Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 294: what you’re looking at

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

ee ene e+ te oe wees ee ND ee ~ ——_—————. 286 would even amount to parricide, as the condition | will be kept ?—or whether, dreading the extreme of Ciprina is truthful and sincere; | treachery on the part of his son, he may not of my release ! and she will effect my deliverance. But Ah! every- thing now depends upon the alternatives whether she be first in executing her own design before the Chief of Police returns to me with the decree of pardon in his hand !” The hours went by, during which the Viscount remained in an almost torturing state of suspense; for he feared lest the Minister of Police should be beforehand in the matter—and if this proved to be the case, he knew not what pretext to raise or ; have my own reasons—I know what I have to do what excuse to make to obtain an additional delay. In the afternoon the door again opened; and the | the fulfilment of my compact !” Prefect once more presented himself. Silvio’s heart sank within him. What if the King had | Police: and he took his departure. returned at an earlier hour than was expected ? “My lord,” said the Prefect, “ I consider it my duty to communicate a piece of intelligence which has just reached me ; and you are the best judge whether it will be likely to lead to any change in your plans as already settled.” “ What mean you, wy lord ?” demanded Silvio anxiously. “ The young Countess of Camerino,” continued the Minister, “ has committed suicide !” ** Suicide ?”—and Silvio staggered beneath the blow which thus suddenly smote him. *‘ It is even so, my lord. has drowned herself ; and her corpse has been con- veyed to the Camerino Mansion.” Silvio clasped his hands in despair; for he felt that he was the author, in a manner more or less direct, of this horrible tragedy—and that he was the murderer of his own father’s wife! “Tt is said, my lord,’ proceeded the Minister, | shall I do? Is not my position as well-nigh des- “ that the young Countess of Camerino committed self-destruction in a moment of madness caused by a prolonged separation from her husband, You, my lord, perhaps best know whether this be the truth ?’—and the Prefect’s keen searching eyes were fixed with a sinister significancy upon the guilty Viscount. *‘T do not understand you, my lord,’’ answered Silvio, with a desperate effort recovering his self- possession “ It is useless for me to beat about the bush, or prove fastidious under existing circumstances,” continued the Prefect. “The suicide of the Countess Ginevra has cleared up to my knowledge something that was previously mysterious. Did you not last night tell me that you had done something which your father stood upon the brink of discovering, even if by that time he had not already discovered it? Did you not moreover assure me that this fact alone would induce him to disinberit youP and were you not most anxious upon all these points? That something which you had committed and which the Count of Camerino stood on the verge of discovering,—was it not a guilty intrigue with the Countess Ginevra? An- swer me, my lord! There need be no secrets be- twixt you and me!” “And what if it even were sof” asked the guilty Viscount. “ Simply that I would now ascertain,” rejoined the Chief of the Police, “ whether, under these altered circumstances, you still possess the power of delivering your father into my hands ?—whether the appointment which he gave you for to-night ——- - / AGNES; OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASURE. | face in his hands, and gaye way to his painful me- The unfortunate lady | that Ginevra, already overwhelmed by an intole- change his abode, or else flee at once from Naples P_ On all these points, my lord, you, I repeat, aro the best judge.” Silvio reflected deeply for a few minutes; and then he replied in a gloomy, sombre voice, “ I feel convinced that I shall still be enabled to fulfil my compact, odious and horrible though that consum- mation of all my guilt will be! But let it be postponed, my lord, until a late hour to-night. I In a word, I can confidently pledge myself on “Tis well, my lord,” said the Chief of the When Silvio was alone, he sat down, buried his ditations. He was a prey to a horrible state of uncertainty. Had his father discovered the tre- mendous secret of his guilt?—and had the wretched Ginevra, in consequence of this disco- very, put an end to her days? Silvio dreaded that such must indeed be the case; for he remem- bered only too well the parting scene with his sire on the preceding evening in the Via Graciosa. And yet, on the other hand, was it not possible that the discovery should still be unmade P—and rable weight of affliction, had in the distraction of her mind put a period to her existence ? “ Ob, this horrible state of uncertainty !” ex- claimed Silvio, suddenly starting up to his feet. “Talso shall become distracted! But no!—this is childish on my part! I must bea man! What perate as it can beP—and must I not throw my- self upon the first chance that comes? Yes!—if Ciprina be the first to communicate with me, so much the better! But if, on the other hand, the Chief of the Police be the first to come—like Satan in human form, bearing ia his hand the price of my iniquity—I must yield to the pressure of cir- cumstances !” As the hours now passed, Silvio was incessantly flinging his eyes into the recess which contained the secret door, with the hope that Ciprina would make her appearance. Dinner was served up to him: he could scarcely eat a morsel—but he drank copiously of the wine that accompanied the repast. Then he again kept watching the empty recess ; and at length, to his unspeakable relief, he beheld the door suddenly open, The beautiful Fidelia appeared upon the threshold. She placed her finger upon her lip, and made a sign for the Viscount to follow her. Snatching up his hat and cloak, he at once obeyed ; and she conducted him into the apart- ment where on the preceding evening he had held that long conversation with Ciprina, This beau- tiful lady was there to receive him; and they met as if they were old friends—for circumstances had established a certain degree of intimacy between them. He took her hand and pressed it to his lips, as he anxiously asked, “ Are the arrange- ments made? Can we escape P” “ Yes,” she replied; “everything is setlled! Thanks to this faithful girl, whose name of Fidelia is indeed most appropriate c “ You have promised to take me with you, dear cComicbooks