He recognised the red door with the black cross.

The throbbing of his heart increased.

He would fain have fled.

He pushed the door and it opened.
A galley-shaped lamp hung burning in the back part of the room, and three rays, emitted from its silver keel, trembled on the lofty wainscots, which were painted red with black bands.

The ceiling was an assemblage of small beams, with amethysts and topazes amid their gilding in the knots of the wood.