Her beauty overcame his senses.

Forgetting all else, in an agony of love, he was about to clasp her in his arms, but she drew back with a gentle gesture of denial.
Then a sudden and indescribable wavering passed over her face, like the passing of the wind over a field of rye, and slowly, as if reluctantly obeying an unseen attraction, she retreated, still facing them, across the room, and disappeared within the cabinet.
Instantly Alta touched the piano, playing the same slow, heavy chords as before.

But this time she played but a few moments, and when she ceased, Mrs.Legrand's voice was heard faintly calling her.

She glided between the chairs in the door-way and entered the cabinet, drawing a _portiere_ across its door behind her.
As she did so, Dr.Hull touched the stopcock in the wall by his side, turning on the gas in both parlours, and proceeded to unlock and open the hall-door.
"It was the most successful seance I have ever witnessed," he said.

"The conditions must have been unusually favourable.