Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 276: what you’re looking at

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

i cr A 2 oD ES oe —— Os 268 step he had promised to take was the only one which could possibly secure to him the paternal estates, and save him from becoming an ontcast, a wanderer, and a beggar upon the face of the earth, He had started from his seat in the midst of that paroxysm: he now resumed it—and perceiv- ing the wine upon the table, he filled a large glass to the brim. The contents hissed as they were poured down his parched throat,—hissed as if passing over red-hot iron! Taen he again plunged into meditation: but he was now exerting all his powers of sophistry to persuade himself that he was adopting the only course which circumstances had left open. When the guilty mind is thus bent on the consummation of its iniquity, it is only, alas! too easy to conjure up arguments to impel it in its career and to harden it while pur- suing that path. So was it now with the Vis- count of Camerino., An hour passed: he looked at his watch—it was close upon ten o’clock. He had not the slightest inclination to retire to rest. Sleep? no!—har- dened though his heart were, to slumber was im- possible. How was he to pass the long dreary night? The fire which had been burning brightly in the grate when he was first shown to that room, was now extinguishing: but there was an ample supply of fuel—and Silvio piled it half-way up the chimney, for he needed every accessory to give cheerfulness to the scene and to dispel the cold which had gathered around his heart. He drank another deep draught of wine: he paced to and frointhe room. Ah! there were books upon a shelf. He examined them:—there were novels, romances, poems, and historical works. He took down a volume, but he could not settle himself to read it. He passed into the bed-chamber—he tirew himself upon the couch: he was restless— he could not remain there. He rose, and returned to the sitting-room: the monotonous tread of the sentinel in the court-yard below was the only sound which broke the silence that environed him. In this silence there was something awful. Suddenly he was seized with curiosity to ascertain whether the door of the apartment was really fas- tened. Gently he tried it; and he found that it was. He went back to his seat; and as he sat gazing upon the fire, he bethought himself of the beautiful face which he bad seen peep from behind the curtain in the Minister’s cabinet. Who could the lady be? She was young, and, as we have said, exceedingly handsome. Perhaps the Minis- ter’s daughter? Silvio wondered whether, if this were the case, she ever took compassion upon the prisoners who might be temporarily retained within those walls, or whether her heart partook of the hardness of her father’s ? In order that the reader may properly under- stand the incident which we are about to describe, we must explain that Silvio was now seated exactly in front of the fire, at a distance of about half-a- dozen paces from it. On each side of the project- ing chimney there was a recess:—one of these recesses contained some article of furniture: in the other there was nothing. Silvio was thinking of the beautiful countenance he had seen for an iustant in the Minister’s cabinet—his eyes were riveted upon the fire: but something—perhaps a slight sound—perhaps a partial glimpse of the ob- AGNES; OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASURE. ject that was appearing—caused him to raise his regards abruptly towards that empty recess. He eprang up from hisseat: the beautiful countenance was there before him! That recess contained a private door so admi- rably fitted into its setting that when it was shut no sign of its existence was visible to any one within that room. Now that door stood open; and a young lady, elegantly dressed, appeared upon the threshold. That face, with its luminous black eyes—its red lips—and shaded by floating masses of raven hair, was the same that was al- ready hovering in his memory. She made a sign for him to be silent, and then beckoned him to follow her. He obeyed in a species of rapturous bewilderment as to what all this could be,—a be- wilderment so great that it absorbed all the painful ideas that had been recently occupying him. That secret door communicated with an adjoining well- furnished apartment, at the extremity of which there was another secret door: and then there was another handsomely appointed room. There the lady indicated a seat; and placing herself on an ottoman close by, she looked bashfully at Silvio as if half afraid of what she had done. As she had led the way into that room, he was struck by the faultless symmetry of her somewhat voluptuously rounded form: he caught a glimpse of a pair of admirably modelled ankles; and as her arms were bare to the shoulders, he failed not to observe that they also were of fice sculptural proportions. Altogether she was a being on whom in any cir- cumstances it was impossible to gaze without a feeling of rapture: while the adventure itself was full well calculated to excite the liveliest interest in the soul of the young nobleman. Ginevra was exquisitely beautiful; but she was not so hand- some as the lady in whose presence he now found himself. Addressing him in French, she said, “ Do you speak this language ?” “T do,” he responded—for indeed he spoke it fluently. “You are not, then, an Italian lady ?” he added, wondering who she could possibly be; for of course he was now convinced that she was not the Minister’s daughter. “ No—lI am not an Italian,” she replied; “and you who speak French better than I, must have seen also that I am not a native of France. No matter what my country is I am a stranger — a foreigner.” “ And yet, beautiful lady,” said Silvio, “ you have taken compassion on the unfortunate Italian captive !” She blushed—hesitated for a moment—and then said, “ Yes, I have taken compassion upon you; for without knowing of what you are accused— without even being aware of a single particular regarding you—I thought it cruel that one so young should already be acquainted with misfor- tunes!” “4 thousand thanks, lady, for this sympathy which you demonstrate towards me !” and Silvio seized her hand which he pressed rapturously for a moment—but the next instant it was withdrawn. “Who are you? tell me who you are!—for in a place which one might fancy only to be peopled with demons in a human form, it is as marvel- lous as it is delightful to encounter an angel- presence |” GComichbooks (E(0) ; — ea ——————————— __— 7