Chapter 23 Chapter 21

Catherine took only one glance to see that her room was very different from the one Henry had pictured in an attempt to scare her.It was by no means monstrously large, and had neither tapestries nor velvet bedding.The walls were papered, the floor was carpeted, and the windows were as complete and as bright as those in the living room below.Although the furniture is not the latest style, it is beautiful and comfortable, and the atmosphere of the whole room is not gloomy at all.Reassured on this point, she decided not to waste any more time looking at anything, for she was afraid that procrastination would annoy the General.So, she hurriedly took off her clothes, and was about to open the package of clothes, which she put on the carriage seat for personal use.Just at this time, she suddenly found a tall and large box standing in a deep recess by the fireplace. When she saw this box, she couldn't help being shocked.Forgetful of all else, she gazed at the box in amazement, and thought thus:

How strange!Didn't expect to see such a thing!A big, bulky box!What might it contain?Why put it here?Put it in this remote place, as if you don't want people to see it!I'm going to open it up and have a look.No matter how much it costs, I will open it and have a look, and I will do it right away before dawn.If you wait until evening, the candle will burn out. She walked over and looked at it carefully for a while.It was a cedar box, oddly inlaid with some dark wood, and stood about a foot off the ground on a carved shelf of the same wood.The lock was silver, but it had tarnished with age.Two mutilated handles, also of silver, at each end of the box, had perhaps been broken long ago by a strange violence.There is a mysterious silver monogram in the center of the lid.Catherine looked down carefully, but couldn't make out the words.No matter which way she looked at it, she couldn't believe that the last letter was a T (for Tierney's surname began with "T").The presence of other letters in their family, however, would have stirred up extraordinary astonishment.If the box had not been theirs, by what strange reason had it fallen into the hands of the Tierneys?

Her restless curiosity grew every moment.She grasped the lock with trembling hands, determined to risk everything to at least find out what was inside.She seemed to meet a kind of resistance, and with difficulty she lifted the lid a few inches.Unexpectedly, at this moment, she was startled by a sudden knock on the door. As soon as she let go, the lid of the box slammed shut, which was frightening.This unexpected visitor was Miss Tilney's maid, sent by her master to help Miss Moran.Catherine dismissed her at once, but it reminded her of what she was supposed to do, and compelled her to resume dressing at once, despite her own eagerness to uncover the secret.Her progress was not rapid, for her mind and eyes were still fixed on that presumably interesting and terrifying object.Although she didn't dare to waste time and try again, her steps couldn't stay far from the box.At last she had one arm in her sleeve, and her dressing seemed to be nearly over, and she could safely and daringly satisfy her impatient curiosity.A moment was no doubt available, and with all the strength she could muster, she could have opened the lid in an instant if it hadn't been locked by witchcraft.She leaped forward with such vigor that her confidence was not in vain.With a decisive effort, she lifted the lid of the box, and her eyes were amazed to see a white sheet, neatly folded, placed at one end of the box, and there was nothing else in the box!

Catherine stared blankly at the sheets, her cheeks flushed with surprise, when Miss Tilney, eager to get her friend ready, entered the room unexpectedly.Catherine, who had been ashamed of her absurd anticipation, was all the more ashamed to be caught rummaging through boxes and boxes in such a sense of boredom.It's a very queer old box, isn't it?said Miss Tilney, as Catherine hastily closed the case and turned to the glass.It can't be said how many generations it has been here.I don't know how it got in this room in the first place, but I never let them remove it, because I figured it might be useful sometimes, for hats or something.Worst of all, it's too heavy to drive.But put it on that corner, at least it won't get in the way.

Catherine didn't care to speak.She blushed, and as she tied her clothes, she made up her mind quickly that she would never do such a foolish thing again.Miss Tilney hinted mildly that she feared being late.After half a minute, the two ran downstairs in panic.Their panic was not entirely unreasonable, for General Tilney, who was pacing up and down the drawing room with his watch, rang the bell vigorously as soon as he saw them coming in, and ordered: "Dinner at once!" Catherine couldn't help trembling when she heard the general's accentuated tone.She sat there timidly, pale and short of breath, worrying about his child and hating the old box.The general looked at her, became polite again, and spent the rest of the time scolding his daughter, saying that it was a matter of no hurry at all, but she was foolishly urging her pretty friend, leaving her out of breath. Lower your breath.Catherine had caused her friend to be scolded, and she was such a fool that she could not relieve the double misery.It wasn't until everyone happily sat down around the dining table, the general showed a smug smile, and she regained her appetite, that she regained her peace of mind.

