[00:00.06] Chapter three.
[00:02.40] Violet story.
[00:04.74] I have had no ill treatment, but I cannot understand Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle.
[00:11.54] I must say, I am not easy in my mind about them.
[00:18.05] When I came here, Mr. Rucastle met me and drove me to the house.
[00:25.98] It is in a very nice spot, but the house itself is not beautiful.
[00:31.96] It was once white, but is now badly stained and streaked by damp and bad weather.
[00:39.82] In front of the house are the copper beaches, which give it its name.
[00:48.94] Mrs. Rucastle is a silent, pale-faced woman, much younger than her husband.
[00:56.90] He is a widower and already has a grown-up daughter who, I was told, had gone to America.
[01:06.67] Mr. Rucastle married again and now has a son of six.
[01:12.35] A spoilt, ill-natured boy, who seems to enjoy giving pain to anything weaker than himself.
[01:22.51] Then there are the servants, Mr. and Mrs. Toller.
[01:27.01] Mr. Toller is a rough, uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers.
[01:35.62] He always smells of drink, and I have twice seen him completely drunk, though Mr. Rucastle seems to take no notice.
[01:46.16] Mrs. Toller is tall and strong.
[01:50.71] She has a sour face and is as silent as Mrs. Rucastle.
[01:57.45] They are a very unpleasant couple.
[02:03.88] The first day I was there, Mr. Rucastle took me to an outhouse and showed me a huge animal.
[02:14.20] "This is Carlo, my hound," he said.
[02:19.89] "Toller is the only one who can control him.
[02:24.52] We let him loose at night.
[02:28.68] Do not ever set foot outside at night.
[02:34.48] It is as much as your life is worth."
[02:39.45] The sight of that dreadful animal sent a chill to my heart.
[02:46.95] On the third day, Mr. Rucastle called me to his study.
[02:55.79] "Thank you for pleasing us by cutting your hair," he said.
[03:01.60] "I wonder if you would put on the dress which is on your bed, then come to the drawing room."
[03:11.13] The dress which I found in my room was an unusual blue.
[03:17.88] It had been worn before, but it fitted me very well.
[03:24.74] When I entered the drawing room, Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were very pleased and said how much it suited me.
[03:37.25] They asked me to sit close to the long windows, which I did.
[03:44.10] The chair faced away from the window, so I could not see out.
[03:50.68] Mr. Rucastle walked up and down, telling me stories.
[03:56.69] He was a good teller of very funny stories, and I laughed a lot, but Mrs. Rucastle just sat and looked sad.
[04:09.38] Two days later, I was asked to do the same thing.
[04:15.68] Again, I changed my dress, and again I sat in the window.
[04:22.73] Once more, Mr. Rucastle told me stories.
[04:30.50] I was very curious and wanted to see what was going on behind my back.
[04:39.25] The next time I hid my small hand mirror in my handkerchief.
[04:46.33] I pretended I was wiping my eyes from laughing so much, but, using it, I managed to see out onto the road.
[04:57.52] There was a man looking up at the window.
[05:03.99] I think Mrs. Rucastle saw what I was doing.
[05:09.45] She stood up.
[05:12.24] "Jeffro," she said, "There is a man on the road staring at Miss Hunter."
[05:22.01] "Dear me, how rude of him.
[05:25.91] Please, Miss Hunter, turn round and wave him away."
[05:33.79] I did as I was told.
[05:37.92] Mr. Rucastle then drew down the blind.
[05:43.37] I was not asked to sit near the window again, nor was I asked to wear the blue dress anymore.
[05:54.14] After a few days, I had a good idea of the layout of the house.
[06:00.23] There was one wing where no one seemed to live.
[06:05.87] The door to that part of the house was always locked.
[06:16.39] When I looked at that wing from outside, I saw that there were four windows in a row.
[06:24.71] Three of them looked dirty, but the other one had shutters which were closed.
[06:33.43] When I asked Mr. Rucastle about it, he looked startled.
[06:39.54] "Photography is one of my hobbies," he said.
[06:44.86] "I have a dark room there.
[06:47.85] What a clever young lady to notice such things."
[06:54.02] He spoke in a joking tone, but I think he was annoyed.
[07:01.10] I was very curious and I also had a feeling that I ought to find out more.
[07:08.46] Yesterday my chance came.
[07:13.01] Toller was very drunk.
[07:16.54] He had left a key in the door to the hidden part of the house, so I was able to open the door and slip through.
[07:28.89] In front of me was a little passage, off which I could see several doors.
[07:37.69] They were all open except one, under which there was a light showing.
[07:46.67] It was fastened with a huge padlock.
[07:52.74] I stood gazing at the sinister door, and wondering what was behind it.
[08:00.88] Then there was a sound of steps inside the room.
[08:06.72] Suddenly, I felt very scared, and I turned and ran back down the passage, clutching at the skirt of my dress.
[08:19.04] As I rushed through the door, I ran straight into Mr. Rucastle.
[08:27.44] "So," he said, "What have you been up to?"
[08:34.70] "Oh, I am so frightened," I cried.
[08:40.62] "What has frightened you?" he asked quietly.
[08:46.82] His voice was coaxing, but I was careful what I said.
[08:52.66] "I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing, but it is so lonely and still in there, I suddenly felt scared."
[09:05.69] He looked at me, and his eyes became hard and fierce.
[09:14.67] "Now you know why I keep it locked, and if I find you there again, I shall throw you to the hound."