''down here , ducky , ' she said 'it 's off the library i 'll show you , right around in back of the stairs ' 'clumsily , i followed her down around the staircase and into a very large but dimly lighted northside room the library , yes , most certainly , with bookshelves to the ceiling and dark leather furnishings , and only one lamp lighted , in a far corner , beside a blood red drape a great dark mirror hung over the marble fireplace , reflecting the one lamp as if it were a sanctuary light ''there you go , ' she said , pointing to a closed door , and quickly made her exit i was suddenly conscious of a man and woman huddled together on the leather couch who rose and hurried away it seemed the party with its continued merriment bypassed this room everything here was dust and silence one could smell moldermg leather and paper and i was immensely relieved to be alone 'i sank down into the wing chair facing the fireplace , with my back to the crowd passing in the hallway , glancing up at the reflection of it in the mirror , and feeling quite safe from it for the moment , and praying that no other loving couple would seek this shadowy retreat 'i took out my handkerchief and wiped my face i was sweating miserably , and i struggled to remember every detail of what i 'd seen 'now , you know we all have our theories regarding apparitions as to why they appear in this or that guise , or why they do what they do and my theories probably do n't agree with those of anyone else but i was certain of one thing as i sat there stuart had chosen to show himself to me in decayed and disheveled form for one very good reason his remains were in this house1 yet he was imploring me to leave here1 he was warning me to get out 'was this warning intended for the entire talamasca ' or merely for arthur langtry ' i sat brooding , feeling my pulse return to normal , and feeling as i always do in the aftermath of such experiences , a rush of adrenaline , a zeal to discover all that lies behind the faint shimmer of the supernatural which i had only just glimpsed 'i was also enraged , deeply and bitterly , at whoever or whatever had brought stuart 's life to a close 'how to proceed , that was the vital question of course i should speak to stella but how much of the house might i explore before i made myself known to her ?