The Canterville Ghost

"Yes, death. Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace. You can help me. You can open for me the portals of death's house, for love is always with you, and love is stronger than death is."

what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both."

You can have your secret as long as I have your heart,

against the purity of a little child the powers of Hell cannot prevail."

"They mean," he said, sadly, "that you must weep with me for my sins, because I have no tears, and pray with me for my soul, because I have no faith, and then, if you have always been sweet, and good, and gentle, the angel of death will have mercy on me. You will see fearful shapes in darkness, and wicked voices will whisper in your ear, but they will not harm you, for against the purity of a little child the powers of Hell cannot prevail."

frightened into a fit

His body has never been discovered, but his guilty spirit still haunts the Chase

on that very spot by her own husband, Sir Simon de Canterville, in 1575.

is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville, who was murdered on

blood has been spilt on that spot."