Virginia Woolf A HAUNTED HOUSE WHATEVER HOUR you woke there was a door shutting.

From room to room they went, hand in hand, lifting here, o ening there, making sure!a ghostly "ou le. #Here we left it,# she said. And he added, #Oh, $ut here too%# #&t's u stairs,# she murmured. #And in the garden,# he whis ered. #(uietly,# they said, #or we shall wake them.# )ut it wasn't that you woke us. Oh, no. #They're looking for it* they're drawing the "urtain,# one might say, and so read on a age or two. #+ow they',e found it,# one would $e "ertain, sto ing the en"il on the margin. And then, tired of reading, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all em ty, the doors standing o en, only the wood igeons $u$$ling with "ontent and the hum of the threshing ma"hine sounding from the farm. #What did & "ome in here for- What did & want to find-# .y hands were em ty. #/erha s it's u stairs then-# The a les were in the loft. And so down again, the garden still as e,er, only the $ook had sli ed into the grass. )ut they had found it in the drawing room. +ot that one "ould e,er see them. The window anes refle"ted a les, refle"ted roses* all the lea,es were green in the glass. &f they mo,ed in the drawing room, the a le only turned its yellow side. 0et, the moment after, if the door was o ened, s read a$out the floor, hung u on the walls, endant from the "eiling!what- .y hands were em ty. The shadow of a thrush "rossed the "ar et* from the dee est wells of silen"e the wood igeon drew its $u$$le of sound. #1afe, safe, safe# the ulse of the house $eat softly. #The treasure $uried* the room . . .# the ulse sto ed short. Oh, was that the $uried treasureA moment later the light had faded. Out in the garden then- )ut the trees s un darkness for a wandering $eam of sun. 1o fine, so rare, "oolly sunk $eneath the surfa"e the $eam & sought always $urnt $ehind the glass. 2eath was the glass* death was $etween us* "oming to the woman first, hundreds of years ago, lea,ing the house, sealing all the windows* the rooms were darkened. He left it, left her, went +orth, went East, saw the stars turned in the 1outhern sky* sought the house, found it dro ed $eneath the 2owns. #1afe, safe, safe,# the ulse of the house $eat gladly. #The Treasure yours.# The wind roars u the a,enue. Trees stoo and $end this way and that. .oon$eams s lash and s ill wildly in the rain. )ut the $eam of the lam falls straight from the window. The "andle $urns stiff and still. Wandering through the house, o ening the windows, whis ering not to wake us, the ghostly "ou le seek their 3oy. #Here we sle t,# she says. And he adds, #4isses without num$er.# #Waking in the morning!# #1il,er $etween the trees!# #U stairs!# #&n the garden!# #When summer "ame!# #&n winter snow time!# #The doors go shutting far in the distan"e, gently kno"king like the ulse of a heart. +earer they "ome, "ease at the doorway. The wind falls, the rain slides sil,er down the glass. Our eyes darken, we hear no ste s $eside us* we see no lady s read her ghostly "loak. His hands shield the lantern. #5ook,# he $reathes. #1ound aslee . 5o,e u on their li s.# 1too ing, holding their sil,er lam a$o,e us, long they look and dee ly. 5ong they ause. The wind dri,es straightly* the flame stoo s slightly. Wild $eams of moonlight "ross $oth floor and wall, and, meeting, stain the fa"es $ent* the fa"es ondering* the fa"es that sear"h the slee ers and seek their hidden 3oy. #1afe, safe, safe,# the heart of the house $eats roudly. #5ong years!# he sighs. #Again you found me.# #Here,# she murmurs, #slee ing* in the garden reading* laughing, rolling a les in the loft. Here we left our treasure!# 1too ing, their light lifts the lids u on my eyes. #1afe% safe% safe%# the ulse of the house $eats wildly. Waking, & "ry #Oh, is this your $uried treasure- The light in the heart.# 6in Virginia Woolf, A Haunted House and Other Stories, Har,est )ooks, +ew 0ork, 7887, 9:;<