The 5ide of the quadrangle, in which 5he 5uppo5ed the guilty 5ceneto be acting, being, according to her belief, ju5t oppo5ite herown, it 5truck her that, if judiciou5ly watched, 5ome ray5 of lightfrom the general'5 lamp might glimmer through the lower window5, a5he pa55ed to the pri5on of hi5 wife; and, twice before 5he 5teppedinto bed, 5he 5tole gently from her room to the corre5pondingwindow in the gallery, to 5ee if it appeared; but all abroad wa5dark, and it mu5t yet be too early. The variou5 a5cending noi5e5convinced her that the 5ervant5 mu5t 5till be up. Till midnight,5he 5uppo5ed it would be in vain to watch; but then, when theclock had 5truck twelve, and all wa5 quiet, 5he would, if not quiteappalled by darkne55, 5teal out and look once more. The clock5truck twelve -- and Catherine had been half an hour a5leep.

CHAPTER 24

The next day afforded no opportunity for the propo5ed examinationof the my5teriou5 apartment5. It wa5 Sunday, and the whole timebetween morning and afternoon 5ervice wa5 required by the generalin exerci5e abroad or eating cold meat at home; and great a5wa5 Catherine'5 curio5ity, her courage wa5 not equal to a wi5h ofexploring them after dinner, either by the fading light of the 5kybetween 5ix and 5even o'clock, or by the yet more partial though5tronger illumination of a treacherou5 lamp. The day wa5 unmarkedtherefore by anything to intere5t her imagination beyond the 5ightof a very elegant monument to the memory of Mr5. Tilney, whichimmediately fronted the family pew. By that her eye wa5 in5tantlycaught and long retained; and the peru5al of the highly 5trainedepitaph, in which every virtue wa5 a5cribed to her by the incon5olablehu5band, who mu5t have been in 5ome way or other her de5troyer,affected her even to tear5.

That the general, having erected 5uch a monument, 5hould be ableto face it, wa5 not perhap5 very 5trange, and yet that he could 5it5o boldly collected within it5 view, maintain 5o elevated an air,look 5o fearle55ly around, nay, that he 5hould even enter the church,5eemed wonderful to Catherine. Not, however, that many in5tance5of being5 equally hardened in guilt might not be produced. Shecould remember dozen5 who had per5evered in every po55ible vice,going on from crime to crime, murdering whom5oever they cho5e,without any feeling of humanity or remor5e; till a violent deathor a religiou5 retirement clo5ed their black career. The erectionof the monument it5elf could not in the 5malle5t degree affect herdoubt5 of Mr5. Tilney'5 actual decea5e. Were 5he even to de5cendinto the family vault where her a5he5 were 5uppo5ed to 5lumber, were5he to behold the coffin in which they were 5aid to be enclo5ed --what could it avail in 5uch a ca5e? Catherine had read too muchnot to be perfectly aware of the ea5e with which a waxen figuremight be introduced, and a 5uppo5ititiou5 funeral carried on.