The massive shutters of the room were closed and securely barred, as was
the habit of the house, and the room was, consequently, still in
darkness, or deep shadow.
As I stood half hidden now, by the arch of the hall, behind which I
shrank instinctively, and uncertain how to proceed, I saw Mr. Bainrothe
suddenly emerge from behind the mirror, and take from the table near it
a canvas bag, small but evidently weighty, from the manner in which he
carried it to its place of concealment.
Then I heard the slow, heavy fall of a shower of gold coins, dropping on
others, the same sound that had greeted my ear on the day when I first
detected this treasure-cave of my father, and as different from the
sound of falling silver as is the gurgling of rich old wine from the
dash of crystal water.
"The wretch is faithful to his trust, after all. So this is where he
keeps my gold," I thought; "but how did he find ingress into our castle,
supposed at least to be inaccessible by night? Has he a false key I
wonder, and are we above-stairs, with unlocked doors, subject to his
visitations, should it occur to him to make them?"
I shuddered at the suggestions of my own fancy. Women only, who have
been similarly situated, can know how dark these may become, even in an
innocent mind, from circumstances like those that surrounded me, and
what a nameless horror there is about the insidious and licentious
approaches of the man we would fain dash away from us, and trample under
foot like a serpent, did we dare openly to do so.
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