which her lover was to leap. Thither the haftened. The day, though on its laft decline, juft enabled her to perceive that the fcaffolding which fhe had pointed out to Savinien was no longer in its place. and alfo the foffe, or rather precipice, him to animate his courage; he flides down from the arch, and not feeling the fcaffolding, utters a fcream of horror, and falls headlong to the bottom of the moat. * 61 She defcended from the terrace; called wildly for her aunt and flaves. They thought fhe was mad: She ran out; returned; pronounced the name of her lover threw herfelf at their feet, and conjured them to fuffer her to quit the palace. They referred her to her father. Him the inftantly went in fearch of; called in a tone of defperation, upon his name. No one answered. Time flew. The fatal moment was at hand. Savinien cried the unhappy girl, intead of me thou wilt embrace thy death; and it is I, I that have conducted thee to thy fate.' She again afcended the terrace, as being the only fituation from whence the could difcern the place of rendezvous. She flattered herself that, notwithstanding the distance, her feeble voice inight apprize her lover of the danger with which he was momentarily threatened. By the time that Prifcilla had mounted the terrace, it was almoft night. Pale as death, he was in want of the higheft exertion of her voice, and her yoice, ftifled by the violence of her emotion, could fcarcely make itfelf heard. In the courfe of a few feconds, the thought fhe heard the found of fome footsteps on the planks that covered the arch upon which Savinien was to tread; but yet he could fee nothing. All is again fill as death. Suddenly the noife without is repeated. A plank falls, and the precipice prefents itfelf. Gods! it is he! it is my beloved! Then fummoning all her ftrength, and exerting her feeble voice to the utmost extent, the raves out Savi nien, advance no further. The lover magines that his mittrefs calls out to • Here the manufeript stops short. I have never been able to discover whether the Greek author proceeded any further, or whether the conclu fion has been by any accident loff; fo that it is impoffible to know what became either of Prifcilla, or the old Sylvanus, or what was done by the emperor, when he heard of the dreadful catastrophe that happened in his palace, almoft under his very eyes. I have turned over the pages of Am. mianus Marcellinus, Zozimus, St. Gregory Nazianzen, Libanus, and the writings of Julien himself, with out difcovering any thing further upon the fubject. Word T Romance of the Pyrenees. By a Lady. (Continued from page 82.) IT has been already mentioned, that the only foible of the duca di Manfredonia's mind was the con temptible opinion he entertained of his own perfonal attractions. Had he known how to appreciate properly the favours fo lavithly bestowed by nature on him, he had, perhaps, been fpared the fucceeding mifery of his life. Elfridii, well knowing this circunftance, and how much the dif parity of Viola's years with his own had fed upon his mind, was truly fen fible how promifing a fubject Loren zo was for fpeedily imbibing the fultile poifon he meant to adminifter.* High in the duca's estimation, and His underftanding fo appreciated, the words of Elfridi bore with them the power of almost instant conviction:and the firft potion of the inaddening drug he adminiftered was once at table, by relating, while his eyes were fixe 1 fixed in marked fcrutiny upon the innocent Viola, the ftory of don Ambrofio's enormities and confequent difgrace. The invidious gaze of Elfridii, by wounding the delicacy of the ducheffa and awakening her indignation, called forth the brighteft tints of vermillion, upon her lovely cheeks; and as he proceeded, the atrocities he enumerated of Ambrofio's committing giving full conviction to the idea ing the murderer of her father, as well as of her uncle-and by awakening a variety of the most painful fenfations, all embittered by the agonifing thought of her having been the caufe of death to both thofe parents fhe at length, after her intelligent countenance had undergone a marked diverfity of changes, fell from her feat in a fwoon, and, although the duca was almost distraced at beholding his adored wife in fuch a fituati. on, the apparent caufe of her being fo, nor the artful exclamations and half articulated whispers of Elvira and Elfridii, were not loft upon him, and the dreadful foundation of his future mifery was from that moment laid; and fo fkilful were thofe who built upon it, that in a very fhort period the baneful pile was formed on which his happiness was facrificed, their infamous defigns; and fo well did thefe vile confederates manage their plot, that in the courfe of a few weeks the duca di Manfredonia almost believed that his wife repented the choice fhe had made, that the profligate degraded Ambrofio had ever been in poffeffion of her affections, and that he himfelf was the most miferable of men. Yet fo fondly did he lean to the belief of her purity, of her fuperiority over all the world the bad fecretly cherished of his be-fo tenderly did he still adore her that, whenever he contemplated the feraphic fweetness of her expreffive countenance, he felt the influence of tome refiftlefs power within his mind arifing to confufe all that he had before thought conviction; and had not the execrable fiends who had fworn the deftruction of his peace been more prolific in diabolical defires than human nature had ever before evinced itself, the smile of Viola would have defeated all their machinations. As it was, Lorenzo was forced into a belief which almoft tortured him to madnefs; but he fo idolited her whom he thought no longer attached