However, the Otis family were wrong. The ghost was still in the house, even though he did not feel well enough to get about very much. But he was still not completely finished. He had heard that the young Duke of Cheshire was visiting the house.

The uncle of the Duke's father, Lord Francis Stilton, had once told his friend Colonel Carbury that for one hundred pounds, he would play dice with the Canterville ghost.

The next morning the servants found him lying on the floor of the card-room. He was completely unable to move, and though he lived for a long time after that, the only thing that he was ever able to say was 'Double Sixes'.

At the time everybody knew about the story, even though Lord Stilton's family tried to stop people hearing about it. The full story and everything about it was written in Book Three of Lord Tattle's Recollections of the Prince Regent and his Friends.

Because of all this, the ghost wanted to show that he was still able to scare members of Lord Stilton's family. In fact, the Duke's family were relatives of the ghost, though not very close relatives.

Many years ago, the ghost's cousin had married the Sieur de Bulkeley, who, as every one knows, is the ancestor of the Dukes of Cheshire.