To me the hideous thing had appeared sexless, but at the sound of its name, the ghastly mockery of a grin contorted the puckered red-smeared mouth.
I noticed now for the first time that monster actually was secured to the wall. The great double shackles were so blackened with age, I had not noticed them before.
The Factor went on, as if he spoke by rote. “Lady Glanville was a maternal ancestor of the Chilton-Paynes. She had commerce with the Devil. She was condemned as a witch but escaped the stake. Finally her own people forcibly overcame her. She was brought in here, fettered and left to die.”
He was silent a moment and then continued. “It was too late. She had already made a pact with the Powers of Darkness. It was an unspeakably evil thing and it has condemned her issue to a life of
