Could it be that a footstep was now heard coming down the staircase of the old mansion which all conceived to have been so long untenanted ? Slowly , feebly , yet heavily , like the pace of an aged and infirm person , the step approached , more distinct on every downward stair , till it reached the portal . The bar fell on the inside ; the door was opened . One upward glance toward the church-spire , whence the sunshine had just faded , was the last that the people saw of the Old Maid in the Winding-Sheet . `` Who undid the door ? '' asked many . This question , owing to the depth of shadow beneath the porch , no one could satisfactorily answer . Two or three aged men , while protesting against an inference which might be drawn , affirmed that the person within was a negro and bore a singular resemblance to old Cæsar , formerly a slave in the house , but freed by death some thirty years before . `` Her summons has waked up a servant of the old family , '' said one , half seriously . `` Let us wait here , '' replied another ; `` more guests will knock at the door anon . But the gate of the graveyard should be thrown open . '' Twilight had overspread the town before the crowd began to separate or the comments on this incident were exhausted . One after another was wending his way homeward , when a coach -- no common spectacle in those days -- drove slowly into the street . It was an old-fashioned equipage , hanging close to the ground , with arms on the panels , a footman behind and a grave , corpulent coachman seated high in front , the whole giving an idea of solemn state and dignity . There was something awful in the heavy rumbling of the wheels . The coach rolled down the street , till , coming to the gateway of the deserted mansion , it drew up , and the footman sprang to the ground . `` Whose grand coach is this ? '' asked a very inquisitive body . The footman made no reply , but ascended the steps of the old house , gave three taps with the iron hammer , and returned to open the coach door . An old man possessed of the heraldic lore so common in that day examined the shield of arms on the panel .
`` Azure , a lion 's head erased , between three flowers de luce , '' said he , then whispered the name of the family XXXXX whom these bearings belonged .
at in like of on that till to toward with