Angelina: Or, The Mystery of St. Mark's Abbey — page 170: what you’re looking at

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

THE MYSTERY OF ST, MABK’S ABBEY. 187 Her tears again flowed, and, sinking into a chair, she covered her face with her hands, and gave way to the unrestrained intensity of her grief. She remained in this state without any interruption for about two hours, and by degrees, she became more resigned to her fate. She took a more minute survey of the apartment she was in, and, observing a doer, discovered that it was unfastened, and opened upon another handsome chamber, in which was a bedstead, hung round with elegant furniture, and every other article in the room was of the same costly description as the one she had just quitted, and, in spite of the state of her mind, she could not but look upon everything around her with the utmost admiration and satisfaction. Bat what particularly attracted her notice, and fixed her attention, was the full length portrait of a lady, which was suspended from the wainscot, and the eyes of which seemed tq be fixed with a melancholy, yet affectionate expression upon our heroine's countenance. With an emotion, too powerful for utterance, Angelina fixed her eyes upon this portrait, and was unable for some time to remeve them, for the countenance struck her immediately as being ex- actly like that of the mysterious form which she had several times seen in Saint Mark’s Abbey, and which Kate of the Ruins had informed her was the spectre of her mother. Indeed, the likeness was so great, that she could almost have imagined that the phantom stood before ber. There was something in the mild, expressive, and melaneholy ceuntenance of the portrait, traced with such skill by the pencil of the artist, that insensibly drew the affections of Angelina towards it, and as she gazed upon it, ber bosom throbbed with a feeling she never remembered to have experienced before, and she could almost have knelt dowa and worshipped the senseless canvass. : The portrait represented a lady of tall and dignified form, elegantly dressed in white; and her features were beautiful and regular in the extreme, forme ing a contour of face which could not fail to captivate the most insensible heart the moment it was seen. Completely overpowered by the indefinite feeling which took possession of her besom, she fell upon her knees before it, and, with upraised hands, uttered a prayer to the spirit ef her the portrait represented for protection and fortitude under the heavy trials by which she was now visited. }4 While she was still in this position, the door of the outer room was opened, and a woman entered, whom she had not seen before, carrying a tray, which she placed on the table, and, just casting a glance towards the chamber in which our heroine was, probably to ascertain whether or not she was safe, she retired again without uttering a word. . Our heroine returned to the outer room, but she turned with disgust from the wine and the other refreshments which the woman had brought, as the idea of poison entered her mind, and did not offer to touch them. She sat herself on the sofa, and endeavoured to calm her raffled feelings, which having, after some time partly succeeded in doing, she arose, and, standing upon a chair, was enabled to gaze from the window on to the scene beneath, She was now confined in a different wing of the tower, and it commanded a beautiful marine view, romantically diversified by little isles which shot out into the ocean. She boheld in the distance several vessels, proudly stemming the waves, and light skif™, ever and anon shot past the rock upon which the Grey Tower stood with the rapidity of an arrow. Oh, what would not the poor damsel GOMMGIOO 1(GO)