Short Fiction · Chapter
V: The Man with the Claret Mark explained
Old Peggy Sullivan claims to have seen a thin-faced man with a red mark on his cheek at the window, and later Laurence, a trusted servant, sees the same figure and fires a pistol at him, only to miss and see the figure dissolve into ivy and
What happens
Old Peggy Sullivan claims to have seen a thin-faced man with a red mark on his cheek at the window, and later Laurence, a trusted servant, sees the same figure and fires a pistol at him, only to miss and see the figure dissolve into ivy and masonry. Ultor De Lacy then reveals to his elder daughter Alice that he has arranged a marriage for Una with a French gentleman, and during a walk with Alice, they encounter the same spectral figure, which terrifies Ultor and prompts him to pursue it in vain, leading to a desperate discussion about the curse haunting their family.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and the Uncanny
The spectral figure with the claret mark appears and dissolves into ivy and masonry, defying natural explanation and instilling terror.
Guilt and Retribution
Ultor De Lacy speaks of a 'horrible feud' and a curse that haunts his family, suggesting past sins demanding retribution.
Faith and Skepticism
Ultor urges his daughters to seek sacraments and wear consecrated wafer fragments for protection, highlighting a reliance on religious faith against supernatural threats.
Characters to notice
- Ultor de Lacy
Sees the spectral figure, fires at it, and later reveals marriage plans for Una; expresses terror and despair about the family curse.
- Una
Younger daughter; her marriage to a French gentleman is arranged by her father, but she is kept unaware of the engagement.
- Ally Moran
Elder daughter Alice; promised to a conventual life, she accompanies her father and witnesses the spectral figure.
- Old Cooper
Laurence, the trusted servant who sees the figure and fires a pistol at it, missing as the figure dissolves.
Key passages
“Old Laurence, who was not given to dreaming, and had a cool, hard head, and an eye like a hawk, saw the same figure, just about the same hour, when the last level gleam of sunset was tinting the summits of the towers and the tops of the tall trees that surrounded them.”
Laurence, a practical and observant man, saw the same figure at sunset near the towers and trees.
Establishes the credibility of the sighting, as Laurence is not prone to imagination.
“As Larry gazed, the figure somehow dissolved and broke up without receding. A hanging tuft of yellow and red ivy nodded queerly in place of the face, some broken and discoloured masonry in perspective took up the outline and colouring of the arms and figure, and two imperfect red and yellow lichen streaks carried on the curved tracing of the long spindle shanks.”
The figure transformed into ivy, masonry, and lichen, as if it had never been there.
Highlights the supernatural nature of the apparition, blurring the line between reality and illusion.
“He told her that he had visited France since he had been last at Cappercullen, and how good and gracious their sovereign had been, and how he had arranged a noble alliance for her sister Una.”
Ultor informed Alice that he had been to France and arranged a marriage for Una with a nobleman.
Reveals the political and familial plans tied to the Jacobite cause.