A few quick steps and he was at her own door.

And now a new terror seized him.
What if Elizabeth was also walking the house or even awake?
He thought of putting Beatrice down at the door and leaving her there, but abandoned the idea.

To begin with, her father might see her, and then how could her presence be accounted for?
or if he did not, she would certainly suffer ill effects from the cold.

No, he must risk it, and at once, though he would rather have faced a battery of guns.

The door fortunately was ajar.