As she spoke, she rang the bell once, twice, thrice.

The silvery tinkle had scarcely died away the third time before the door opened silently; I saw no one, but she drew me into a narrow hall or passage.

A taper in an embossed holder was burning on a chest.

She took it up, and telling me to follow her led the way lightly up the stairs, and into a room, half-parlour, half-bedroom--such a room as I had never seen before.

It was richly hung from ceiling to floor with blue silk, and lighted by the soft rays of lamps shaded by Venetian globes of delicate hues.