. What ailed the door? he wondered. Why was it
open? How came it to shut so easily and so effectually after him? There
was something obscure and underhand about all this that was little to
the young man's fancy. It looked like a snare; and yet who could suppose
a snare in such a quiet by-street and in a house of so prosperous and
even noble an exterior? And yet--snare or no snare, intentionally or
unintentionally--here he was, prettily trapped; and for the life of him
he could see no way out of it again. 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 towards 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 labouring 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 o