My lady sweet arise!”
The voice fell silent, and Katherine came back to herself and knocked on the door.
“Come in, my dear Duchess,” called a merry voice from behind the door. There was no mistaking the note of glad welcome.
Katherine turned the knob and opened the door. Only darkness greeted her eyes.
“Where are you?” she asked.
From somewhere in the room came a sudden exclamation of surprise.
“Who is it?” demanded the voice which had bidden her enter. “You are not my lady-in-waiting, the Duchess.”
“I’m afraid I’m not,” said Katherine, considerably puzzled at the salutation she had received. She stood still inside the door trying to locate her mysterious hostess in the darkness. Her flashlight lay in her hand, useless, its battery burned out.
“I’m looking for another house on another hill,” she began hurriedly, speaking into the darkness and feeling as though she had slipped into the Arabian Nights, “and I got the wrong hill and and now I’m so mixed up I don’t know where to go. I heard you singing and came in to ask if you could tell me where the other hill is. I knocked before I came in,” she added hastily, “but you didn’t come to the door, so I took the liberty of walking in. I beg your pardon for coming right in that way, but I was so cold——”
“You are welcome in our lodge,” interrupted the invisible voice with lofty graciousness. “Do you not know where you have come?” it continued, in a tone which indicated there was a delicious surprise in store. “This is the royal hunting lodge, and I am the Princess Sylvia!”