But I did not scream... I just thought:
Oh, my God, there is the ghost, it is
true... Extraordinary... Hens said the
Dutch do not believe in ghosts; they
think it is nonsense.'
Over een gebeurtenis in Cagnes-sur-
Mer vertelt Cynthia:
'Now, of course we go to France, and
we have this villa here, Dou Soleiou...
And Hens said: "Oh, there is a ghost
here." I said: "Oh, I can not stand this
anymore. No more ghosts... (zij
grinnikt) Everywhere we go, a copy..."
Well, it was an old villa. So, there was
an artist next door. An American artist,
called Sandy, quite man... Dreadful
pictures he painted... Quite pleasant
man, though... And so I said: "Oh dear,
Hens says there is a ghost here... Walks
across the garden." He said: "You know,
it is quite true. It is an old woman,
carrying a faggot on het back." He said:
"You will see it. I have seen it. Perfectly
allright. Never interferes with
anybody." Well, I had a friend... Hens...
Abs again.. (Abs is de uitgever Abs
Bruna, J.P.) Hens to Spain... Calls Hens
over to Barcelona to see him about
something, I do not know what is was...
And so... I did not want to stay there
alone, it was rather a lonely house, and
the Drummond murder had just
happened... A British family, it was not
so far from us, had been murdered in
the hills. And I did not want to stay
alone. So I invited a friend to stay. It
was two down, two up and then a big
terrace. And I put her in a room down
stairs. She woke up very early in the
morning. And she came to my room
and said: "Oh, Cynthia, I brought you a
cup of thea." I said: "Oh, what is the
time? How early it is, Betty!" She said:
"Yes, I have not been able to sleep." I
said: "Oh, that is strange for you. Was
the bed uncomfortable or something
wrong?" She said: "No, I felt very
uncomfortable in that room, Cynthia.
As so somebody was looking through
the window." And she said: "I tried to
go to sleep, but I could not take my
eyes of the window. And I felt there
was something in the room." So I did
not tell her, because she did not let me.
(Volle lach...) So I said: "Oh, how
strange! Oh, well, would you like this
room, and I will sleep downstairs..."
"Oh, no!" she said. "I do not want to
turn you out of your room." I said:
"You can have my room, and I will
sleep downstairs or in Hens's. "No," she
said, "but I do not... Do you feel allright
in this house?"
Now, she was not psychic, or seeing
ghosts... I said: "Yes, I do." Because I
was not going to mention the ghost,
you see! She would have gone, and I
would have been left all alone. So
now... one evening, about dusk, I was
reading... And I saw this old woman
walk alone the path, bent under
faggots... and she had a bit of colour, a
sort of blue about... And I said to
Sandy, you see, he was in his studio, I
said: "Oh, I have seen the ghost in Dou
Soleiou!" "Oh yes," he said, "I thought
you would see it sooner or later. She is
allright, Is not she?"
Twee geesten dus, die niet 'malivolenf
waren. Dramatisch, en regelrecht
tragisch werd een derde 'ghosf in het
leven van 'Hens' (zo wilde hij zijn
naam in het Engels geschreven hebben
om niet Duits te lijken) en Cynthia. Zij
vertelt daarover:
'I have a little Irish blood, and I can see
things. Now, Hens went to live in
Canterbury. It was a beautiful house,
called Barham, which was presented by
the nation and the British gouvernment
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