Courthope opened the shutters of his window to look out upon the night; they were heavy wooden shutters clasped with an iron clasp.

A French window he could also open; outside that a temporary double window was fixed in the casement with light hooks at the four corners.

The wind was still blustering about the lonely house, and, after examining the twilight of the snow-clad night attentively, he perceived that snow was still falling.

He thought he could almost see the drifts rising higher against the out-buildings.
Two large barns stood behind the house; from these he judged that the fields around were farmed.
It was considerations concerning the project of his journey the next day which had made him look out, and also a restless curiosity regarding every detail of the _menage_ whose young mistress was at once so child-like and so queenlike.

While looking out he had what seemed a curious hallucination of a dark figure standing for a moment on the top of the deep snow.