Rudge. They seemed to be whispering together, and in
the same moment their lips met. Then the man came out and went
downstairs. Mrs. Enderby turned back into the drawing-room.
Maud stood fixed to the spot. Darkness had closed in around her, and
she clung to the banisters to save herself from the gulf which
seemed to yawn before her feet. The ringing of a bell, the
drawing-room bell summoning Mrs. Enderby's maid, brought her back to
consciousness, and with trembling limbs she regained her room. It
was as though some ghastly vision of the night had shaken her soul.
The habit of her mind overwhelmed her with the conviction that she
knew at last the meaning of that mystery of horror which had of late
been strengthening its hold upon her imagination. The black cloud
which lowered above the house had indeed its significance; the
voices which wailed to her of sin and woe were the true expression
of things amid which she had been moving unconsciously. That
instinct which made her shrink from her mother's presence was not
without its justification; the dark powers which circled her
existence had not vainly forced their influence upon her. Her first
impulse was to flee from the house; the air breathed pestilence and
death, death of the soul.
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