There, almost unconsciously, he turned and walked westward. It
was getting late; before long the theatres would be emptying: he
might have a peep of Sepia as she came out!--but where was the
good when that fellow was with her! "But," thought Tom, growing
more and more daring as in an adventurous dream, "why should I
not go to the house, and see her after he has left her at the
door?"
He went to the house and rang the bell. The man came, and said
immediately that Miss Yolland was out, but had desired him to ask
Mr. Helmer to wait; whereupon Tom walked in, and up the stair to
the drawing-room, thence into a second and a third drawing-room,
and from the last into the conservatory. The man went down and
finished his second, pint of ale. From the conservatory, Tom,
finding himself in danger of havoc among the flower-pots, turned
back into the third room, threw himself on a couch, and fell fast
asleep.
He woke in the middle of the night in pitch darkness; and it was
some time before he could remember where he was. When he did, he
recognized that he was in an awkward predicament. But he knew the
house well, and would make the attempt to get out undiscovered.
It was foolish, but Tom was foolish. Feeling his way, he knocked
down a small table with a great crash of china, and, losing his
equanimity, rushed for the stair. Happily the hall lamp was still
alight, and he found no trouble with bolts or lock: the door was
not any way secured.
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