that I was a prisoner like himself. I had no books, no work, no music.
It was a dreary place to pass a dreary time in; and my only resource was
to pace to and fro--to and fro from one end to another of those wretched
rooms.

I watched the day grow dusk, and then dark. The rifts in the driving
clouds were growing larger, and the edges were torn. I left off roaming
up and down my room, like some entrapped creature, and sank down on the
floor by the window, looking out for the pale, sad blue of the sky which
gleamed now and then through the clouds, till the night had quite set
in. I did not cry, for I am not given to overmuch weeping, and my heart
was too sore to be healed by tears; neither did I tremble, for I held
out my hand and arm to make sure they were steady; but still I felt as
if I were sinking down--down into an awful, profound despondency, from
which I should never rally; it was all over with me. I had nothing
before me but to give up, and own myself overmatched and conquered. I
have a half-remembrance that as I crouched there in the darkness I
sobbed once, and cried under my breath, "God help me!"

A very slight sound grated on my ear, and a fresh thrill of strong,
resentful feeling quivered all through me; it was the hateful click of
the key turning in the lock. It gave me force enough to carry out my
defiance a little longer. Before the door could be opened I sprang to my
feet, and stood erect, and outwardly very calm, gazing through the
window, with my face turned away from the persons who were coming in; I
was so placed that I could see them reflected in the mirror over the
fireplace. A servant came first, carrying in a tray, upon which were a
lamp and my tea--such a meal as might be prepared for a school-girl in
disgrace.