Trying to identify 1920s/30s ghost story

[Carfilhiot]

I've been struggling to recall the name and author of a short ghost story I read a while back. I have an idea it was a prewar tale, possibly from the 1920s or 1930s, and it was reminiscent of E.F. Benson in its general tone, but it's not one of his.



Brief synopsis: the story is told in the third person. The protagonist is visiting a large old house, where the couple who own it tell him that they have their very own ghost, a 16th/17th century spirit who likes to play the harpsichord, and they take our hero up stairs to see the spook, who is seated with his back to them. They say that there is a tradition or legend that no living person can see the ghost's face....



That night our protagonist is in bed when he becomes aware that the ghost has entered the room and is standing at the foot of the bed, and promptly pulls the covers up over his head in terror. Eventually he gives in and looks the thing in the face, and mentions the legend, and....

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}
...the ghost tells him that he died some hours ago....

[dem bones]

Can you remember anything about the book it appeared in? The cover illustration, if there was one. Hardcover or early paperback? It sounds familiar - the ending, in particular - though the harpsichord has thrown me a little.

[Carfilhiot]

I wouldn't swear to the harpsichord, but definitely some semi-antique instrument that wasn't a piano. As to where it appeared, I am quite sure I read it in one of those whopping great anthologies of ghost stories, possibly the early 2000s, of which I read dozens if not scores. It was more than just a "twist in the tale" type of story, as I vaguely recall enjoying the background and the tone.

[dem bones]

Think this is it. Pamela Hansford Johnson's Ghost of Honour.

vague synopsis

[Carfilhiot]

Thanks, that's it. I turned out to actually have the story, as well, in a bootleg epub of "The Mammoth Book Of Thrillers, Ghosts & Mysteries".