Then almost as quickly as it had begun, the whole cataclysm ceased, though a deep-down rumbling continued intermittently for some time.  Then silence brooded over all—­silence so complete that it seemed in itself a sentient thing—­silence which seemed like incarnate darkness, and conveyed the same idea to all who came within its radius.  To the young people who had suffered the long horror of that awful night, it brought relief—­relief from the presence or the fear of all that was horrible—­relief which seemed perfected when the red rays of sunrise shot up over the far eastern sea, bringing a promise of a new order of things with the coming day.

* * * * *

His bed saw little of Adam Salton for the remainder of that night.  He and Mimi walked hand in hand in the brightening dawn round by the Brow to Castra Regis and on to Lesser Hill.  They did so deliberately, in an attempt to think as little as possible of the terrible experiences of the night.  The morning was bright and cheerful, as a morning sometimes is after a devastating storm.  The clouds, of which there were plenty in evidence, brought no lingering idea of gloom.  All nature was bright and joyous, being in striking contrast to the scenes of wreck and devastation, the effects of obliterating fire and lasting ruin.

The only evidence of the once stately pile of Castra Regis and its inhabitants was a shapeless huddle of shattered architecture, dimly seen as the keen breeze swept aside the cloud of acrid smoke which marked the site of the once lordly castle.  As for Diana’s Grove, they looked in vain for a sign which had a suggestion of permanence.  The oak trees of the Grove were still to be seen—­some of them—­emerging from a haze of smoke, the great trunks solid and erect as ever, but the larger branches broken and twisted and rent, with bark stripped and chipped, and the smaller branches broken and dishevelled looking from the constant stress and threshing of the storm.

Of the house as such, there was, even at the short distance from which they looked, no trace.  Adam resolutely turned his back on the devastation and hurried on.  Mimi was not only upset and shocked in many ways, but she was physically “dog tired,” and falling asleep on her feet.  Adam took her to her room and made her undress and get into bed, taking care that the room was well lighted both by sunshine and lamps.  The only obstruction was from a silk curtain, drawn across the window to keep out the glare.  He sat beside her, holding her hand, well knowing that the comfort of his presence was the best restorative for her.  He stayed with her till sleep had overmastered her wearied body.  Then he went softly away.  He found his uncle and Sir Nathaniel in the study, having an early cup of tea, amplified to the dimensions of a possible breakfast.  Adam explained that he had not told his wife that he was going over the horrible places again, lest it should frighten her, for the rest and sleep in ignorance would help her and make a gap of peacefulness between the horrors.