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Miss Virginia Otis was fifteen . She was slim and lovely , like a young deer , and she had large blue eyes . She was also a wonderful rider . Once she raced old Lord Bilton on her pony twice round the park , and she won . The young Duke of Cheshire , a boy called Cecil , watched the race . He was so delighted that he asked her to marry him on the spot . That same night his family sent him back to his school , Eton . The poor boy cried all the way . After Virginia came the twins , two little boys . People called them “ the Stars and Stripes ” , like the American flag . They were always in trouble , and they were always getting punished . But they were delightful boys . Canterville Chase was seven miles from the railway station . A carriage met them there , and they started their drive in high spirits . It was a lovely July evening . The air smelt of pine trees . Little squirrels watched them from the branches . Rabbits ran away over the grass with their white tails in the air . But then they turned into the long drive to the house , and everything changed . Suddenly the sky filled with dark clouds . The air became strangely still . A crowd of black birds flew silently over their heads . Before they reached the house , big drops of rain were falling . II . The Blood Stain An old woman was standing on the steps . She was dressed neatly in black , with a white cap and apron . This was Mrs Umney , the housekeeper . She looked after the house , and the Otis family agreed to keep her . She made a low curtsey to each of them . “ I bid you welcome to Canterville Chase , ” she said in an old - fashioned way . They followed her into the library . It was a long , low room with dark wooden walls and a large coloured window at the end . Tea was ready for them there . Suddenly Mrs Otis noticed a dull red stain on the floor near the fireplace . “ I’m afraid someone has spilt something there , ” she said . “ Yes , madam , ” answered Mrs Umney in a low voice . “ Blood has been spilt on that spot . ” “ How horrid ! ” cried Mrs Otis . “ I don’t like blood stains in a sitting room at all . It must go at once . ” The old woman smiled . “ It is the blood of Lady Eleanore de Canterville , ” she said mysteriously . “ Her own husband , Sir Simon de Canterville , killed her on that very spot in 1575 . Nine years later Sir Simon suddenly disappeared . Nobody ever found his body . But his guilty spirit still walks in the house . Visitors always admire the blood stain , madam . Nobody can remove it . ” “ That’s all nonsense , ” cried Washington . “ Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover will clean it up in no time . ” The housekeeper was terrified , but she could not stop him . In a moment he was down on his knees . He quickly rubbed the floor with a small black stick of the famous remover . Soon the stain was gone . “ I knew Pinkerton’s would do it ! ” he said proudly to his admiring family .
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