The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 246: what you’re looking at

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

Fs ~~ - a ” — Per or » > - * = oe ai ie ee A ee eS ee ee < ae = == =2° ot ee OD . i ie = 4 — oe a ; 4 “Se ow. a - Ss 4 ; = ve 344 THE BRONZE STATUE. ‘Then again do I ask thee, my beau- teous Satanais,’ said the knight, his adoring looks still dwelling upon her countenance, ‘will thou become my wife ?? ‘l will.’ she answered in a tone of the deepest feeling; and,as she con- tinued upon her knees by the side of the couch. she reposed her cheek upon the hand of her lover. ‘But have you well reflected, Ernest,’ she asked, in a soft and melting voice, ‘ upon this pro- | posal which you have made me? Re- member that you are an Austrian knight, and that I belong to a far-off clime, that you may have noble connexions and powertul friends, whereas [ have but a poor heart-broken sister, already brand-_ | ed as a murderess- ‘I will ensure her safety, if it be not already accomplished,’ said De Colmar, ‘and | will give her one of my own es- tates, where there is a secluded man- sion in which she can pass the remain- der ot her days in peace and peni- tence.’ ‘Generous man!’ exclaimed Satanais, melting into tears of gratitude, * how noble is your heart! But Gloria’s safety is ensured, and she is already on her way towards the oriental clime of our birth, where she will henceforth fix her residence and whence she will never,—never come back. We have parted, that dear but guilty sister and myself,’ added Satanais, in a tone which was scarcely audible, ‘and our farewells | were breathed with the conviction that | we should meet no more in this world. | But let me again revert to the topic which is now of most touching intérest, at least to myself; and let me remind you that your connexions and friends may not approve of the choice you have | made.’ ‘Ah! you have naught to fear upon that head, my Satanais, exclaimed Sir Ernest de Colmar, his handsome coun- tenance lighting up with a glow of pride, ‘and perhaps in becoming my wife————-But no, the secret shall re- main mine for the present, and the sur- prise will be a meet recompense for that disinterested affection which you bear me,’ he added. in a musing tone which became inaudible to the lady ere he had concluded the sentence. ‘Almost at the same instant, the lamp began to flicker with approachin extinction; and Satanais, suddenl, starting tO her feet, bent over the knight, imprinted a long, fervid, and de- | his hand with kindred warmth of pas~ sion, said, ‘1 must now leave thee, m well-beloved Ernest, my intended hus- band! Linda and Beatrice are already acquainted with my presence at this inn, and it was through them that J learnt where your chamber was situat- ed. ‘To their room I shall now pro- ceed; and in the morning [ shall be prepared to accompany thee on thy journey towards the Austrian frontier.’ ‘No travelling companion could pos- sibly prove more welcome, Satanais,’ returned the knight; ‘and the moment we shall have crossed tbe frontier,—at the very first town we reach, the blegs- ing of the church shall be pronounced upon our union.’ ‘Oh! then I[ shall be overwhelmed ‘with the flood of a happiness which ap- pears LOO glorious to be otherwise than a dream,’ exclaimed the dark houri,— and once more bestowing a tender ca- ress upon Sir Ernest de Colmar, sha tripped lightly from the room. At the same instant the flame of the lamp expired in its socket; and the warrior was leftin the dark, to the con- templation of all the varied thoughts and feelings which this interview with Satanais had left in his mind. CHAPTER LXII. POOR ANGELA! [ry was at that solemn and mysterious hour when twilight preceding the dawn |just begins to make things visibie, and ‘when the objects in a bed-chamber ‘seem to stand slowly out as it were from a mist, with an effect of a some- what spectral nature, that Angela Wil- don was suddenly awakened from her slumbers by an ejaculation which fell upon her ears. Starting up to a sitting posture in the ‘couch, she beheld a tall female form, apparelled in dark garments. standing by the side of the bed; and the first thought which flashed through the brain of the torest-maiden was that some grisly tenant of the grave had thus risen up to scare or warn her. But this was the mere transient idea of a mind in which the numbness and confusion of half-awakened thoughts were struggling with the bewilderment occasioned by the sudden apparition, whatever If might be; and the second clance which Angela threw upon the comicbooks.com