And, as he stepped, fear for herself drove out for the moment from Celia's thoughts fear for the three women in the black room.

If only he did not see her! She pressed herself against the pillar.

He might overlook her, perhaps! His eyes would not be so accustomed to the darkness of the recess as hers.

He might pass her unnoticed--if only he did not touch some fold of her dress.
And then, in the midst of her terror, she experienced so great a revulsion from despair to joy that a faintness came upon her, and she almost swooned.

She saw who the intruder was.