Sister Agnes then showed Janet that behind the black draperies there was a cupboard in the wall, which on being opened proved to contain a quantity of large candles.  One by one Sister Agnes took out of the silver tripods what remained of the candles of the previous day, and filled up their places with fresh ones.  Janet looked on attentively.  Then, for the second time, Sister Agnes knelt on the prie-dieu for a few moments, and then she and Janet left the room.

Next day Sister Agnes was so ill, and Janet pressed so earnestly to be allowed to attend to the Black Room in place of her, and alone, that she was obliged to give a reluctant consent.

It was not without an inward tremor that Janet heard the clock strike twelve.  Sister Agnes had insisted on accompanying her part of the way upstairs, and would, in fact, have gone the whole distance with her, had not Janet insisted on going forward alone.  In a single breath, as it seemed to her, she ran up the remaining stairs, unlocked the door, and entered the room.  Her nerves were not sufficiently composed to allow of her making use of the prie-dieu.  All she cared for just then was to get through her duty as quickly as possible, and return in safety to the world of living beings downstairs.  She set her teeth, and by a supreme effort of will went through the small duty that was required of her steadily but swiftly.  Her face was never turned away from the coffin the whole time; and when she had finished her task she walked backwards to the door, opened it, walked backwards out, and in another breath was downstairs, and safe in the protecting arms of Sister Agnes.

Next night she insisted upon going entirely alone, and made so light of the matter that Sister Agnes no longer opposed her wish to make the midnight visit to the Black Room a part of her ordinary duty.  But inwardly Janet could never quite overcome her secret awe of the room and its silent occupant.  She always dreaded the coming of the hour that took her there, and when her task was over, she never closed the door without a feeling of relief.  In this case, custom with her never bred familiarity.  To the last occasion of her going there she went the prey of hidden fears—­fears of she knew not what, which she derided to herself even while they made her their victim.  There was a morbid thread running through the tissue of her nerves, which by intense force of will might be kept from growing and spreading, but which no effort of hers could quite pluck out or eradicate.

CHAPTER XIX.

The dawn of love.

Major Strickland did not forget his promise to Janet.  On the eighth morning after his return from London he walked over from Eastbury to Deepley Walls, saw Lady Chillington, and obtained leave of absence for Miss Hope for the day.  Then he paid a flying visit to Sister Agnes, for whom he had a great reverence and admiration, and ended by carrying off Janet in triumph.