And here just let me stop to mention that, carefully considered as all
my precautions were, I had forgotten one thing upon leaving home which
at this minute made me very nearly miserable. I had not included among
my effects the alcohol lamp and all the other private and particular
conveniences which I possess for making tea in my own apartment. Had I
but had them with me, and had I been able to make and sip a cup of my
own delicious tea through the ordeal of listening for whatever sounds
might come to disturb the midnight stillness of this house, what relief
it would have been to my spirits and in what a different light I might
have regarded Mr. Gryce and the mission with which I had been intrusted.
But I not only lacked this element of comfort, but the satisfaction of
thinking that it was any one's fault but my own. Lena had laid her hand
on that teapot, but I had shaken my head, fearing that the sight of it
might offend the eyes of my young hostesses. But I had not calculated
upon being put in a remote corner like this of a house large enough to
accommodate a dozen families, and if ever I travel again----

But this is a matter personal to Amelia Butterworth, and of no interest
to you. I will not inflict my little foibles upon you again.

Eleven o'clock came and went. I had heard no sound. Twelve, and I began
to think that all was not quite so still as before; that I certainly
could hear now and then faint noises as of a door creaking on its
hinges, or the smothered sound of stealthily moving feet. Yet all was so
far from being distinct, that for some time I hesitated to acknowledge
to myself that anything could be going on in the house, which was not to
be looked for in a home professing to be simply the abode of a decent
young man and two very quiet-appearing young ladies; and even after the
noises and whispering had increased to such an extent that I could even
distinguish the sullen tones of the brother from the softer and more
carefully modulated accents of Lucetta and her sister, I found myself
ready to explain the matter by any conjecture short of that which
involved these delicate young ladies in any scheme of secret wickedness.

But when I found there was likely to be no diminution in the various
noises and movements that were taking place in the front of the house,
and that only something much out of the ordinary could account for so
much disturbance in a country home so long after midnight, I decided
th