The Lady's Maid's Bell

The Lady's Maid's Bell by Edith Wharton

Alice Hartley, newly recovered from typhoid, takes a position as lady's maid to the invalid Mrs. Brympton at her country house on the Hudson, on the recommendation of Mrs. Brympton's aunt, Mrs. Railton. On arrival Hartley glimpses a thin, white-faced woman in a dark gown in the servants' passage, whom no one else seems to notice. She learns the household is odd: her mistress rings a bell that summons the housemaid Agnes, who then fetches Hartley, rather than ringing for Hartley directly; a room across from Hartley's, once used by Mrs. Brympton's former maid, Emma Saxon, is kept locked; and the cook, Mrs. Blinder, grows visibly upset whenever Emma Saxon is mentioned, saying only that Mrs. Brympton loved her "like a sister" and that she died the previous spring. Mr. Brympton, the master, is coarse, hard-drinking, and largely absent; when present he is angry and abusive, and the household visibly dreads him. Mrs. Brympton's chief companion in winter is Mr. Ranford, a neighboring gentleman who reads with her and is well liked by the servants; Mr. Brympton appears outwardly friendly with him despite the obvious mismatch between him and his wife. One rainy night Hartley's bell rings mysteriously; she hears the locked room's door open and footsteps hurrying ahead of her down the passage. She finds Mr. Brympton, drunk, in Mrs. Brympton's room, and he asks strangely, "How many of you are there?" Mrs. Brympton, roused, murmurs "Emma" before recognizing Hartley, then sends her away. The next morning Mrs. Brympton sends Hartley on a secretive errand to the village chemist and then with a note to Mr. Ranford, seemingly wanting the errand hidden from her husband; Hartley lies to Mr. Brympton when he questions her early return. While repairing an old sewing machine that had belonged to Emma Saxon, Hartley finds a hidden photograph and recognizes the face as the woman she saw in the passage. Mrs. Blinder confirms it is Emma Saxon but grows flustered and evasive when pressed for details. Mr. Brympton stays on longer than usual, visibly resentful of Ranford's continued visits, then departs for a long absence (reported to be in the West Indies). With him gone, the household grows lighter and Mrs. Brympton seems to revive. One snowy afternoon, Emma Saxon's ghost appears directly to Hartley in her room, gazing at her beseechingly, then leads her—leaving no footprints in the snow—out of the house, across the fields, to Mr. Ranford's gate, where she vanishes just as Ranford himself comes out. Hartley cannot decipher what the apparition wanted and collapses; Ranford revives her with brandy, and she returns to Brympton, uneasy and untruthful about what happened. That night Hartley's bell rings again. She finds Mrs. Brympton still dressed, agitated, denying she rang. Sounds below reveal Mr. Brympton has returned unexpectedly, in traveling clothes, and heads for his wife's dressing room saying he is "going to meet a friend." Mrs. Brympton collapses. As Mr. Brympton wrenches open the dressing-room door, Emma Saxon's apparition stands on the threshold; he recoils in horror, and the ghost vanishes. Mrs. Brympton, roused, fixes her eyes on her husband, then falls back dead. Mrs. Brympton is buried three days later in a snowstorm. Mr. Ranford attends, pale and leaning on a stick, drawing Mr. Brympton's suspicious stare throughout the service. Afterward Mr. Brympton departs alone for the station without a word to the servants, who return to the house.

By Edith Wharton · First published 1902 · Genre: Gothic Fiction, Ghost Story, Mystery · 4 chapters · 12,074 words

First lines

IT was the autumn after I had the typhoid. I'd been three months in / hospital, and when I came out I looked so weak and tottery that the two / or three ladies I applied to were afraid to engage me. Most of my money / was gone, and after I'd boarded for two months, hanging about the / employment-agencies, and answering any advertisement that looked any / way respectable, I pretty nearly lost heart, for fretting hadn't made / me fatter, and I didn't see why my luck should ever turn. It did / though -- or I thought so at the time. A Mrs. Railton, a friend of the / lady that first brought me out to the States, met me one day and / stopped to speak to me: she was one that had always a friendly way with / her. She asked me what ailed me to look so white, and when I told her, / "Why, Hartley," says she, "I believe I've got the very place for you. / Come in to-morrow and we'll talk about it."

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The Lady's Maid's Bell is listed on Textopian as a short story by Edith Wharton, dated 1902 CE.

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Gothic Fiction · Mystery · Supernatural · Romance · Historical Fiction · Psychological Thriller · Ghost Story · Haunted House · Female Protagonist · Servant Life · Upstairs Downstairs · Social Class

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