That gentleman was, at the moment of her arrival, absent, engaged on
business concerning the sale of the faked picture to Mr. Harker, and
Martha was still away; so Jessica, pausing at the door of the
living-room to ascertain that it was empty, softly ascended the stairs
leading to the garret which served as her special apartment.
It was as small and as squalid as all the other rooms in that crowded
court; but it was different from them in one respect--it was clean.
A miserable chair bedstead of the cheapest kind, covered with a
threadbare quilt; a chair with the back broken off; a washstand on three
legs, and a triangular piece of silvered glass, the remains of a cheap
mirror, composed the furniture.
This peculiarly-shaped piece of common glass reflected the girl's
beautiful face in all manner of distorted forms. The quilt just kept her
from perishing with the cold. But yet the mirror, the bed, and the room
itself were precious to her, for they were her own. Beyond its sacred
threshold Johann or Martha never passed. She had a key to it; and to
enter now she unlocked the door.
After the luxury of Adrien's rooms the mean quality of her own apartment
struck the girl more forcibly than usual, and sinking upon the bed, she
covered her face with her hands and gave way to a flood of tears.
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