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M. Madeleine’s chamber. He paid no heed to the portress’s
words, but went to bed and to sleep. Towards midnight
he woke up with a start; in his sleep he had heard a noise
above his head. He listened; it was a footstep pacing back
and forth, as though some one were walking in the room
above him. He listened more attentively, and recognized
M. Madeleine’s step. This struck him as strange; usually,
there was no noise in M. Madeleine’s chamber until he rose
in the morning. A moment later the cashier heard a noise
which resembled that of a cupboard being opened, and then
shut again; then a piece of furniture was disarranged; then
a pause ensued; then the step began again. The cashier sat
up in bed, quite awake now, and staring; and through his
window-panes he saw the reddish gleam of a lighted win-
dow reflected on the opposite wall; from the direction of the
rays, it could only come from the window of M. Madeleine’s
chamber. The reflection wavered, as though it came rath-
er from a fire which had been lighted than from a candle.
The shadow of the window-frame was not shown, which in-
dicated that the window was wide open. The fact that this
window was open in such cold weather was surprising. The
cashier fell asleep again. An hour or two later he waked
again. The same step was still passing slowly and regularly
back and forth overhead.
The reflection was still visible on the wall, but now it was
pale and peaceful, like the reflection of a lamp or of a can-
dle. The window was still open.
This is what had taken place in M. Madeleine’s room.