The songs were silent; there was no sound save the distant neigh of a horse and the heavy tramp of a guest coming along the gallery.

Half bewildered by poring over the magic scroll, full of the signs and the demons, and still with a sense of injury and jealousy cankering his heart, Felix retired to his couch, and, weary beyond measure, instantly fell asleep.
In his unsettled state of mind it did not once occur to him to ask himself how the manuscript came to be upon his table.

Rare as they were, books were not usually put upon the tables of guests, and at an ordinary time he would certainly have thought it peculiar.

The fact was, that Aurora, whom all day he had inwardly accused of forgetting him, had placed it there for him with her own hands.

She, too, was curious in books and fond of study.