He had come to that window before; yet was it possible that he should dare to do so now! All the servants were in bed, and in the ordinary course of affairs she would have retired also.

Then she remembered that on stepping in by the casement and closing it, she had not fastened the window-shutter, so that a streak of light from the interior of the room might have revealed her vigil to an observer on the lawn.

How all things conspired against her keeping faith with Grace! The tapping recommenced, light as from the bill of a little bird; her illegitimate hope overcame her vow; she went and pulled back the shutter, determining, however, to shake her head at him and keep the casement securely closed.
What she saw outside might have struck terror into a heart stouter than a helpless woman's at midnight.

In the centre of the lowest pane of the window, close to the glass, was a human face, which she barely recognized as the face of Fitzpiers.

It was surrounded with the darkness of the night without, corpse-like in its pallor, and covered with blood.