The Haunted Traveler Vol. 1 Issue 1

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were under orders to say that security restrictions prevented
them from talking about the personages who had slept
there. So visitors assumed that current royals hung out there,
whereas the staff hadn’t exactly lied - they weren’t allowed
to give details of previous guests - so were at no danger from
Fero.
I hadn’t seen anything unusual by the time I went down
for dinner. There were no other guests, so Andy and I dined
ằ deux.
“Where’s Gwyneth?” I asked, thinking how much more
agreeable dinner would be with her around.
“She left me,” said Andy, laying down his fork.
“Oh! I didn’t know. I’m sorry,” I said truthfully, feeling
very sad for my friend.
Andy waited for a moment or two and then nodded.
“Yes. She said that she didn’t love me anymore, and that
having been unfaithful to me with several men already, she
couldn’t go on pretending, particularly in a place with a
ghost who catches you out in every lie. So off she went.”
“God, that’s awful.”
“Yes, John, it is,” said Andy, looking at me with hard eyes.
“And that’s why I was pleased when you wanted to come
and stay here - here, where you can’t tell lies without being
found out.
John - were you one of the men whom Gwyneth slept
with?”
I realized immediately what had happened. Andy had concocted
the ghost story - or its modern segment anyway - specifically
to trick me, and maybe others, into confessing to an
affair with his wife. The poor fool.
Scarcely a beat passed before I said, very gently but firmly,
“No, of course not. I would never do that to you -” at which
point I broke off. Not just because of the misery and disappointment
on Andy’s face, but also because I could hear the
bells and the manic, terrifying laughter. Fero had found me
out.