“You are very kind. I shall leave it all to your own judgment. If it is necessary, of course the secret will have to come out. You can judge how much of an explanation may be necessary as soon as you reach the Hall.”
He took the candle, and sweeping aside a portion of the tapestry hangings, revealed an iron door. He asked her to draw back the bolt and push the door open.
She did so, and saw a flight of stone steps.
He limped down these, she following, and soon came to what appeared a grated window.
He told her to slide back the grating, when she would see another bolt which fastened the window.
She obeyed, and slipping the bolt, the window swung open on hinges, when, descending two or three more steps, they found themselves in what he had called a court, but what was in reality a small, ancient burying ground, surrounded on three sides by the walls of the Hall, and on the fourth by that of the old chapel.
CHAPTER XXXIII
BROWNIE LIBERATED
“You would not suppose that Vallingham Hall concealed such a spot in its very heart, would you?” Herbert Randal asked, as they stepped into the court.
“No; it is an enigma to me even now.”
“Where you have been to-night is a portion of the original buildings. The chapel and the Hall have been built around this square, and, as you perceive, there are no windows overlooking the place, which was once used as a burial ground, although nearly all evidences of that have disappeared.”