I would be vary 'appy,' and again she looked oddly at me.
'Wat hour, my dear Maud? One o'clock? I think that weel de very well, eh?'
I assented, and she grew silent.
I wonder whether I did look as careless as I tried. I do not know. Through
the whole of this awful period I was, I think, supernatural; and I even now
look back with wonder upon my strange self-command.
Madame, I hoped, had heard nothing of the order which prohibited my exit
from the place. She would herself conduct me to Feltram, and secure, by
accompanying me, my free egress.
Once in Feltram, I would assert my freedom, and manage to reach my dear
cousin Knollys. Back to Bartram no power should convey me. My heart swelled
and fluttered in the awful suspense of that hour.
Oh, Bartram-Haugh! how came you by those lofty walls? Which of my ancestors
had begirt me with an impassable barrier in this horrible strait?
Suddenly I remembered my letter to Lady Knollys. If I were disappointed in
effecting my escape through Feltram, all would depend upon it.
Having locked my door, I wrote as follows:--
'Oh, my beloved cousin, as you hope for comfort in _your_ hour of fear, aid
me now.
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