To pass its threshold was to return to stagnation; to cross the silent hall, to ascend the darksome staircase, to seek my own lonely little room, and then to meet tranquil Mrs. Fairfax, and spend the long winter evening with her, and her only, was to quell wholly the faint excitement wakened by my walk,--to slip again over my faculties the viewless fetters of an uniform and too still existence; of an existence whose very privileges of security and ease I was becoming incapable of appreciating.
A hazatérés egyúttal az álló időhöz, a tespedt egyhangúsághoz való visszatérést jelentette. Kezdődik minden elölről; belépek a néma csarnokba, fölmegyek a sötét lépcsőn, benyitok magányos kis szobámba, s aztán a hosszú téli estét megint a csendes Mrs. Fairfaxszel töltöm kettesben.