When still a young girl, Lady Arabella wandered into a small wood near her home, and did not return.

She was found unconscious and in a high fever--the doctor said that she had received a poisonous bite, and the girl being at a delicate and critical age, the result was serious--so much so that she was not expected to recover.

A great London physician came down but could do nothing--indeed, he said that the girl would not survive the night.

All hope had been abandoned, when, to everyone's surprise, Lady Arabella made a sudden and startling recovery.

Within a couple of days she was going about as usual! But to the horror of her people, she developed a terrible craving for cruelty, maiming and injuring birds and small animals--even killing them.