Then she would grow alarmed.

I went again to the door and hammered on it in frustration. I called for help. How stupid of me. As if anyone would hear. It was so gloomy here. Down in the underground chamber there would be a faint light from that open slit high in the wall of the chamber but just above ground level outside. It was enough to let in a little air and a little light.

I felt an impulse to descend the stairs.

I stood in the underground chamber … dark, gloomy, the coffins on the ledges, the statues seeming, in my present mood, as though they had come to life. Satan’s sceptre seemed to move. I had a notion that he was giving his attention to me.

I turned my eyes away and stared at the opening in the wall. Perhaps if I went close and shouted, I should be heard by someone. But what was the use? There would be no one there to hear me.

I could not bear to remain in the chamber with the gloom and the darkness and the presence of Death. Yet if I was to be heard I must be there … because of that gap. I stared at it. It seemed to offer me my only hope of communication with the outside world.

How long should I stay here? Surely Charles must realize what I was feeling. He would come back soon feeling he had punished me enough. I remembered what Cassie had said. Her hair would turn white overnight. I touched my hair tentatively. I could not be here all through the night. No one could be so cruel… not even Charles.

But people were cruel. I should never forget the boys who had stoned Willie’s dog. Such pointless violence was the product of minds that had grown vicious because they were empty of everything else. But Charles was not like that. Charles had had education. This was not mindless cruelty. It was revenge.

I had repulsed him; and because of my humble birth he had objected fiercely to that—and he was teaching me a lesson.

I prayed again to the statue of the Virgin and the Child. I sat down on the lowest step and resisted the urge to run up to the top and shut out the sight of that gloomy chamber with its statues and remains of the dead. I noticed the moisture trickling down the walls and saw two drops running parallel as though in a race. How could one notice such things at such a time?

I thought: Shall I die down here? Suppose they never find me. I remembered the bride who on her wedding day had hidden in a chest; the lock clicked and she could not escape. The players hunted for her … but she was not found … not until years later when someone opened the chest and found the remains of her in her wedding gown.

The story had always intrigued me. Poor bride! How had she felt when she could not get out? At least my case was not quite so hopeless.

He will come back, I assured myself. This is just to tease me. He will leave me here for perhaps an hour and then he will come and unlock the door and laugh at me.

How long had passed? I had no way of knowing. When one was in this state one was unaware of time.

Silence … that terrible silence. I listened, my ears strained for some sound … some indication that someone was near. I longed to hear a sound … any sound.

There was nothing.

I walked back to the stairs. I felt I was being watched by a ghostly unseen presence. There was still light coming through the gap. It must be fairly sunny outside. So it was not night yet.

When it was quite dark something would happen.

I sat on the lower step in despair.

Was it an hallucination or did I hear the barking of a dog? I was alert listening. Yes … faintly … in the distance. It was coming from outside. I went across the chamber and stood immediately below the gap.

“Help! Help!” I cried. “I’m in the mausoleum … locked in.”

There was silence.

Then I heard the dog again. This time more distinctly and I shouted with all my might. I fancied a shadow crossed the gap.

“Help! Help! Get me out of here.”

The shadow was gone.

I stood for some time straining my ears. But now I could hear nothing.

I felt limp with despair. Had someone really been there or had I imagined it? Perhaps in my present state I had heard what I wanted to.

The silence was back and I was in despair. I was shivering, whether with cold or fear, I did not know.

No one will come this way, I told myself. If they did they would not hear me. I would stay here for the night unless Charles came back. He must.

Time was passing. I felt faint. My feet were numb; so were my hands. I could feel the cold from the stones penetrating through my clothes.

Grand’mere would be unaware as yet. She would be busy in the workroom. That always absorbed her. When she knew that I was missing she would be frantic. She would insist on their searching everywhere. But who would think of the mausoleum?

Then suddenly I heard a noise. The stairs seemed less dark. It was the scrape of the key turning in the lock. There was a shaft of light as the door was flung open.

Then a voice said: “Lenore, are you there?”

I heard the barking of a dog. I stumbled up the stairs. I was caught in someone’s arms.

“Drake …” I murmured. “Drake …”

Drake said: “It’s all right now. My God, you’re frozen.”

The dog was barking and I was pulled through into the open. The fresh air seemed intoxicating. I felt dizzy. I thought I was going to faint.

“It’s all right now. It’s all right now …” It was Drake’s voice. I saw Willie then … and I heard the dog again.

“I’ll get you back to the house,” said Drake.

Then I found myself sliding to the ground.

When I regained consciousness I was sitting on the step outside the gate and Drake was forcing my head between my knees.

“That’s better. You poor, poor child. How did it happen? Never mind. It’s all over now.”

“Drake,” I said.

“Yes, it’s Drake.”

“You’ve saved me.”

“Come on. I’m going to get you back quickly. You want a warm bed and something to soothe you. Can you stand up?”

I did so totteringly. I was aware of Willie who was looking on in amazement.

“Not very steady,” said Drake. Then he lifted me up.

“You can’t…”

“But I can. You’re as light as a feather. Come on. No time to lose.”

We went across to the house. I said: “Charles … he told you …” “Charles?”

