The horrid parallel
between the dream and the reality was complete--it was my birthday!
Had I escaped, the mortal peril which the dream foretold? or had I only
received a second warning? As that doubt crossed my mind I stopped on my
way out of the town. The air had revived me--I felt in some degree like my
own self again. After a little thinking, I began to see plainly the
mistake I had made in leaving my wife free to go where she liked and to do
as she pleased.
I turned instantly, and made my way back to the house. It was still dark.
I had left the candle burning in the bedchamber. When I looked up to the
window of the room now, there was no light in it. I advanced to the house
door. On going away, I remembered to have closed it; on trying it now, I
found it open.
I waited outside, never losing sight of the house till daylight. Then I
ventured indoors--listened, and heard nothing--looked into the kitchen,
scullery, parlor, and found nothing--went up at last into the bedroom. It
was empty.
A picklock lay on the floor, which told me how she had gained entrance in
the night. And that was the one trace I could find of the Dream Woman.
XIII
I waited in the house till the town was astir for the day, and then I went
to consult a lawyer. In the confused state of my mind at the time, I had
one clear notion of what I meant to do: I was determined to sell my house
and leave the neighborhood.
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