The dining room was a magnificent great room, of such size that it would have required a living room much larger than the common one.Moreover, it was also very luxuriously decorated, but Catherine was a layman, so she was almost unaware of it. She only saw the spacious room and the many waiters.She praised the spaciousness of the room loudly, and the general admitted with a pleasant face that the room was indeed not small.He further admitted that although he was as sloppy as most people in such matters, he regarded a larger dining room as a necessity of life.But he supposed that Catherine must be used to much larger rooms at Mr. Allen's.

No, it is not so, said Catherine honestly.Mr. Allen's restaurant is not half as big.She had never seen such a big house.The general became more and more happy when he heard this.Oh, since he had a room like that, he'd be foolish not to use it.But honestly, he believed a room half the size might be more comfortable.Mr. Allen's house, he dared to say, was of a decent size, and a very comfortable and pleasant habitation in it. There was no other incident that night, and the occasional absence of General Tilney was very pleasant.Only when the general was present did Catherine feel a little weary from the journey.Even then, even when she was tired or prim, she had a feeling that everything was going well.When she thought of Bath's friends, she didn't want to be with them at all.

In the night, there was a storm.Throughout the afternoon, the wind was blowing intermittently, and when the banquet was finally over, it set off a violent storm.Catherine listened to the storm with awe as she walked across the hall.When she heard the strong wind blowing fiercely over a corner of the ancient temple and slamming a door in the distance shut with a sudden bang, she felt for the first time that she had indeed come to the temple.Yes, it was a monastery-specific sound, and it reminded her of all kinds of horrors, horrors, such buildings had witnessed, such storms.To her great delight, she was lucky to be in such a fortified building!She needn't be afraid of midnight assassins or drunk perverts.What Henry had said to her that morning had undoubtedly been in jest.In a house so furnished and fortified, she had nothing to explore and no danger to encounter, and she could go to her bedroom as securely as she had gone to her own at Fullerton.

She was so tactful in asserting her confidence as she went upstairs, especially when she felt that Miss Tilney's bedroom was only two doors away from her, and she entered rather boldly.Seeing that the fire was burning brightly, I felt even more emotional.Much better, she said, walking towards the fender.It's much better to see the stove ready-made when you come back than to wait shivering in the cold.Like so many poor girls who have no choice but to wait until the whole family is in bed when a faithful old servant walks in with a bundle of wood to startle you!How wonderful Northanger Abbey is!If it is like other places, and it encounters such a night, I don't know how frightened it will be.However, there is really nothing to be afraid of right now.

She looked around the room.The curtains seemed to be moving.It was nothing but the gust of wind getting in through the cracks in the shutters.She stepped forward bravely, humming nonchalantly, to see if that was the case.She peered boldly behind each curtain, and found nothing terrible on the low sills.Then, putting his hand close to the shutter, he was sure of the strength of the wind.It was also helpful that when she had finished her investigation, she turned to look at the old trunk.She scorned the figment of fear and prepared herself for bed with poise.I should take it easy and not rush.I don't care if I'm the last one to go to bed.But I can't add wood to the stove, that would be too timid, as if I need light to be bold in my bed.

