Then I felt how foolish and futile it was to talk to the empty air when I might have confessed myself to the real lover of my life face to face, had I been less sceptical,—­less proud!  Was not my very journey to the House of Aselzion a testimony of my own doubting attitude?—­for I had come, as I now admitted to myself, first to make sure that Aselzion really existed—­and secondly, to prove to my own satisfaction that he was truly able to impart the mystical secrets which Rafel seemed to know.  I wearied myself out at last with thinking to no purpose, and closing the window I undressed and went to bed.  As I lay down, the light in my room was suddenly extinguished, and all was darkness again except for the moon, which sent a clear white ray straight through the lattice, there being no curtain to shut it out.  For some time I remained awake on my hard little couch, looking at this ray, and steadily refusing to allow any sense of fear or loneliness to gain the mastery over me—­the music which had so enchanted me ceased—­and everything was perfectly still.  And by and by my eyes closed—­my tired limbs relaxed,—­and I fell into a sound and dreamless sleep.

When I awoke it was full morning, and the sunshine poured into my room like a shower of gold.  I sprang up, full of delight that the night had passed so peacefully and that nothing strange or terrifying had occurred, though I do not know why I should have expected this.  Everything seemed wonderfully fresh and beautiful in the brightness of the new day, and the very plainness of my room had a fascination greater than any amount of luxury.  The only unusual thing I noticed was that the soft cold water with which my bath was supplied sparkled as though it were effervescent,—­once or twice it seemed to ripple with a diamond-like foam, and it was never actually still.  I watched its glittering movement for some minutes before bathing—­then, feeling certain it was charged with some kind of electricity, I plunged into it without hesitation and enjoyed to the utmost the delicious sense of invigoration it gave me.  When my toilet was completed and I had attired myself in a simple morning gown of white linen, as being more suitable to the warmth of the weather than the black one I had travelled in, I went to throw open my window and let in all the freshness of the sea-air, and was surprised to see a small low door open in the side of the turret, through which I discovered a winding stair leading downward.  Yielding to the impulse of the moment, I descended it, and at the end found myself in an exquisite little rock garden abutting on the seashore.  I could actually open a gate, and walk to the very edge of the sea.  I was no longer a prisoner, then!—­I could run away if I chose!