The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 84: what you’re looking at

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

-_ ~ “es ~ . ~ ~ Lonel P ~ .- - - - — - = - seme <n > . z . ~s « - a2 %* a ‘... - - - - * a ee may « - = - - - ---* - os - a —-| . 7 Sap 3 SRE at = —_ _— — - = - * >». ees... — bs ee 7. i ~ - = — + - - < <2 - ~~ - ee : ts 43) : <f) - , r af mie . am - ; - = = * 5 2 . “= - - -— . > in oe ts a ee eee ne ee = = See . ; : eas A re fe 2a, fod “AEs AD mt ~ 82 THE BRONZE STATUE. occasion: at present I must repair to the barracks and attend to the quarter- ing of my troops as well as to the dis- posal of the noblemen’s retainers who have become my prisoners.’ Zitzka and Sir Ernest de Colmar then issued forth from the Castle, the Taborite sentinels on the drawbridge saluting their chief as he passed: and, having taken leave of the grim one-eyed | warrior, the Knight slowly retraced his | way towards the Golden Falcon to de- liberate upon the course which he | should now pursue under the altered | aspect of Bohemian affairs. | For the struggle between Aristocracy | and Republicanisin had been brought to aspeedy issue—and the imprisonment or dispersion of the representatives of the former had marked the signal tri- umph of the latter. The Golden Falcon was already in sight, beneath the lustre of a refulgent. moon, when a graceful female form | suddenly accosted Sir.Ernest de Col- | mar; and hastily thrusting a note into} his hand, she retired with precipitation but not before our hero had time to re- cognise the features of Linda, one of the handmaidens of Satanais. Thrusting the letter into the bosom of his doublet, he continued his way, and already was about to cross the threshold of the inn when he felt some one pull him abruptly by the sleeve. Heturned—and beheld Beatrice, whose lovely countenance was only partially shaded by the thick veil which she wore. The girl raised her finger to her lip —glanced significantly at the Knight as if to enjoin secrecy—then placed a note in his hand—and instantly hurried away with a lightness and a speed which gave her the appearance of a spirit melting into thin air. Two letters!—delivered within a few minutes of each other—and by the handmaidens of Satanais! Ah! well may the reader divine the impatience of Sir Ernest de Colmar to inspect the billets conveyed to him with so much mysterious caution; and, has- tening to his chamber, he tore open the one that had been delivered by Linda. To his surprise, he found that it was signed by the Daughter of Glory: then, without waiting to peruse its contents, brief though they were, he opened the other ; and at the first glance he beheld, CHAPTER XXII. THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN. THE scene now changes to the cabtle of Altendorf. It was on the third evening after the incidents related in the two preceding chapters; and a lamp burnt dull and dimly upon the table of the State Cham- ber. This was the apartment, as our rea- ders will recollect, in which Sir Ernest de Colmar had passed the night, when he stopped at the feudal fortalice on his way to Prague; and it belonged to that wing of the establishment which had been shut up for so many years, and to which rumor assigned all the usual cir- cumstances of superstitious terror, such as strange noises and unearthly appear- ances. The faint and sickly rays of the lamp fell upon the pale, tear-bedewed, but surpassingly beauteous countenance of a young female, who was seated at the table, supporting her head in a languid manner upon her arm. She was about twenty-three years of age, and although dressed in a homely peasant attire, yet a natural grace and unartificial elegance characterised her entire appearance. ‘The neat boddice, which took its shape from the soft out- lines of her form, was open in front; but her bosom, the virgin contours of which rose with easy and insensible swell from the finely expanded chest, was covered with linen of snowy white- ness. Her neck, long and tapering, arched superbly, supporting the well- shaped head with that graceful bend which the stalk of the tulip betrays. Her contenance was a fine oval, and her features were cast in the most fault- less style of that German beauty, which unites the classical perfection of Grecian outlines with the fair complexion of the north. Her forehead was high and broad, denoting the intellectuality of her character ; her mouth small, and with lips of coral redness, had an expression of ineffable sweetness playing upon it, even in her most mournful moods; her nose was pertectly straight, and her chin well rounded, so that the finest outlines were given to a profile which Rem- brandt would have loved to depict upon his canvas, in that half-vanishing light as he suspected, the signature of the | that threw out the glory of his concep- Daughter of Satan. ‘tions into such life-like and magnificent effect. | Her eyes were not particularly large, comicbooks.com