# The Third Night explained — Lost Man’s Lane

> Chapter companion for Lost Man’s Lane by Anna Katharine Green.

## What happens

Amelia Butterworth, suspecting a secret burial, stays awake and observes the household carrying a body through the hall. She follows the procession to the Flower Parlor, where she witnesses the lowering of a coffin into a grave dug in the cellar. Overcome with horror, she retreats to her room without alerting the police.

## Themes in this chapter

### Secrecy and Deception

The household conspires to secretly bury a body in the cellar, hiding the crime from the outside world.

### Family Loyalty and Sacrifice

Lucetta and Miss Knollys participate in covering up William's actions, showing loyalty to family at great moral cost.

### Justice and Morality

Miss Butterworth grapples with whether to report the crime, ultimately choosing silence over immediate justice.

## Character check-ins

### Amelia Butterworth

Narrator and observer; she devises a plan to witness the night's events and follows the funeral procession.

### Lucetta

Shows momentary affection toward Miss Butterworth; later seen among the bearers, weeping as the coffin is lowered.

### Miss Knollys

Commands silence during the procession; one of the six bearers.

### William Knollys

Participates in carrying the body; his stolid tones are heard.

### Hannah

In the kitchen with Mother Jane; later part of the funeral party.

### Mother Jane

Seen in the kitchen late at night; joins the six bearers.

## Key lines

> I made up my mind that no locked door should interfere with my opportunity of doing so.

I resolved that no locked door would prevent me from witnessing the event.

_Miss Butterworth's determination to uncover the truth._

> I heard them take the forward course from the foot of the stairs to what, to my straining ear, seemed to be the entrance to the dining-room corridor.

I heard them move from the bottom of the stairs toward what I thought was the dining-room hallway.

_Amelia tracks the procession by sound._

> A long square hole in the floor, lately sawed, provided an opening through which the plain plank coffin, of which I now caught sight, was to be lowered into the cellar and so into the grave which had doubtless been dug there.

A freshly cut square hole in the floor allowed the simple wooden coffin to be lowered into the cellar and into a grave dug beneath.

_The secret burial method is revealed._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lost_man_s_lane_se/chapters/xxii-the-third-night
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lost_man_s_lane_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/lost_man_s_lane_se/chapters