Neither could she prevail upon herself to lie down on the wretched pallet, and she therefore determined to pass the night in the chair.
After some hours of watchfulness, her eyelids closed, and she continued to slumber until she was aroused by a slight noise at the window.
Starting at the sound, she flew towards it, and perceived in the gloom the face of a man.

She would have uttered a loud cry, when the circumstances of her situation rushed to her mind, and the possibility that it might be a friend checked her.

The next moment satisfied her that she had acted rightly.

A voice, which she recognised as that of Humphrey Chetham, called to her by name in a low tone, bidding her fear nothing, as he was come to set her free.
"How have you managed to reach this window ?" asked Viviana.
"By a rope ladder," he answered.

"I contrived in the darkness to clamber upon the roof of the prison from the parapets of the bridge, and, after securing the ladder to a projection, dropped the other end into a boat, rowed by Guy Fawkes, and concealed beneath the arches of the bridge.