# IV: In the Parlour explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. ## What happens My uncle Watson, a truthful man, recounts a stormy night at Wauling where he, the doctor, and the attorney stayed. No will was found for the Captain, but the leases were missing. My uncle suspected the attorney of theft and delivered a pointed sermon on honesty. After the others retired, he retrieved a wax candle from a press and was startled by gravel against the window. ## Themes in this chapter ### Corruption and Injustice The missing leases and the suspicion of the attorney's theft highlight themes of fraud and dishonesty in estate matters. ### Supernatural and the Uncanny The stormy night, flaring candles, and the uncle's sect's acceptance of ghosts create an eerie, uncanny atmosphere. ## Character check-ins ### Mr. Watson The narrator's uncle, a truthful man who suspects the attorney of stealing the leases and delivers a sermon on honesty. ### Doctor Robertson Present at Wauling during the storm, helps search for the missing leases. ### Wicked Captain Walshawe The deceased Captain whose will and leases are missing, his enmities shifting perpetually. ## Key lines > What I relate, I had from the lips of my uncle, who was a truthful man, and not prone to fancies. The story comes from my uncle, a reliable and level-headed man. _Establishes the narrator's source and credibility._ > The day turning out awfully rainy and tempestuous, he persuaded the doctor and the attorney to remain for the night at Wauling. Because of the severe storm, my uncle convinced the doctor and attorney to stay overnight. _Sets the scene for the night's events._ > He had had instructions for drawing a will a dozen times over. But the process had always been arrested by the intending testator. The Captain repeatedly ordered a will but always changed his mind before finalizing it. _Explains why no will was found._ > My uncle, therefore, searched strenuously. The attorney was at his elbow, and the doctor helped with a suggestion now and then. My uncle searched hard for the leases, with the attorney close by and the doctor occasionally offering ideas. _Describes the search for the missing documents._ > He fancied—but this possibly was only fancy—that he had detected for a moment a queer look in the attorney’s face; and from that instant it became fixed in his mind that he knew all about the leases. He thought he saw a strange expression on the attorney's face, which convinced him the attorney knew where the leases were. _Reveals my uncle's suspicion of the attorney._ > My Uncle Watson belonged to a sect who by no means rejected the supernatural, and whose founder, on the contrary, has sanctioned ghosts in the most emphatic way. My uncle's religious group accepted the supernatural, and its founder strongly endorsed belief in ghosts. _Provides context for his comfort with supernatural elements._ > At the same moment, an unusual violent gust of the storm blew a handful of gravel against the parlour window, with a sharp rattle that startled him in the midst of the roar and hubbub; and the flame of the candle itself was agitated by the air. A sudden strong gust threw gravel against the window, startling him, and the candle flame flickered in the draft. _Heightens the eerie atmosphere at the chapter's end._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters/iv-in-the-parlour - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_31_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_31_se/chapters