girl. Suffice it to say, that both for her sake and my own, I could not
face the chance of being found, in the dead of night, by common-minded
domestics, in such a situation.

I was kneeling by her side, not knowing what to do, when a horror, as
from the presence of death suddenly recognized, fell upon me. I thought
she must be dead. But at the same moment, I hear, or seemed to hear,
(how should I know which?) the rapid gallop of a horse, and the clank of
a loose shoe.

In an agony of fear, I caught her up in my arms, and, carrying her on my
arms, as one carries a sleeping child, hurried back through the
corridor. Her hair, which was loose, trailed on the ground; and, as I
fled, I trampled on it and stumbled. She moaned; and that instant the
gallop ceased. I lifted her up across my shoulder, and carried her more
easily. How I found my way to the stair I cannot tell: I know that I
groped about for some time, like one in a dream with a ghost in his
arms. At last I reached it, and descending, crossed the hall, and
entered my room. There I placed Lady Alice upon an old couch, secured
the doors, and began to breathe--and think. The first thing was to get
her warm, for she was cold as the dead. I covered her with my plaid and
my dressing-gown, pulled the couch before the fire, and considered what
to do next.




CHAPTER IX