She descended, asked the conductor to direct her to Holy Innocents, and was answered with a jerk of the thumb.
It stood, in fact, just beyond the bridge, with a high brick wall that turned off the street at right angles and overhung the towpath of the canal.

Although in architecture wholly dissimilar, the building put her in mind of the Hospital of the Good Samaritan, and her spirits sank for a moment.

Its facade looked upon the street over a strip of garden crowded with dingy laurels.

It contained a depressingly large number of windows, and it seemed to her that they were at once bare and dirty.
Also, and simultaneously, it occurred to her that she had no notion what step to take next, nor how, if she rang the bell, to explain herself.
She temporised therefore; whistled to 'Dolph, and turned aside down the steps leading to the towpath.

She would con the lie of the land before laying siege--the strength of the castle before summoning the defence.
The castle was patently strong--strong enough to excuse any disheartenment.