Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 232: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

i i i cn = —— e——— eee —-_eoo-_-::- a ia rr rs ee ee er OR _— ong AGNES; OB, BEAUTY ANP PLEASURE. “What do you mean, Silvio?” demanded “Name them, Ginevra,” said the young man. Ginevra, in accents of mingled surprise and re- “The first is that you at once repair to the proachfulness. vestiary, where you will now find the holy priests ‘“‘T mean,” he answered with rapid and excited | assembled—that you will ask for Father Falconare utterance, “this yielding on your part to religious | —and that you will tell him a penitent awaits terrors—this abandonment of your soul to super- | him in the confessional near the Chapel of the stitious influence In a word, Ginevra, tell me | Magdalen.. Having done this, you will within the —reply to me, I entreat and conjure you! has/ hour that is passing quit Naples and set out on our tremendous secret been yet revealed in the | your return to Vienna.” confessional ?” ee: No immediate answer was given to these *“ No—not yet, Silvio,” she replied, in a voice of | entreaties: but after a pause of nearly a minute, calm firmness. Charles De Vere heard the voice of Silvio saying, “Not yet! Then you mean me to understand | almost abruptly, “Yes, I will fulfil your behests, that it is your intention . Ginevyra—I will do these two things which you “It is my intention, Silvio,” rejoined Ginevra, | have enjoined me. And now farewell!” in the same calm firm tone as before, “ to fulfil the “Farewell, Silvio,” replied the young lady: ordinances of my creed—to endeavour to make my | “and if we consult—I can scarcely say our earthly peace with heaven by means of confession—to | happiness, for that I fear is wrecked for ever-—— accomplish any penance which priestly lips may ) but if we consult the welfare of our immortal souls, enjoin—and to obtain absolution, if possible, for, we shall never meet again. Depart, Silvio. the great sin which I have committed !” Farewell!” “Ah! now can you wonder, Ginevra, that IT} A moment afterwards Charles De Vere heard am haunted by the wildest fears—that I already | the guilty pair separate; and though they pro- see exposure and disgrace—infamy and perhaps | ceeded in different directions, the pillar behind puvishment, staring us in the face _ which he was placea continued to conceal him “The secrets of the confessional,” interrupted | from the view of both. Ginevra, “are never revealed, Silvio, by the holy men to whom they are confided !” —_ “Oh! but the bare idea that another person snould be acquainted with our secret, Ginevra,” CHAPTER XXXVIII. any one, whether priest or layman no matter— THE CONFESSIONAL. whom neither you nor I shall ever dare look in the face ” TuHE feelings with which our hero had listened to “You forget that already the secret rests not | the preceding colloquy, were those of an intense, solely betwixt you and me! My uncle and | all-absorbing, and almost awful interest. He had aunt remained riveted to the spot, without once reflect- “Oh! but they are different, Ginevra!—and {ing whether he were guilty of impropriety in you will not deem it offensive if I say that they | lingering a listener there. He had obtained a are selfish and interested people, who for a thou- | deeper insight than he had before’ possessed or sand reasons will keep the secret religiously ” |imagined, into some history of guilt—but what «And so will the holy priest,” rejoined the | its precise extent might be, he was still ignorant, young lady, “to whom it is my intention this day That it was not a mere ordinary case of seduction to confide it,” on Silvio’s part, or of maiden’s weakness on that Frankly speaking,” said Silvio, now with a | of Ginevra, he had heard enough to convince him ; tincture of irony in his tone, ‘I am so little ac- | and therefore he could not help thinking that quainted with these matters, that I would fain| Ginevra must be the wife of another—that she acquire information. Tell me, then—when in| had proved faithless to her marriage vows—and the confessional, do you mention names P” hence the darker stain with which her conscience ‘It is by no means needful,” answered Ginevra; | dyed her crime. That she belonged to the higher “and in ordinary cases names are suppressed. /| order of society, was tolerably apparent from the But in the present instance the mere circumstances | allusion which Silvio had made to the mansion at exclaimed the young man,—“ that there should be | when fully detailed, will serve, alas! as an only too | which she dwelt: though on the other hand this unmistakable indication of the particular family | seemed rather inconsistent with the fact that her whose honour is involyed—yes, and of the par-| uncle and her aunt should reside at a compara- ticular individuals through whose deep iniquity | tively humble house in a mean and poor quarter that honour has thus become compromised !” of the city. Yet these little details were trivial as “And you are resolved, Ginevra, to run this/ topics of reflection, in contrast with the more fearful risk?” said Silvio, in a voice of mingled | terrible and important subjects which accident had reproach and anger. brought within the scope of our hero’s medita- ‘**T am resolved to seek absolution for my sins,” | tion. replied the young lady, with calm steadiness of| Fora few minutes longer he remained behind tone. ‘This absolution is only to be acquired by | the pillar, awaiting a favourable opportunity to penitence — and penance can only be enjoined| escape from the church unperceived by eithor through the medium of the confessional. Now, | Ginevra or Silvio, The service had terminated in Silvio, you comprehend my resolve, which is irre- |the midst of the colloquy which was progressing vocably taken. If you have yet the inclination to | between those two—the congregation, which hap- be of service to the wretched but deeply contrite | pened to be very small on the occasion, had issued partner of your guilt, you would confer two favours | forth —and no straggler had chanced to pass upon me,”’ through the aisle where the preceding scene toux GComichbooks:com Se — ———-—-—™” a ST