5 The young lady took me into the house. The first thing I noticed was that the hall
was very dark and she had left a candle burning there. She picked it up, and we
walked along more passages and up the stairs, and only the candle lighted us.
At last we came to the door of a room, and she said, 'There, boy. Go in.' And then
she walked away - and took the candle with her.
This was very uncomfortable, and I was afraid. However, the only thing I could do
was to knock at the door and a voice from inside told me to enter. I found myself
in a fairly large room, lighted with candles. No daylight was allowed to get in. A lot
of the furniture had shapes and uses that I did not recognise. But there was a table
with a gold-coloured mirror, and I could see that it was a fine lady's dressing-table. 10
In an armchair, with an elbow on the table and her head leaning on her hand, sat
the strangest lady I have ever seen, or will ever see.​