to him, that he could not endure the idea of calling the bluth of thame upon her cheek by his upbraidings; and, avoiding every explanation, he at length unfortunately fled froni Manfredonia to the caftle of Palino to unbofom hims felf to the conte and contessa Ariofto, determined that their advice thould guide him. I The name of Viola was now daily difcovered to be carved with loverlike devices or poefy upon fome new tree. A young and beautiful ftranger was feen by the vaffals and domeftics hovering about the caftle in various difguifes, whom a lady, at tired like the ducheffa, often met in the dusk of the evening and in fecret places. Our reader will be at no lofs to guess that he handfome ftranger was the vile Vicenza, who became a Proteus upon the occafion, taking care, however, to avoid the recognition of any of the domeftics who knew him; or that the lady was the diabolical Elvira, properly attired for 1 The mercilefs triumvirate were well aware that Viola's was no common female mind; the had no foibles to work upon; and the only hope they had of her, was from the fad fympathy her mother's hapless fate had entwined with the very flamina of her heart. They knew fhe trembled at conjugal indifference, and fhuddered at every tale that told of connubial difcord. To fow the feeds of doubt and jealoufy in her mind required the most delicate ftrokes of art art; and Elvira moft fuccessfully doct was afterwards converted by her which awakened inevitably, but im- At length, the day on which the duca left the caftle of Manfredonia for that of Palino, the fufpicions which Viola had fo long and painfully entertained were put to inftant flight, by the expreffion of his countenance, as the caught him gazing upon her a few moments before his departure. She clearly faw that he was wretched, but faw, too, conviction of her being still in poffeffion of his tendereft affection; and the impulfe of the moment was to throw herself into his arms, and conjure him to reveal to her the caufe of his affictions: but this wife resolution was defeated by the precipitate retreat of the ill-fated duea, who, upon perceiving her obfervation of him, ruthed from the apartment, and inftantly began his journey, leaving it to Elfridi to announce his departure; affigning as a caufe having been fummoned by exprefs to attend a dying friend at Naples, and was in too great affliction to bear the pang of a long interview with her. That Lorenzo fhould abfent himfelf from home without bidding her adieu, though plaufible his excufe, ftruck like the cold hand of death upon her throbbing heart; but the fhed no tear, neither did the make any comment when he received this mortifying intelligence from Elfridii. But as the now in all her forrows felt confolation only in the fweet fmiles and endearments of her child, the foon quitted the villanous Elfridii, and bent her faltering fteps to the apartments of Orlando; and on her way, in a gallery through which the was about to pafs, hung a full-length portrait of Lorenzo. Her eyes inftinctively fixed upon it-her feet became faltened to the fpot on which the flood-her arms infenfibly entwined acrofs her bofom-her head funk againit a pillow-winte mournful Viola, well remembering her in comparable mother never complained, never breathed forth" a murmur, refolved, like her, to bear her milery in filence; and foon, like her Haplefs mother too, her only comfort was to weep over her child, fold it in her arms, and fadly trace out its resemblance to its fill adored father: but ever at the found of Lorenzo's approach the would haftily chafe the tears away, and with fmiles refign their fon to his careffes. But thofe fmiles were fo woe fraught, fo indicative of mental anguilh, Lorenzo could not fupport the agony they inficted in his tortured bofom; and, to hide his feelings, he would rush from her prefence, and leave her to the infupportable belief that difguft at beholding her occafioned his retreat. Viola, when refolving never to complain, had alfo determined never to make a confidant; for not even to her Clementina would lie breathe a found that could take from the merit of Lorenzo; and this amiable con CHAP. LXII. IT would be tedious to enumerate the days of mifery Viola paffed in this dreadful prifon, fince they were all alike wretched. Don Manuel returned to the caftle, under the influence of his good propenfities, and was shocked, was grieved to find the idol of his affections in fuch a place. Too quickly, however, thefe amiable feelings vanished, and Viola, in addition to her other calamities, had to fuffer daily, nay almoft hourly, the infulting declarations of Ambro. fio's unfubdued paffion for her. But her heart was the temple where purity had enshrined itfelf; and there is fomething fo hallowed in dignified virtue, that the profligate Manuel dared to offer no further infult to the captive ducheffa, than the perpetual avowal of his unconquerable attachment to her. The apartments allotted to the illfated Viola were those afterwards in habited by her husband and her fon. In them Francisco often vifited her; when the taught his heart to feel the, higheft touches of pity and admira tion it was capable of conveying and had the confided in him, it is probable, in defiance of his attach ment to Elfridii he would have reflored her to her husband. But ftill feeding upon the hope of her letter and Bernardo's teftimony clearing her fame and conftancy to Lorenzo, and of his confequent researches tracing her to her dreadful prifon, the forbore, from motives of pride and delicacy, to announce herself to the few perfons fhe was allowed to fee in the caftle; while, on, the other hand, her deadly foes, for their own fafety, were careful