifty years ago, at
the age of twenty-eight. She had great personal
charms, and among them a head of beautiful chestnut
hair. After her burial in a family tomb, the
coffin of one of her children was laid on her own,
so that the lid seems to have decayed, or been broken
