The Headless Spaniards and the Confectioner

In the house At the Golden Well, where the papal nuncio Spinelli lodged in the reign of Rudolf II, there is said to have been haunting in earlier days: two headless figures appeared there, a knight and a lady. They appeared until the end of the last century, when they were delivered. A confectioner lived there at that time, who was one night before the holidays working late in his workshop behind the shop, making fine little figures. Then someone knocked at the shop, and the confectioner went to see who was seeking anything of him at so late an hour. He opened and saw a gentleman and a lady, both very pale. 'We have come to buy something,' they told him, and when he had shown them in, they chose two figures and generously paid more than the confectioner asked. In doing so they revealed to him that it was they who walked and haunted that house, and that he was appointed to deliver them. They told him that they came from Spain and that a greedy host had once murdered them in this house: he had cut off their heads and thrown them into the Vltava, then buried the bodies in the cellar, and that from that day they had no peace in the grave. 'And how should I deliver you?' asked the willing confectioner. They told him how many holy masses he was to have said for them and where, and what works of mercy he was to perform. When he had promised them everything, they gave him a great deal of money which — when he had done all as they had directed — became the foundation of his wealth. And from that hour the haunting in the house ceased. There was indeed a notable confectioner here in 1815.