Then, the stove was gradually extinguished, and Catherine had been lighting for half an hour, and she was about to go to bed, but when she scanned the room, she suddenly found a large old-fashioned black cabinet.Although the cabinet was in a very conspicuous position, it had never attracted her attention before.In a flash, she immediately remembered Henry's words, saying that she didn't notice the ebony cabinet at first.Although this statement would not really mean anything, but it was a bit strange, of course it was a very amazing coincidence!She picked up the candle and looked carefully at the wooden cabinet.The wooden cabinets are not really ebony with gold inlays, but are painted with Japanese lacquer, the most beautiful black and yellow Japanese lacquer.She held up the candle and looked at it, and the yellow looked like gilt. The key was on the cabinet door, and she had a strange idea to open it, but she didn't expect to find anything at all, but after listening to Henry's words, she felt that it was too weird.In short, she had to open it and look at it before going to sleep.So, she carefully placed the candle on the chair, grabbed the key with one hand trembling, and turned it vigorously, but she couldn't turn it with all her strength. She was terrified, but she was not discouraged, so she turned it in the other direction. Suddenly, with a jerk of the lock spring, she thought she had succeeded, but how strange, how inconceivable!The cabinet door remained motionless.She held her breath and paused for a moment in astonishment.The wind howling in the chimney, the rain pouring on the windows, seemed to speak of the dreadful state of her situation.But it was useless to go to bed without finding out about it, because she couldn't sleep with the thought of a cabinet in front of her that was mysteriously locked.So she fiddled with the keys again.With the last ray of hope, she turned decisively in all directions for a while, and then the cabinet door swung open.Overjoyed by this victory, she pulled open the two folding doors, and the second door consisted only of a few latches, which were less complicated than a lock.But she couldn't see anything unusual about the lock.After the two doors were opened, two rows of small drawers were exposed. There were large drawers above and below the small drawers. There was a small door in the middle, which was also locked and keyed. It was probably a secret cabinet for storing important items. Catherine's heart was pounding violently, but she did not lose her nerve.Her face flushed with hope, her eyes widened with curiosity, her fingers seized the handle of a drawer and pulled it open.It was empty inside.She was not as frightened as before, but more eagerly pulled away the second, third, and fourth, all of which were equally empty.She searched every drawer, but there was nothing in any of them.She had read a lot of secrets about hiding treasures in books, and she did not forget that there might be false linings in the drawers. She eagerly and quickly felt around every drawer, but she still found nothing.Now only the middle has not been searched.Though she had never in the first instance expected to find anything in any part of the cabinet, and was not at all discouraged by her futility so far, it would have been foolish of her not to search it thoroughly. However, she struggled for a long time just to open the door, because the inner lock was as difficult to open as the outer lock.But at last it was opened, and the result of the search was not as vain as before, and her quick eyes fell on a roll of paper, which was pushed into the secret cabinet, obviously trying to hide it. .At this moment, her mood is really indescribable.Her heart was beating, her knees were shaking, her cheeks had turned pale.With trembling hands she seized the precious volume of manuscript, for the handwriting on it could be discerned by a glance of her eye.She admitted with a sense of awe that it was an astonishing fulfillment of Henry's prophecy, and immediately made up her mind to read it word for word before going to bed. There was a dim light from the candle, and she felt nervous as she turned to the dim light.However, there is no immediate danger of extinguishing, and it can burn for several hours.To decipher those handwritings, apart from the troubles brought about by the age, I am afraid there will be no other difficulties, so she hurriedly cut the candles.God!When she cut it, the candle went out.The extinguishing of a lantern could never produce a more dire result.For a long while Catherine was frightened and motionless.The candle was all extinguished, there was no light in the wick, and there was no hope of blowing it again.It was pitch black in the room, and there was no movement at all. Suddenly, a gust of wind whizzed up, adding new terror immediately.Catherine trembled all over.Then, when the wind died down, the terrified ear heard a sound like fading footsteps and a distant closing door.Human nature can no longer hold on.A layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and the manuscript fell from her hand.She touched the edge of the bed, jumped on it hastily, and desperately got into the bed to relieve her panic.She felt that it was impossible to sleep with her eyes closed that night.Curiosity is properly aroused, emotions are fully aroused, and sleep is absolutely impossible.The storm outside is so terrible again!She was not afraid of the wind before, but now, it seemed that every gust of wind brought a terrible message.How could she explain the discovery of the manuscript so strangely, the confirmation of the morning's prophecy so strangely?What is written in the manuscript?Who might it be related to?How did you hide it for so long?How strange the thing was, it was destined for her to discover it!However, if she doesn't understand the content, she will neither be at peace nor comfortable.She decided to read the manuscript with the help of the first ray of morning companionship.But how many dreary hours must pass in between. She was trembling, tossing and turning on the bed, envious of everyone who was sleeping soundly.The storm was still raging, and her frightened ears heard sounds from time to time, even more terrible than the wind.Now the curtains of her bed seemed to shake, and now her locks stirred, as if someone were trying to break in.There seemed to be deep grunts in the corridor, and several times, distant moans almost made her blood freeze.Hour after hour passed, and weary Catherine heard three o'clock struck from all over the house, and then the storm died down, and perhaps she fell asleep unconsciously.