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The Countess Visconti would have been a good deal less easy in her mind if she could have seen the expression on her late guest's face as he crossed the woods in the direction of the Castle. He chuckled to himself from time to time, and he chuckled still more when he came to the terrace and saw that the light was still burning in the library. He let himself in through a side door with his latchkey and made his way up the staircase on to the broad landing facing the picture gallery. He could see a thin pencil of light under one of the sitting room doors, and, in front of this door, he paused and rapped quietly with his knuckles.
"Ah, then you haven't gone to bed yet," he said, as Alcie appeared. "What are you doing at this time of night?"