My heart beat quickly, so that I was afraid to go out into the passage,
for there I must meet that which descended, man or spirit as it might
be. I heard the foot on the lowest stair, and then it turned towards the
little closet where my mistress often sat alone at her devotions.
While it lingered there I wondered whether I should rush out into the
street, and seek the help and company of some neighbour. But I
remembered Mrs. Gaunt's injunction; and, moreover, another thought
restrained me. It was that of the man that I had let into the house and
never seen again. It might well be that he had never left the place, and
that I should be betraying a secret by calling in a stranger to look at
him.
So I stood trembling by the deal table until the step sounded again and
came on to the kitchen.
[Sidenote: The Man Again]
The door opened, and a man stood there. It was the same whom I had seen
before.
He looked round quickly, and gave me a courteous greeting; his manner
was, indeed, pleasant enough, and there was nothing in his look to set a
maid trembling at the sight of him.
"I am in luck," he said, "for I heard Mrs. Gaunt go out some time since,
and I am sick of that upper chamber where she keeps me shut up."
"If she keeps you shut up, sir," I said, his manner giving me back all
my self-possession, "sure she has some very good reason."
"Do you know her reason?" he asked with abruptness.
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