livery, who took Somerset's name and politely worded request
to be allowed to inspect the architecture of the more public
portions of the castle. He pronounced the word 'architecture'
in the tone of a man who knew and practised that art; 'for,'
he said to himself, 'if she thinks I am a mere idle tourist,
it will not be so well.'

No such uncomfortable consequences ensued. Miss De Stancy had
great pleasure in giving Mr. Somerset full permission to walk
through whatever parts of the building he chose.

He followed the butler into the inner buildings of the
fortress, the ponderous thickness of whose walls made itself
felt like a physical pressure. An internal stone staircase,
ranged round four sides of a square, was next revealed,
leading at the top of one flight into a spacious hall, which
seemed to occupy the whole area of the keep. From this
apartment a corridor floored with black oak led to the more
modern wing, where light and air were treated in a less
gingerly fashion.

Here passages were broader than in the oldest portion, and
upholstery enlisted in the service of the fine arts hid to a
great extent the coldness of the walls.

Somerset was now left to himself, and roving freely from room
to room he found time to inspect the different objects of
interest that abounded there. Not all the chambers, even of
the habitable division, were in use as dwelling-rooms, though
these were still numerous enough for the wants of an ordinary