I did not turn my eyes in her direction, because that would not be safe.

It is very difficult to look as if you have not been doing anything when the facts are the other way, and my confidence in my performance oozed steadily out of me as I went along.

I was aiming for the left-hand door because it was furthest from my wife.
It had never been opened from the day that the house was built, but it seemed a blessed refuge for me now.

The bed was this one, wherein I am lying now, and dictating these histories morning after morning with so much serenity.

It was this same old elaborately carved black Venetian bedstead--the most comfortable bedstead that ever was, with space enough in it for a family, and carved angels enough surmounting its twisted columns and its headboard and footboard to bring peace to the sleepers, and pleasant dreams.