to conceal her real rank, and the was fimply known in the caftle as the widow of a Sicilian gentleman killed by Polydore in a duel-and the being the only hufband, all her friends! without witnefs, it was neceffary, for his confolation, without one female near fecurity, to keep her in fecret con, her! Was that moment to arrive... finement.' She wept, the fhuddered, but refulved, for the fake of her child, to bear all with firmnefs. But the attachment of don Manuel meliorated all that was in his power of the forlornnefs of her fituation; every thing that wealth could obtain was procur ed for her; every thing which affec tion could fuggeft, for comfort and for fafety, he had provided, and a refpectable woman, released from amongst the dungeon captives, to wait upon and nurfe her. The moment which Viola almoft hoped would terminate her exiftence at last arrived; and in five months after The had been inhumanly trepanned from happiness and her hufband's protection was her daughter born, whom Francifco baptifed by the name of Matilda, after Lorenzo's refpected grandmother, the late ducheffa di Manfredonia. At length the hour for Viola's confinement drew near. In prifon, and fuch a prifon! torn from her Elfridi two or three times visited the Pyrenean caftle, for the diabo lical fatisfaction of increafing the mental anguifh of this hapless victim of his infatiate vengeance, by oblig ing her to hear and read letters from the unfortunate Lorenzo to him, by which the had the mifery of finding that, although her husband still remembered her with tenderness, he believed her the child of trailty; and his letters were fo indicative of hope lefs woe, of agonifed defpondence, that in defpite of her indignation, her fcorn of Elfridi, the would condefcend to kneel at his fect, and fus with all that melting cloquence humanity would have found refilllefst to lidi, to rettore the peace of her Lorenzo, of his patron, his friend.' But all the ever obtained by this humiliation was to hear him, with the ruthleis exultation of a fiend, glory in the triumph of his Bernardo's failing in his attempt to plots of vengeance, take to himself c ear her fame, and that Lorenzo the credit of her degradation, and had refused to hear him, and had fo affure her his deadly hate and per- far forgotten his once loved Viola, fecutions would never terminate, un- in one fhort year, as to think of a tili her fame fhould be confidered in- fucceffor, awakened her thoughts to famous through the world, her name every pang of grief that wounded the foorn and fcourge of her husband love and pride could give. She knew and her fon, and until her Lorenzo's too, by this fecond marriage, he had happiness was blafted in every fhape been led to believe her dead; and that vengeance and malice could de- thus every hope of his feeking her vife.' was cut off for ever, and with it every profpect for her child, her Matil da, who was thus rent from honourable fociety, her father's love, his name, his protection, even his knowledge of her existence :-and when he was laid in that grave where mental anguith faft was hurrying her, what would be this hap. lefs alien's fate; who would rear her in the path of virtue? Purity recoiled from the dreadful prospect which lay before her child; the mother thuddered, and, to fave her of her infant's fingers twined round, daughter from eternal destruction, fervently prayed to Heaven that her. own miferable exiftence might be prolonged. one of hers recalled her fufpended faculties her child was folded in her arins. But the looked beyond this world for comfort; in this there was not now left a hope for her to reft upon. 4 As the hope of ever being restored to fame and to her husband was now no more, Viola determined to confide her hapless ftory, her rank, and name, to Francifco, and to implore his protection for her child. That confolation however was denied her, Francifco being at that period called to Madrid upon ipquifitorial business ; and don Manuel too was abfent when the laft fell blow was given to the devoted ducheffa's happiness. But he returned thortly after: when the fe- ; male captive who ftill attended her, informed him of fome new calamity having befallen her lady in his abfence, of her fubfequent illness, and piteous melancholy. The heart of don Manuel was at that moment acceffable to humanity, and he was fhocked and grieved at the intelligence; and withing to behold Viola, unfeen by her, to obferve from her appearance > T At length, one day, with barbareus exultation, Elfridii put a letter into Viola's hands that flruck on her heart the final blow to peace, to every with for life: it was from her hufband, and in it was mentioned his intended marriage with Elvira. The wretched ducheffa fell to the ground in a fwoon, and, when refpiration returned, perception feemed no longer to be hers. For feveral hours the appeared infenfible to all her miferies. At length the gentle preffure Miferable as the preceding letters of Lorenzo had made her, the ftill, felt a kind of forlorn confolation in perufing them. To fee her name traced, although with the attendance of every poffible humiliation, by her Lorenzo; to prefs to her heart, her lips, the paper he had, touched; and to know that, even believed unworthy, ftill fhe was beloved by the lord of her affections, gave fome fad comfort to her breaking heart. But, even that fad comfort was torn by the ruthless hand of cruelty away. For Lorenzo's fecond marriage the was not prepared, aad that marriage too with Elvira, the fiend who had fably aided in her destruction, annihilated every feeling, but thofe of horror and difmay until the idea of March, 1808. |
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