"There's a door there," she remarked, "but I suppose it's only a
cupboard."
"Sure to be," said Viner. "However, we'll see." He went across, drew the
curtain aside, tried the door, looked within, and uttered an exclamation.
"I say!" he called back. "Stairs!"
Miss Wickham came across and looked past his shoulder. There was
certainly the head of a staircase before him, and a few stairs to be seen
before darkness swallowed up the rest--but the darkness was deep and the
atmosphere that came up from below decidedly musty.
"Are you going down there?" she asked. "I don't like it!"
"It seems our only chance," answered Viner. He looked back into the room,
and seeing some wax candles standing on a writing-table, seized one and
lighted it. "Come along!" he said. "Let's get out of this altogether."
Miss Wickham gathered up her skirts and followed down the stairs, Viner
going cautiously in front, with the light held before him in such a
fashion that he could see every step. At a turn in the stairway he came
across a door, and opening it, saw that it stood at the end of a narrow
passage running through the house; at the farther end of the passage he
recognized an oak cabinet which he had noticed when Mrs.
Pages:
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331