chest, and is never heard of for years (in fact never at all until her bones were found with her dress and wreath,) is not so very improbable.
Suppose the old woman forgot this staircase, suppose my party went off thinking that I was playing them some trick; supposing they stick to that belief for four days, what should
I
do? . . . I don't know. I could howl, and shout. That's all.
What chance of being discovered have I, except by a tradesman wanting his quarter's account settled very badly and being determined upon hunting me up wherever I was.
A door at last! And light and fresh air through the chinks. It opens easily, and I am on the leads of the roof.
With a
of the surrounding country. I breathe freely once more. Now the question is how to get down again.
ON THE ROOF—DOWN AGAIN—FURTHER INSPECTION—VARIETY—ELIZABETHAN—NORMAN—COLOUR—RAYS—FILTERED—CUI BONO?—SUGGESTION—PLAY IN STORE—THE STABLES—PREVIOUS TENANTS—GOOD INTENTIONS—NAME.
ust
as I am asking myself this, I meet Chilvern on the roof. He is examining the chimneys. The others are below choosing their rooms. It appears that no one has been up the narrow staircase except myself. He shows me a different way down.
We take another turn over the house. This time more observantly. Various orders of architecture. Chilvern, as an architect, makes a professional joke. He says, “The best order of architecture is an order to build an unlimited number of houses.”
Happy Thought.
—Who was the first scientific builder?
Answer.
—Noah, when he invented arky-tecture. (N.B. This will do for a Sunday conundrum.)
Part of it is very old, (the staircase and tower part where I've been), and wall of the yard at the back, overgrown with ivy, shows the remains of a genuine Norman arch.
Another quarter is decidedly Elizabethan, while a long and well proportioned music room,—of which the walls and ceiling, once evidently covered with paintings, are now dirty, damp, and
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