certainly , however , so far as flora bannerworth was concerned , she seemed inclined to show that , mentally , the observation was a true one , for that , now she became released from a continued dread of the visits of the vampyre , her mind would , with more painful interest than ever , recur to the melancholy condition , probably , of charles holland , if he were alive , and to soul-harrowing reflections concerning him , if he were dead .