The stern reception at first given to them by the Master
of Ravenswood, and the difficulty he felt in explaining to that injured
nobleman what guests were under the shelter of his roof, did not soothe
these alarms; so that when Sir William Ashton heard the door of the
courtyard shut behind him with violence, the words of Alice rung in his
ears, "That he had drawn on matters too hardly with so fierce a race as
those of Ravenswood, and that they would bide their time to be avenged."
The subsequent frankness of the Master's hospitality, as their
acquaintance increased, abated the apprehensions these recollections
were calculated to excite; and it did not escape Sir William Ashton,
that it was to Lucy's grace and beauty he owed the change in their
host's behavior.
All these thoughts thronged upon him when he took possession of
the secret chamber. The iron lamp, the unfurnished apartment, more
resembling a prison than a place of ordinary repose, the hoarse and
ceaseless sound of the waves rushing against the base of the rock on
which the castle was founded, saddened and perplexed his mind.
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