"It is all familiar to me, in a way," she said.
"Why, you said the same down-stairs. Have you been here before?"
"Never, to my knowledge."
We were traversing a long, broad passage side by side. Suddenly I tripped over an unexpected single stair, and nearly fell. Rosa, however, had allowed for it.
"I didn't see that step," I said.
"Nor I," she answered, "but I knew, somehow, that it was there. It is very strange and uncanny, and I shall insist on an explanation from Alresca." She gave a forced laugh.
As I fumbled with the handle of the door she took hold of my hand.
"Listen!" she said excitedly, "this will be a small room, and over the mantelpiece is a little round picture of a dog."
I opened the door with something akin to a thrill. This part of the house was unfamiliar to me. The room was certainly a small one, but there was no little round picture over the mantelpiece. It was a square picture, and rather large, and a sea-piece.
"You guessed wrong," I said, and I felt thankful.