The darkness began to weigh upon him. He gave ear; all was silent
without, but within and close by he seemed to catch a faint sighing, a
faint sobbing rustle, a little stealthy creak--as though many persons
were at his side, holding themselves quite still, and governing even
their respiration with the extreme of slyness. The idea went to his
vitals with a shock, and he faced about suddenly as if to defend his
life. Then, for the first time, he became aware of a light about the
level of his eyes and at some distance in the interior of the house--a
vertical thread of light, widening toward the bottom, such as might
escape between two wings of arras over a doorway. To see anything was
a relief to Denis; it was like a piece of solid ground to a man
laboring in a morass; his mind seized upon it with avidity; and he
stood staring at it and trying to piece together some logical
conception of his surroundings. Plainly there was a flight of steps
ascending from his own level to that of this illuminated doorway; and
indeed he thought he could make out another thread of light, as fine as
a needle and as faint as phosphorescence, which might very well be
reflected along the polished wood of a handrail. Since he had begun to
suspect that he was not alone, his heart had continued to beat with
smothering violence, and an intolerable desire for action of any sort
had possessed itself of his spirit. He was in deadly peril, he
believed. What could be more natural than to mount the staircase, lift
the curtain, and confront his difficulty at once? At least he would be
dealing with something tangible; at least he would be no longer in the
dark. He stepped slowly forward with outstretched hands, until his
foot struck the bottom step; then he rapidly scaled the stairs, stood
for a moment to compose his expression, lifted the arras and went in.

He found himself in a large apartment of polished stone. There were
three doors; one on each of three sides; all similarly curtained with
tapestry. The fourth side was occupied by two large windows and a
great stone chimney-piece, carved with the arms of the Maletroits.
Denis recognized the bearings, and was gratified to find himself in
such good hands. The room was strongly illuminated; but it contained
little furniture except a heavy table and a chair or two, the hearth
was innocent of fire, and the pavement was but sparsely strewn with
rushes clearly many days old.

On a high chair b