It was not long before this was attained.  Passing down a deeply rutted lane, they came to a high stone wall which extended for a couple of hundred yards.  It had a crumbling, decaying appearance, as far as could be judged in the uncertain light.  This wall was broken by a single iron gate, flanked by two high pillars, each of which was surmounted by some weather-beaten heraldic device.  Passing through they turned up a winding avenue, with lines of trees on either side, which shot their branches so thickly above them that they might have been driving through some sombre tunnel.  This avenue terminated in an open space, in the midst of which towered a great irregular whitewashed building, which was the old Priory.  All below it was swathed in darkness, but the upper windows caught the glint of the moon and emitted a pallid and sickly glimmer.  The whole effect was so weird and gloomy that Kate felt her heart sink within her.  The wagonette pulled up in front of the door, and Girdlestone assisted her to alight.

There had been no lights or any symptoms of welcome, but as they pulled down the trunks the door opened and a little old woman appeared with a candle in her hand, which she carefully shaded from the wind while she peered out into the darkness.

“Is that Mr. Girdlestone?” she cried.

“Of course it is,” the merchant said impatiently.  “Did I not telegraph and tell you that I was coming?”

“Yes, yes,” she answered, hobbling forward with the light.  “And this is the young lady?  Come in, my dear, come in.  We have not got things very smart yet, but they will soon come right.”

She led the way through a lofty hall into a large sitting-room, which, no doubt, had been the monkish refectory in bygone days.  It looked very bleak and cold now, although a small fire sputtered and sparkled in the corner of the great iron grate.  There was a pan upon the fire, and the deal table in the centre of the room was laid out roughly as for a meal.  The candle which the old woman had carried in was the only light, though the flickering fire cast strange fantastic shadows in the further corners and among the great oaken rafters which formed the ceiling.

“Come up to the fire, my dear,” said the old woman.  “Take off your cloak and warm yourself.”  She held her own shrivelled arms towards the blaze, as though her short exposure to the night air had chilled her.  Glancing at her, Kate saw that her face was sharp-featured and cunning, with a loose lower lip which exposed a line of yellow teeth, and a chin which bristled with a tuft of long grey hairs.

From without there came the crunching of gravel as the wagonette turned and rattled down the avenue.  Kate listened to the sound of the wheels until they died away in the distance.  They seemed somehow to be the last link which bound her to the human race.  Her heart failed her completely, and she burst into tears.