A 1955 Western Electric Model 5320 telephone.
"The Telephone" is a short romantic ghost story by Mary Treadgold, a British author primarily known for her children's novels about ponies. It was first published in 1955 as part of the anthology The Third Ghost Book. It is included in the 1983 anthology Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories.
The story's unnamed narrator is a young woman whose husband may be receiving telephone calls from his dead first wife.
Plot[]
The story opens in London during a performance of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The unnamed narrator is an actress performing on stage. Her attention is drawn to one man in the audience. She is introduced to him at a party after the play. His name is Allan and, although he is already married to a Canadian woman named Katherine, he and the narrator soon begin having an affair. Allan feels conflicted because he still loves Katherine. Eventually, Katherine finds out about the affair. She and Allan quietly divorce and Katherine moves back to Canada.
The narrator and Allan marry and move to the Scottish Highlands. A few months later, Allan receives a letter from Toronto informing him that Katherine is dead.
Three weeks later, Allan receives another letter. It is a second reminder to pay the telephone bill for the now empty house in London, that he still owns, where he and Katherine used to live. The narrator comments that the telephone in London might have already been disconnected. Allan asks her to call the number and check. The telephone is still connected. That evening, Allan answers the telephone. The narrator hears him say his old London telephone number and, "My dear, My dear." Over the following weeks, Allan receives many other telephone calls. He grows visibly older and weaker. One day, the narrator sends Allan out fishing. She then calls his old London telephone number. Somebody answers the telephone, although the narrator does not hear a voice. The narrator pleads with Katherine to leave her husband alone, promising to be a good wife to him. Later, the narrator hears Allan on the telephone saying, "Katherine - Katherine." He tells the narrator that he wanted to ask Katherine to forgive him but could not reach her.
Allan announces to the narrator that he has to go to London to find Katherine and ask her for forgiveness. He advises the narrator to stay in a hotel for a few days, something that she has no intention of doing. There are only two trains a day to London from the Scottish village where the narrator and Allan live. Allan takes the morning train. The narrator secretly follows her husband on the evening train. She arrives the next day and takes a taxi straight to Allan's former home. Allan, now fully restored to health, lets her in and they embrace. A man arrives to disconnect the telephone. Allan says that, since he no longer needs the telephone in his old London home, he does not mind if it is disconnected.