As he turned from the house a manservant appeared at the door--crossed the enclosure--and threw the gate open for Ovid, without uttering a word.
They entered the passage.

The speechless manservant opened a door on the right, and made a bow, inviting the visitor to enter.

Ovid found himself in a room as barren as the field outside.

There were the plastered walls, there was the bare floor, left exactly as the builders had left them when the house was finished.

After a short absence, the man appeared again.