emembered that Wyvis had once said that the Red House would burn like
tinder if it was ever set alight. The old woodwork was very combustible,
and there was a great deal of it, especially in the upper rooms.

Juliet's door was open. Janetta stood before it for the space of one
half second, stupefied and aghast. Smoke was rapidly filling the room
and circling into the corridor; the curtains near the window were in a
blaze, and Mrs. Brand, with a lighted candle in her hand, was
deliberately setting fire to the upholstery of the bed where the
unconscious Juliet lay. Janetta never forgot the moment's vision that
she obtained of Mrs. Brand's pale, worn, wildly despairing face--the
face of a madwoman as she now perceived, who was not responsible for the
deed she did.

Janetta sprang to the window curtains, dragged them down and trampled
upon them. Her thick dressing gown, and the woollen shawl that she
carried all helped in extinguishing the flame. Her appearance had
arrested Mrs. Brand in her terrible work; she paused and began to
tremble, as if she knew in some vague way that she was doing what was
wrong. The flame had already caught the curtains, which were of a light
material, and was creeping up to the woodwork of the old-fashioned bed,
singeing and blackening as it went. These, also, Janetta tore down,
burning her hands as she did so, and then with her shawl she pressed out
the sparks that were beginning to fly dangerously near the sleeping
woman. A heavy ewer of water over the mouldering mass of torn muslin and
lace completed her task; and by that time Juliet had started from her
sleep, and was asking in hysterical accents what was wrong.

Her screams startled the whole household, and the servants came in
various stages of dress and undress to know what was the matter. Mrs.
Brand had set down her candle and was standing near the door, trembling
from head to foot, and apparently so much overcome by the shock as to be
unable to answer any question. That was thought very natural. "Poor
lady! what a narrow escape! No wonder she was upset," said one of the
maids sympathetically, and tried to lead her back to her own room. But
Mrs. Brand refused to stir.

Meanwhile Juliet was screaming that she was burning, that the whole
house was on fire, that she should die of the shock, and that Wyvis was
alone to blame--after her usual fashion of expressing herself wildly
when she was suffering from any sort of excitement of mind.