6. NOVEMBER THE TWENTY-FIRSTManston received a message the next day requesting his
attendance at the House punctually at eight o'clock the ensuing
evening. Miss Aldclyffe was brave and imperious, but with the
purpose she had in view she could not look him in the face whilst
daylight shone upon her.
The steward was shown into the library. On entering it, he was
immediately struck with the unusual gloom which pervaded the
apartment. The fire was dead and dull, one lamp, and that a
comparatively small one, was burning at the extreme end, leaving
the main proportion of the lofty and sombre room in an artificial
twilight, scarcely powerful enough to render visible the titles of
the folio and quarto volumes which were jammed into the lower tiers
of the bookshelves.
After keeping him
