When Frank had been given this information he informed the constable he had grave suspicions, and asked the constable to follow him. As fast as their horses would carry them they went to Bull’s Green, and entered the open door into Mary’s cottage to see the prostrate lady lying in a pool of blood, surrounded by upturned chairs, broken china and smashed pictures. From the wanton destruction they saw in the room, it was obvious that either a madman or a ruthless criminal had been aboard, and when they turned over the body they saw something which proved their fears to be true. Mary’s face had been scratched as though by rats, making erstwhile charming face almost unrecognisable, and her right eye had been torn from its socket. It was a diabolical heinous sight which could only have been committed by a vicious, deranged and jealous person. Frank had nothing to confess, apart from the fact that he had been visiting Mary. But the facts that he told the magistrates coupled with the golden hair and skin found on his wife’s body, were sufficient to bring in a verdict of murder. Mary had been murdered by Frank’s wife while her mind was deranged. But so cruel was the criticism of Mary by the village folk that she, who had done nothing amiss, and was as pure as pure can be, was denied a burial in a sacred ground, even against the rector’s advice.   Such was the bitterness of evil tongues. It took a very long time to forget all that happened on Wednesday night of October 20th. There were the newspaper reports; the post-mortems; the rumours and the bitterness…but gradually peace settled once more in the little hamlets around Whatley and Chantry … Then some twelve months afterwards, when a couple named Harry and Florence were walking home from a dance, Florence reported having seen a lady walking in white along Muntry Hill. As soon as this was made public many other women came forward and announced they too had seen the lady in white. One confessed that she had been so close to her that the lady in white turned and looked at her, and smiled in such a charming way that she was none other than Mary who once lived in Bull’s Green. Still another spoke of her as having golden hair, and lovely eyes, for both shone up even in the dark, and although she did smile in   a most charming way, there was a little sadness about the face. I wonder whether it was Mary…and I wonder whether her sadness was due to the fact that she was still looking for a place to lie in sacred ground. It is rather peculiar when you think of it, that it is only the feminine sex to whom the White Lady appears. Is it that she is trying to tell them how unjust the ladies had been to her when she lived in their midst? back