(Story begins here.)
It was roughly two months in that I was the official master of M--- Manor that I first saw Elizabeth. It was late at night, roughly ten or eleven o'clock, it was hard to tell what the exact time was. I believe it was a full moon out; I should probably check on the almanac to confirm it by the next entry. I was asleep in the bedroom on the second floor, one of three bedrooms situated on the same floor. It was a rather isolated bedroom in comparison to the other two which were next to each other and on the other side. I remembered being rather exhausted that night, for I had spent the day meeting with a group of count officials who thought it most improper to have not meet the new master of M--- Manor, despite my protestations that it was more appropriate for me to pay them a visit, considering that I was the newcomer and that they were county officials and therefore the more distinguished. They dismissed my protestations and claimed that it was not as improper as I thought it was, and that it was time to keep up with the times, where one could easily go about visiting others should the urge arise, without having to pay excessive attention to the whole courtesy involved in the propriety of it all; after all, everyone belonged to the same county and are therefore neighbours, and in the notion of neighbourliness, there was no such thing as the superiod and the inferior. There were a good many discussions during the day, particularly on issues regarding taxation, land holdings and a whole myriad of minutae that I will not even bother to go into detail here. Suffice to say, it had been a long day, I was exhausted, and I was glad that I could finally get to bed.
As I lay there and slowly slipping into sleep, I woke up with a start from the distinct sound of a flute playing. It was a curious thing, that flute sound. The tune had a wistful feel to it, sombre, depressing. I did not remember anyone playing the flute in the household. There was me, and I do not play the flute. The houskeeper, Mr Higgins, did not play the flute either. I have met Mrs Higgins, the housekeeper's wife, and she did not play the flute as well. I was curious at what was going on, and made my way out to the corridor balcony that overlooked the main hall, where the grand stairs were located. Even from my position immediately outside of the bedroom, I could see quickly that there was someone in white at the bottom of the grand stairs, playing on the flute. There were some hints of long hair which suggested that its owner was female. I made my way towards the grand stairs and asked who she was and what she was doing playing the flute in the middle of the night at the manor where I was not expecting any visitors. She put aside her flute and looked up the stairs towards me and apologised profusely. She claimed that she was Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looked nothing like any ordinary woman. She had soft features, almost like nobility or at least a Lady of some peerage, which, when framed by her long hair, seemed to be contrasted in a way that was very appealing. I had wanted to strike a conversation with her when I casually glanced at her legs while following the outline of her white frock and realised that I could not see any actual feet touching the ground. It was at this point that she exhorted me to not run away after saying that I had discovered her secret. She proceeded to call me by name, and started telling me things like how I was the person she was waiting for all her life, making me promise to meet up with her whenever she appeared. Then, as mysteriously as she came, she left, this time ``walking'' towards a door at the bottom of the grand stairs. Seeing nothing else amiss, I went back to bed and tried to sleep off the whole matter.
(Story continues here.)
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