iod. Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, Catharine would
not resign the hope of seeing me. Louisa said she had left them both in
the parlour, and she knew of no cause for their absence.

As yet I was not without solicitude on account of their personal safety.
I was far from being perfectly at ease on that head, but entertained no
distinct conception of the danger that impended over them. Perhaps to
beguile the moments of my long protracted stay, they had gone to
walk upon the bank. The atmosphere, though illuminated only by the
star-light, was remarkably serene. Meanwhile the desirableness of an
interview with Carwin again returned, and I finally resolved to seek it.

I passed with doubting and hasty steps along the path. My dwelling, seen
at a distance, was gloomy and desolate. It had no inhabitant, for my
servant, in consequence of my new arrangement, had gone to Mettingen.
The temerity of this attempt began to shew itself in more vivid colours
to my understanding. Whoever has pointed steel is not without arms; yet
what must have been the state of my mind when I could meditate, without
shuddering, on the use of a murderous weapon, and believe myself secure
merely because I was capable of being made so by the death of another?
Yet this was not my state. I felt as if I was rushing into deadly toils,
without the power of pausing or receding.

Chapter XVI

As soon as I arrived in sight of the front of the house, my attention
was excited by a light from the window of my own chamber. No appearance
could be less explicable. A meeting was expected with Carwin, but that
he pre-occupied my chamber, and had supplied himself with light, was not
to be believed. What motive could influence him to adopt this conduct?
Could I proceed until this was explained? Perhaps, if I should proceed
to a distance in front, some one would be visible. A sidelong but feeble
beam from the window, fell upon the piny copse which skirted the bank.
As I eyed it, it suddenly became mutable, and after flitting to and fro,
for a short time, it vanished. I turned my eye again toward the window,
and perceived that the light was still there; but the change which I had
noticed was occasioned by a change in the position of the lamp or candle
within. Hence, that some person was there was an unavoidable inference.

I paused to deliberate on the propriety of advancing. Might I not
advance cautiously, and, therefore, without danger? Might I not knock