Rosamond took the keys, declined the housekeeper's offer to accompany her, and leading her husband along the passages, unlocked the door of the north hall.
"How unnaturally cool it is here!" she said, as they entered the deserted place.
At the foot of the stairs she stopped, and took a firmer hold of her husband's arm.
"Is any thing the matter?" asked Leonard. "Is the change to the damp coolness of this place affecting you in any way?"
"No, no," she answered hastily. "I am far too excited to feel either heat or damp, as I might feel them at other times. But, Lenny, supposing your guess about Mrs. Jazeph is right?—"
"Yes?"
"And, supposing we discover the Secret of the Myrtle Room, might it not turn out to be something concerning my father or my mother which we ought not to know? I thought of that when Mrs. Pentreath offered to accompany us, and it determined me to come here alone with you."
"It is just as likely that the Secret might be something we ought to know," replied Mr. Frankland, after a moment's thought. "In any case, my idea about Mrs. Jazeph is, after all, only a guess in the dark. However, Rosamond, if you feel any hesitation—"
"No! come what may of it, Lenny, we can't go back now. Give me your hand again. We have traced the mystery thus far together, and together we will find it out."
She ascended the staircase, leading him after her, as she spoke. On the landing she looked again at the Plan, and satisfied herself that the first impression she had derived from it, of the position of the Myrtle Room, was correct. She counted the doors on to the fourth, and looked out from the bunch the key numbered "IV.," and put it in the lock.