The Works of George W. M. Reynolds — page 27: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

10 REYNOLDS’ WORKS pleasures, and glitter of civilization to be enjoyed in the British metropolis. Zoe sat up much later than she had originally intended, in concluding these letters to her father and husband. It was eleven o’clock before she laid down her pen, and then, feeling tired, she reclined back in the chair to rest herself for a few minutes before seeking her chamber. While thus half-reposing, the lamp which stood upon the table, and which was an old-fashioned one of heavy bronze, and fed with oil, suddenly grew dim, and in a few moments it be- came extinguished. Zoe did not choose to ring for another, as she knew that the domestics were accustomed to go to bed early, and she was likewise aware that she would find a light burning in her own chamber, for she had already intimated to Honor, her principal lady’s-maid, that she was not to sit up for her, as she had intended to finish her letters before seeking her couch. Issuing from the now dark drawing-room, Zoe was crossing the passage to reach her own chamber, when by the clear moonlight which penetrated through the window at the extremity of that passage she distinctly perceived a human form moving along. At first she thought it must be either Monsieur Volney or the gardener, for it was the form of a man, and they were the only two males within the walls of the chateau. But the next instant she felt assured it was neither of those persons, it being a much taller figure. It was pro- ceeding rapidly. Zoe stopped short, and the chill of an un- known terror shot through her as the conviction smote her that she heard not the faintest sound of footsteps. A superstitious dread seized upon her; she passed her hand across her eyes, looked again in the same direction, and now beheld nothing to break the silver shafts of the moon- light which streamed brilliantly in through the window. She hastened into her own chamber, endeavouring to persuade herself that it was a delusion, and also endeavour- ing to be angry with herself for having yielded to it. But still there was something in her mind which she could not put off, — something oppressive, something that lay there like a dead weight, and which rendered her nervous and uneasy. What could it mean? Zoe was strong-minded and little prone to superstitious terror, but now for the first time since she became an inmate of the chateau did she feel (ele) ==) GEomic 90 oks