Botaro, his son-in-law, M. Curcy; Lazare, M. Laurent; Lahennée, M. Thierry; Jarwick, M. Lavergne; the Ghoul, Mme. Lucie Mabire; Hélène de Tiffauges, Mlle. Jane Essler; Juana, Mlle. Marie Clarisse; Antonia, Mlle. Daroux; Petra, Rozo’s daughter, Mlle. Heloïse; and the mystic fairy Mélusine, Mlle. Isabelle Constant. Lazare is a capital character, but the intrusion from Oriental legend of the ghoul cannot be considered happy. On the other hand the appearance of Mélusine, whose legend was collected about the end of the fourteenth century by Jean d’Arras, is certainly effective and entirely in keeping with the history, since according to Paracelsus she was an occult power, and in folk lore she is often represented as protecting ancient houses—in Belgium she is the guardian of the old family de Gavre,—whilst one of her four sons became King of Brittany.
It is hardly necessary to do more than give the very briefest outline of the story as Dumas tells it. The play opens with a crowded scene of merrymakers in the patio of Juan Rozo’s inn. They are celebrating the nuptials of his daughter with young Botaro, and every room is occupied by his friends and acquaintance in festive mood. Juana, who is staying at the hostlery seeks for a guide to the castle of Tormenar, which lies at some little distance, for there she is to meet Don Luis de Figuerroa, whom she will wed upon the following day. She has secretly left the convent of Annunciades, where she was a boarder, since her father has other designs for her hand, and accordingly it is necessary that she should meet her betrothed in some lonely spot. But nobody, not even the good-natured Lazare, the servant of the inn, will conduct her to the haunted castle, “un château qui est en ruine, un château qui ne loge que des reptiles, et qui n’héberge que des fantômes.” However, a numerous company, amongst whom is Gilbert de Tiffauges, arrives at the inn, and these travellers on being told that they cannot be accommodated in spite of the fact that night is falling, incontinently resolve to take up their quarters in Tormenar, so in spite of the warnings about ghosts and goblins, having once well stocked themselves with wine and food they merrily set forth, Gilbert taking charge of Juana who has confided to him her story. However, a mysterious figure, a lady, apparently of rank, who has been staying at the inn watches them as they take
