I remained motionless in my chair for hours, and then--it was soon
after the clocks struck four--I sprang up, and searched among my
papers for Alresca's letter, the seal of which, according to his
desire, was still intact. The letter had been in my mind for a long
time. I knew well that the moment for opening it had come, that the
circumstances to which Alresca had referred in his covering letter had
veritably happened. But somehow, till that instant, I had not been
able to find courage to read the communication. As I opened it I
glanced out of the window. The first sign of dawn was in the sky. I
felt a little easier.
Here is what I read: "My dear Carl Foster:--When you read this the words I am
about to write will have acquired the sanction which belongs
to the utterances of those who have passed away. Give them,
therefore, the most serious consideration.
"If you are not already in love with Rosetta Rosa you soon
will be. I, too, as you know, have loved her. Let me tell you
some of the things which happened to me.
"From the moment when that love first sprang up in my heart I
began to be haunted by--I will not say what; you know without
being told, for whoever loves Rosa will be haunted as I was,
as I am. Rosa has been loved once for all, and with a passion
so intense that it has survived the grave. For months I
disregarded the visitations, relying on the strength of my
own soul. I misjudged myself, or, rather, I underestimated my
adversary--the great man who in life had loved Rosa. I
proposed to Rosa, and she refused me. But that did not quench
my love. My love grew; I encouraged it; and it was against
the mere fact of my love that the warnings were directed.
"You remember the accident on the stage which led to our
meeting. That accident was caused by sheer terror--the terror
of an apparition more awful than any that had gone before.
"Still I persisted--I persisted in my hopeless love. Then
followed that unnamed malady which in vain you are seeking to
cure, a malady which was accompanied by innumerable and
terrifying phenomena. The malady was one of the mind; it
robbed me of the desire to live. More than that, it made life
intolerable. At last I surrendered. I believe I am a brave
man, but it is the privilege of the brave man to surrender
without losing honor to an adversary who has proved his
superiority. Yes, I surrendered. I cast out love in order
that I might live for my art.
"But I was too late. I had pushed too far the enmity of this
spectral and unrelenting foe, and it would not accept my
surrender. I have dashed the image of Rosa from my heart, and
I have done it to no purpose. I am dying. And so I write this
for you, lest you should go unwarned to the same doom.