and shedding some very heartfelt
tears, "if I seem to be repining at my friends' good fortune; I do not
mean it; I wish them every joy. But what I fear is, lest it should not
be for their good--that Wyvis and his mother and Julian should be
unhappy."

She was roused from her reflection by a sound in the corridor. It was a
creaking board, she knew that well enough; but the board never creaked
unless some one trod upon it. Who could be walking about the house at
this time of night? Mrs. Brand, perhaps; she was terribly restless at
night, and often went about the house, seeking to tire herself so
completely that sleep would be inevitable on her return to bed. On a
cold night, such expeditions were not, however, unattended by danger, as
she was not careful to protect herself against draughts, and it was with
the desire to care for her that Janetta at last rose and took up a soft
warm shawl with which she thought that she might cover Mrs. Brand's
shoulders.

With the shawl over her arm and a candle in one hand she opened her door
and looked out into the passage. It was unlighted, and the air seemed
very chilly. Janetta stole along the corridor like a thief, and peeped
into Mrs. Brand's bedroom; as was expected, it was empty. Then she
looked into Julian's room, for she had several times found the
grandmother praying by his bed, at dead of night; but Julian slumbered
peacefully, and nobody else was there. Janetta rather wonderingly turned
her attention to the lower rooms of the house. But Mrs. Brand was not to
be found in any of the sitting rooms; and the hall door was securely
locked and bolted, so that she could not have gone out into the garden.

"She must be upstairs," said Janetta to herself. "But what can she be
doing in that upper storey, where there are only empty garrets and
servants rooms! I did not look into the spare room, however; perhaps she
has gone to see if it is ready for Wyvis, and I did not go to Juliet.
She cannot have gone to _her_, surely; she never enters the room unless
she is obliged."

Nevertheless, her heart began to beat faster, and she involuntarily
quickened her steps. She did not believe that Mrs. Brand would seek
Juliet's room with any good intent, and as she reached the top of the
stairs her eyes dilated and her face grew suddenly pale with fear. For a
strange whiff of something--was it smoke?--came into her eyes, and an
odd smell of burning assailed her nostrils. Fire, was it fire? She
r