It was one of the handsomest rooms of the house, furnished with oak
bookcases about seven feet high, above which vases of Oriental ware and
varied colouring stood boldly out against the dark oak wall. Richly
bound books in infinite variety testified to the wealth and taste of the
owner; while one side of the room was absorbed by a wide Gothic window,
beyond which appeared the panorama of lake and mountain, beautiful in
every season. A tawny velvet curtain divided this room from the
drawing-room; but there was also a strong oak door behind the curtain,
which was generally closed in cold weather.
Lady Maulevrier went over to this door, and took the precaution to draw
the bolt, before she seated herself in her arm-chair by the hearth. She
had her own particular chair in all the rooms she occupied--a chair
which was sacred as a throne.
She drew off her sealskin gloves, and motioned with a slender white hand
to the stranger to be seated.
'To whom have I the honour of speaking?' she asked, looking; him through
and through with an unflinching gaze, as she would have looked at Death
himself, had the grim skeleton figure come to beckon her.
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