There was no matting on the floor, no fire on the hearth.

The hall felt cold, damp, and uninhabited.

The state staircase rose in front of me, and presently bifurcating, formed a gallery round the place.

I looked up, and up, and far above me, in the dim heights of the second floor, I espied a faint light--perhaps, the reflection of a light.
A movement in the room on my left warned me that I had no time to lose, if I meant to act.

At any minute one of the men might come out and discover me.