It was only a few paces away.

But at the first turning he stopped and, after a minute's thought, turned into a side street and went two streets out of his way, possibly without any object, or possibly to delay a minute and gain time.

He walked, looking at the ground; suddenly someone seemed to whisper in his ear; he lifted his head and saw that he was standing at the very gate of _the_ house.
He had not passed it, he had not been near it since _that_ evening.
An overwhelming, unaccountable prompting drew him on.

He went into the house, passed through the gateway, then into the first entrance on the right, and began mounting the familiar staircase to the fourth storey.
The narrow, steep staircase was very dark.

He stopped at each landing and looked round him with curiosity; on the first landing the framework of the window had been taken out.