And the household all had long since retired.

She could not rouse them only to satisfy her own doubts without any other practical result.

For what if the intruder were Lord Arondelle?
He was not in the least an objectional guest.

And in the morning he would explain his strange presence.
By this time Salome had reasoned herself into some degree of calmness.
But she was still too much excited to feel sleepy or to think of retiring to bed.
The mid-summer night was warm and close, even there in the Highlands--or in her nervous condition it seemed to her to be so.

She wanted more air.
She went to the window, and seated herself in an easy-chair, and looked out.
A heavenly night! The deep-blue sky was spangled with myriads of sparkling stars.