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The Old Lord
The little girl was Miss Maude Furnivall and the foreigner’s daughter. She died when the old lord discovered her secretly living in the east wing of Manor House and banished Miss Maude and the little girl, causing them to die out in the cold. In the story’s present, the little girl is a ghost who haunts Manor House, crying outside in the snow and demanding to be let into the house. At one point in the story, she lures Miss Rosamond to join her out in the cold, but Hester saves Miss Rosamond before she can suffer the same fate as the little girl. Miss Grace Furnivall sees the vengeful ghost as evil—but when the ghosts emerge to reenact the night Miss Maude and the little girl died, Miss Grace begs the old lord to have mercy on the innocent child.
The Little Girl Quotes in The Old Nurse’s Story
The The Old Nurse’s Story quotes below are all either spoken by The Little Girl or refer to The Little Girl. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Old Nurse’s Story Quotes
We could not find her. Miss Furnivall shivered and shook so much, that Mrs. Stark took her back into the warm drawing-room [...] I could see quite plain two little footprints, which might be traced from the hall door, and round the corner of the east wing. I don’t know how I got down, but I tugged open the great, stiff hall door; and, throwing the skirt of my gown over head for a cloak, I ran out.
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The old lord summoned all his servants, and told them, with terrible oaths, and words more terrible, that his daughter had disgraced herself, and that he had turned her out of doors,—her, and her child [...] And, all the while, Miss Grace stood by him, white and still as any stone; and when he had ended she heaved a great sigh, as much as to say her work was done, and her end was accomplished. But the old lord never touched his organ again[.]
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“But that was not what killed it,” said Dorothy; “it was the frost and the cold; —every wild creature was in its hole, and every beast in its fold,—while the child and its mother were turned out to wander on the Fells! And now you know all! and I wonder if you are less frightened now?”
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All at once, the east door gave way with a thundering crash, as if torn open in a violent passion, and there came into that broad and mysterious light, the figure of a tall, old man, with grey hair and gleaming eyes. He drove before him, with many a relentless gesture of abhorrence, a stern and beautiful woman, with a little child clinging to her dress.
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It was the likeness of Miss Furnivall in her youth; and the terrible phantoms moved on, regardless of old Miss Furnivall’s wild entreaty, and the uplifted crutch fell on the right shoulder of the little child, and the younger sister looked on, stony and deadly serene. But at that moment, the dim lights, and the fire that gave no heat, went out of themselves, and Miss Furnivall lay at our feet stricken down by the palsy—death—stricken. Yes! she was carried to her bed that night never to rise again. She lay with her face to the wall, muttering low, but muttering always: “Alas! alas! what is done in youth can never be undone in age! what is done in youth can never be undone in age!”
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The Little Girl Character Timeline in The Old Nurse’s Story
The timeline below shows where the character The Little Girl appears in The Old Nurse’s Story. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Old Nurse’s Story
...she tells Hester that she was on her way to Dorothy when she saw a little girl outside in the snow, beckoning her to come outside. So, she went outside, and she...
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...fire her. Hester tells them the whole story, but as she reaches the part about the little girl and the crying lady, Miss Grace Furnivall yells out, asking the heavens for forgiveness. Mrs....
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...Hester and Miss Rosamond are playing together in the great hall when they both see the little girl out in the snow, crying and beating on the windows, asking to be let in....
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...secret. Before he returned for his next annual visit, she secretly gave birth to a little girl at a farmhouse, pretending she was away on a trip. Miss Maude Furnivall became deeply...
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...in the cold. After hearing this story, Hester closely guards Miss Rosamond, who still hears the little girl crying out, and avoids Miss Grace Furnivall and Mrs. Stark. But Hester pities Miss Grace...
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...screaming and her father’s voice. At the same time, Miss Rosamond wakes up suddenly, hearing the little girl in the snow crying. At first no one else can hear these voices, but then...
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...door slams open, and the old lord’s ghostly figure emerges, with Miss Maude Furnivall and the little girl in front of him. Miss Rosamond screams for Hester to let her free; she can...
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