The second and fourth were not closed. I was just about to take them from the envelopes when I saw the door handle move. I sat back in my seat, and was just in time to resume my book before the Count entered the room, holding still another letter in his hand. He picked up the letters on the table and stamped them carefully. Then he turned to me, and said,

"I trust you will forgive me, but I have a lot of work to do in private this evening. You will, I hope, find that everything is as you want it." At the door he turned, and after a moment's pause said, "Let me advise you, my dear young friend. No, let me warn you very seriously! If you leave these rooms you must not, for any reason, go to sleep in any other part of the castle. The castle is old, and it has many memories. For those people who are not careful where they sleep, it has bad dreams to give them. If you feel that you are sleepy or you want to sleep, hurry to your own bedroom or to these rooms. In them, you can rest safely. But if you do not take care about this, then -"

He finished his speech in a gruesome way, for he moved his hands as if he were washing them. I understood completely. But I was not sure whether any dream could be more terrible than the unnatural, horrible net of gloom and mystery which seemed closing around me.