jane waked that night, and did not know why she waked. after a moment it came to her that she had been dreaming. in her dream something unpleasant had happened, and she did not know what it was. she sat up in the darkness with her hands pressed over her eyes, trying to remember.
the vague feeling of having passed through some horrifying experience oppressed her far more than definite recollection could have done.
she got up, switched on the light, and began to pace up and down, but she could not shake off that feeling of having left something, she did not know what, just behind her, just out of sight. she looked round for the book she had been reading, but she remembered now that she had left it downstairs. she looked at her watch. it was three o’clock. the house would be absolutely still and empty. it would not take her two minutes to fetch the book from the drawing-room. she slipped on renata’s dressing-gown, put out her light, and opened the door.
with a little shock of surprise she saw that the corridor was dark. some one must have put out the light which always burned at the far end. instead of the usual faintly rosy glow, there was darkness thinning to dusk, and just at the stairhead a vivid splash of moonlight. after a moment’s hesitation jane slipped out of her room, leaving the door ajar. somehow she had not reckoned upon having to cross that brightly lighted space. she came slowly to the head of the stairs and looked down into the hall. it was like looking into the blackness and silence of a vast well. she could see nothing—nothing at all. the moon was shining in through the rose window above the great door. there was a shield in the window, a shield with the luttrell arms, and the light came through the glass in a great beam shot with colour, and struck the portrait of lady heritage and the vine leaves and grapes on the newel just below. the window and the portrait were on the same level, and the ray seemed to make a brilliant cleavage between the silvery dusk above and the dense gloom below.
jane descended the stairs, walking carefully so as to make no noise. at the foot she turned sharply to the left and passed the study door, the fireplace, and the steel gate which shut off the north wing. the door of the yellow drawing-room was straight in front of her. she opened it softly and went in.
the book would be on the little table to the right of the fireplace, because she remembered putting it there when lady heritage made an unexpectedly early move. she stood for a moment visualising the arrangement of the chairs, and then walked straight to the right place. the book was where she had left it, put down open, a bad habit for which jimmy had often rebuked her. she was back at the door with it, and just about to pass the threshold when she heard a sound. instantly she stood still, listening. the sound came from the other end of the hall, where the shadows lay deepest round the massive oak door.
“but there can’t be any one at the door at this hour,” said jane—“there can’t, there can’t possibly.”
the sound came again, something between a rustle and a creak, but so faint that no hearing less acute than jane’s would have caught it.
“it’s on the left of the door, underneath willoughby luttrell’s picture....”
jane suddenly pressed her hand to her lips and made an involuntary movement backwards, for there was an unmistakable click, and then, slow and faint, a footfall. jane stood rigid, staring into the darkness of the corner. she thought she heard a sigh, and then the footsteps crossed the hall, coming nearer. at the stair foot they paused, and then began to ascend.
jane gazed into the deeply shadowed space where the footfall sounded, but nothing—not the slightest glimpse of anything moving—came to her straining sight.
she looked up and saw the level ray of moonlight overhead. whoever climbed the stair must pass up into the light and be visible, but from where she stood she could only see the side of the stair like a black wall. but she must see—she must. if some one had come out of the darkness where there was no door she must know who it was. her bare feet made no sound as she moved from the sheltering doorway. step by step she kept pace with those slow mounting footsteps. she passed the steel gate, and, feeling her way along the wall, came to a standstill by the cold black hearth. then, with her whole body tense, she turned and looked up. there was a darker shadow among the shadows, a shadow that moved upwards, towards the beam of moonlight. jane watched, breathless, and from where the portrait hung, the sombre eyes of raymond heritage seemed to watch too. out of blackness into dusk a something emerged; one step more and the moonlight fell on a dark hood. up into the light came a cloaked figure, draped from head to foot, shapeless.
on the top step it turned. jane caught her breath. it was lady heritage. she stood there for a long minute, her left hand just resting on the newel post with its twining tendrils and massive overhanging grapes. the light shone full upon her, and her face was sharpened, blanched, and sorrowful. her eyes seemed to look into unfathomable depths of gloom. the amber, the rose, and the violet of the stained glass fell in a hazy iridescence upon the black of her cloak.
in front the cloak fell away and showed the straight white linen of an overall, and cloak and overall were deeply stained with dull wet smears. a piece of the stuff hung jagged from a tear.
jane looked, and could not take her eyes away.
“oh, she’s so unhappy,” she said to herself.
with a quick movement raymond heritage pushed the hood back from her hair. then she turned, faced her own portrait for a moment, and passed slowly out of sight. jane heard a door close very softly.
she stood quite still and waited, gathering her courage. she would have to mount the stair and pass through that light before she could reach the safely shadowed corridor. just for a moment it seemed as if she could not do it. her feet seemed to cleave to the ground. five minutes passed, and another five.
jane felt herself becoming rigid, and with a tremendous effort, she took one step forward, but only one, for as her foot touched a new cold patch of floor, some one moved overhead.
for an instant a little pencil of electric light jabbed into the darkness and went out again. the next moment mr. ember stepped into the moonlight. he too wore a linen overall, and in his left hand he carried the mask-like head-dress which was in use in the laboratories. his right hand held a torch.
he came down the stairs, walking with astonishing lightness. half-way down the torch came into play again. he sent the little ray in a sort of dazzle-dance about the hall. with every leaping flash jane’s heart gave a jump, and she only stopped her teeth from chattering by biting hard upon the cuff of renata’s dressing-gown. she had covered her face instinctively, and peered, terror-stricken, between her fingers.
the light skimmed right across her once, and but for the crimson flannel, she would certainly have screamed aloud. if mr. ember had been looking, he could have seen a semicircle of white forehead, two clutching hands, and a quivering chin. but his eyes were elsewhere, and the dancing flash passed on.
ember crossed the hall to the far corner out of which lady heritage had come. suddenly the light went out.
jane heard again the very, very small creaking noise which she had heard before. it was followed by a faint click, and then unmitigated silence. the seconds added themselves together and became minutes, and there was no further sound. the minutes passed, and the beam of moonlight slipped slowly downwards. now the portrait was in darkness, now the newels were just two black shadows. it was a long, long time before jane moved. she climbed the staircase with terror in her heart. at the edge of the moonlight she waited so long that it moved to meet her. when the edge of it touched her bare, hesitating foot she gave a violent start, and ran the rest of the way.
the dark corridor felt like a haven of refuge.
she came panting to her own door, and suddenly there was no haven of refuge anywhere. the door was shut. she had left it ajar. it was shut.
jane stood with her outstretched hand flat on the panel of the door. she kept saying over and over to herself:
“i left it open, but it’s shut. i left it open, but it’s shut.”
once she pushed the door as if it could not really be shut at all, but it did not yield; the latch had caught. it was shut. at last she turned the handle slowly and went in. a gust of wind met her full. perhaps it was the wind that had shut the door. she left it ajar, moved to the middle of the room, and waited. for a moment there was a lull. somewhere in the house a clock struck four. the sound came just over the edge of hearing, with its four tiny distant strokes. then the wind rushed in again through the open window, and the door fell to with a click.
