Cecilia de Noël

"Cecilia de Noël" by Lanoe Falconer is an early nineteenth century story set within a manor fraught with mystery, where the characters' inner turmoil and the unexplained become intertwined. Sir George Atherley, a man of science, finds his rational views challenged by strange disturbances that spark fears of a haunting, while Lady Atherley worries over the impact on the household staff. Amidst the spectral doubts, Mr. Lyndsay battles his own ghosts, wrestling with the sorrow of a past romance, all while heated, philosophical debates around the existence of the supernatural and themes of companionship take place in Atherley's drawing room.

Mary Elizabeth Hawker was a Scottish-born writer of short fiction. From 1890, she wrote under the pseudonym Lanoe Falconer.