all those years ago?" Fiona asked again.
"He appeared at the castle gate on the third day, and in the sunlight! When people saw him, his face was filled with sadness, but evidently not overwhelming grief."
"In the sunlight!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"That indeed made the peasants doubt; they suspected that he and the phantom boy were not the same person," Daisy hesitated, shaking her head. "But our maid insisted that she hadn''t made a mistake."
"What happened next?"
"After taking care of the Comte''s affairs, he stayed in the desolate castle of La Garnache for a while, almost in seclusion and rarely seen by anyone. Within two years, France was engulfed in turmoil, and the maid''s husband died. She then came here to work for us as a servant. When she left, it seemed that the young man was still living inside."
"Ay, dear Daisy, this story of yours is truly fearsome!" Little Barbara sank into her pillow. "I''m afraid we''re all bound to have nightmares tonight!"
"Hurry, children, let''s go to sleep before the Mother catches us!" urged the older girl, Anne. "May God bless you all! Goodnight!"
Fiona lay back in her bed but struggled to fall asleep. This story from her homeland had left a deep impression on her. Somehow, the image of the blonde ghost youth lingered in her mind, inexplicably linked to the other figure of the fairy in the red dress in her dreams.