"
"Was he alone in the house during this interval?"
"No; the maid Beta was at her work in the room below Senor Stanley's."
"Let her be brought here."
The order was so rapidly obeyed, that it was very evident she was
close at hand; but so terribly alarmed at the presence in which she
stood, as to compel the Sub-Prior to adopt the gentlest possible tone,
to get any answer at all. He merely inquired if, during the absence of
her master and mistress, she had heard any movement in the prisoner's
room. She said that she thought she had--a quiet, stealthy step, and
also a sound as if a door in the back of the house closed; but the
sounds were so very indistinct, she had felt them at the time more
like a dream than reality; and the commencement of the storm had so
terrified her, that she did not dare move from her seat.
"And what hour was this?"
It might have been about nine; but she could not say exactly. And from
the assertion that she did hear a slight sound, though puzzlingly
cross-questioned, she never wavered. The King and the Sub-Prior both
looked disappointed. The chief of the Santa Hermandad expressed
himself confirmed in his previous supposition.
The prisoner retained his calmness; but a gleam of intelligence seemed
to flit across his features.
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