“Charles locked me in.”

Drake did not speak; he just walked on in silence. As we came into the hall he said: “That was fine, Willie. You did well. Thank you. Miss Cleremont will thank you when she gets better.”

“So it was Willie,” I said.

”He heard you calling and had the sense to come to the house. I saw him and he told me, so I got the key and came at once.” I felt such relief that I could not speak. I saw Mrs. Dillon and Clarkson.

“My goodness gracious me,” said Mrs. Dillon. “Whatever next?”

And there was Grand’mere.

She took charge at once. I was to be taken up to my bedroom. In a short time I was lying on my bed, covered with blankets and a hot water bottle pressed against my feet. Grand’mere was seated by my bed. I slept fitfully. I kept waking and thinking I was in the mausoleum. I cried out in fear. Grand’mere was there beside me all through the night. She gave me a soothing drink with herbs. And finally I passed into a peaceful sleep, confident that she would not leave me, so that if I woke in terror, I should be comforted by her presence.

The next morning I felt better, but Grand’mere insisted that I stay in bed. I had been chilled to the bone, she said, and I had had a terrible fright.

I told her about it, beginning with the episode at the party.

“It was his revenge on me, you see, Grand’mere,” I explained.

”Mon Dieu,” she murmured,’ “to think that he could do such a thing! He is one to beware of. But at least, ma petite, we now know the man we have to deal with. I wish I could get you away from here. Philip is a gentle, kindly boy … so different. But this one. Malevolent… that is what he is. But, ma cherie, it could have been worse. When I think of you alone in that place and what he might have done … I have always wanted to tell you about the dangers. You are not such a little girl now. You will catch the eyes … as you have done with Charles. I thank the good God that this was not worse. Oh, I know of your ordeal … of your terror. How could you not be afraid … to be shut up in that place? But this … it is over. It is a bad, bad dream… . But when I think of what a man of his nature might have done … Then there would have been the great damage. That would have been something for, which I could have killed him. But for this I would too … but for that other …”

I knew what she meant and I knew that I had something for which to be thankful.

“There must be no more of him,” went on Grand’mere. “He will be away soon and we shall be free of him. I cannot be happy while he is in the house.”

“He hates me, Grand’mere.”

“For wounding his vanity, for refusing him. Yes … he is a montagne of deceit, that one. He thinks he is handsome and irresistible. One must beware of such men. But at least we know what we have to deal with. It is a warning. Once you have recovered from this, you will forget it. It will fade. It is like a nightmare that happened to be real. But it sometimes is good to know the nature of people who live close to us. So … something good comes out of evil. We now know what we have to consider in this Charles.”

“And we shall be together, Grand’mere.”

”While I am wanted, I am here. When you are older you will have a husband and children … and grand’meres … they are not then of such importance. Never mind. It is natural and right that this should be so. But for the time… we are together, eh? And while I am with you I will watch over you … and you will tell me when you are afraid. I know that in time you are going to be happy. I want you to have all your mother missed, She was thoughtlessly happy … too trusting. Well, that is in the past and this is the present, and we must live in that.”

I woke up next morning with a terrible fear for a moment that I was in the mausoleum. Then the familiar objects in my room began to take shape. Grand’mere came to my bed.

“You have had a good night’s sleep,” she said.

“You’ve been here all the time.”

“I was quite comfortable dozing in the chair. Now I am going to get you something nice and soothing. Some porridge, I think … a little bread and butter. Mrs. Dillon suggested the porridge. She said it was soothing. They are all very anxious to help. Clarkson is annoyed because Charles took the key without asking him for it.”

I ate the breakfast and said I wanted to get up but Grand’mere thought I should rest for a while.

“You were frozen to the marrow. I don’t want you catching a cold.”

I felt limp and unreal and was not averse to agreeing to stay in bed. She brought me Jane Eyre to read. I had read it before but I had enjoyed it so much and always felt so sorry for Jane that it made me feel how fortunate I was.

I told Grand’mere that she must not sit with me all day. It made me feel like an invalid, and if she were in the workroom, 1 knew that she was close.

“You’ve had a big shock,” she said. “I feel that is more to be considered than the cold you endured in that place. You were there for three hours. Enough to chill anyone’s bones … but the fact of your being there was probably the worst. So now you will rest.”

Cassie came to see me. She stood by my bed looking at me with a kind of wondering tenderness.

“It’s all right, Cassie,” I said. “I’m not there now.”

“I can’t tell you how I felt when I heard that you were there for three hours. I should have died.”

“I thought I was going to die there.”

“Your hair hasn’t changed a bit.” She was peering at me, “There’s no white … and it should show … your being so dark.”

“I think I’m getting over it now … though I dreamed of it last night quite a lot and when I woke up I had a terrible feeling that I might still be there.”

“I can imagine nothing more horrible.”

“There are more horrible things.”

“You are very brave, Lenore.”

“You should have seen me shivering … thinking of all sorts of horrors … watching for the ghosts … I was far from brave.”

“There has been a lot of trouble,” she said. “It has been terrible. Mama is most distressed. She is in her room with the curtains drawn and no one but Miss Logan is to go near her.”

”What happened then?”