The windows remained obstinately blind, no figures appeared on the terrace, the garden lay deserted, and without life.

My departure had not, as I half expected it would, drawn the secret into light.
I watched awhile, at times cursing my own meanness; but the excitement of the moment and the quest tided me over that.

Then I determined to go down into the village and see whether anything was moving there.

I had been down to the inn once, and had been received half sulkily, half courteously, as a person privileged at the great house, and therefore to be accepted.

It would not be thought odd if I went again, and after a moment's thought, I started down the track.
This, where it ran through the wood, was so densely shaded that the sun penetrated to it little, and in patches only.