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Show 2G8 IUCJI ,\I:D IT U!1D IS. -then tho ft~n.r-thc tC'rror next; nnd, lastly, t]Jc appnlling <tntl tlnmdcr-riving Llow, whicl1 l1urlcd her to the ground in a stupor scarcely less felt ~md freezing thnn wns tl1nt which l1ad stricken down her lover, and from which he could never more awake. Was it better that she shou ld awake 1 Could the light of returning life, be grateful to her eyes 1 Impossible! 'fhe heart which had been so suddenly overthrown, was ll Cver destined to know any other than the consc iousness of sorrow. There wns no light in life for her. 'l'hc eyes might kindl e, a11d the li ps mig ht wear a smile, in after days, even as the tree which the wnnton axe of tl1c woodman l1as wounded, ·w ill sometimes put forth a few sickly buds tmd imperfect branches. Dut these do not Sjlen k. for lifo n)ways. rrho lifo of the Soul is wnnting -carried off by untimely snp. T l•o hcmt is en ton out and gone, :mel when the t•·ee fnlls, wllich it does when the night is at the still est, men wonder of what disease it perished. rrhe natural world abounds in si militud es for humanity, which it is our misfortune , perhaps, too unfrequently to regard . The next clny, to my smprise, I was sent for, by Emmeline. I had not thought it possible slw should recover in so short a time- she was, it seems, resolved, to !Jcar all the dreadful pm·· ticulars of my narrative; and strove, with wonderful energy, to listen to them calmly. ller words were subdued nlmost to a whisper, and uttered as if measured by the stopwatch. I could see that the tension of her mind was doing l1er but little good. r:rhat she wns overtasking herself, aucl exhnusting the hoarded strength of years, to meet the emergency of a moment. I implored her to wait but a clay, before she req uired tho intelligence sl1e wished. I pleaded my own mental suffering in excuse; but to this, she simply answered, by touching her head with her finger, and smiling in such a so rt, as if to rebuke me for arrogating to myself a greater degree of feeling and suffering than wns hers. I could not refu se, and yet, I trembled to comply with her demnncl. I shuddered as I thought upon the probable-nay, the almost certain-consequences of evil which must fo llow to her life, from t l1e recital. Her features denuted n latent war in the mind, which my details, like the S}Jark to the combustibl e, I felt sure, must bring about an explosion no less terrible than sudden. IIer eyes were bloodshot and dry- THE M.\NIAC. 269 witl10ut a sign of moisture. Had they been wet, I should have bem~ more free to spenk. llcr checks were singularly pale i but .m. the Yery centre of her forehead, there was a small spot of lind red-an almost purple spot-that seemed like a warn. ing beacou, fired of a sudden in sign of an approaching danger. I took her hand in min e, as I sat clown by the conch on which she lay, and found it cold nnd dry. 'l'llerc was li ttle, if any, Jmlse, at that moment. It was not long after, however, when it bounded hotly beneath my fiJJger, like a blazing arrow, sent suddenly from the bonded bow. "And now," she said, " now that I am calm, Richard-! can l1ear all that you have to say - you need not be afraid to speak to me now, since the worst is known." "You have hea rd, then, from your mother 1" I asked affirm. ntivoly. "Yes, I have heard nii-I l1avc heard that he is-" here she interrupted the sentence by a sudden pause, which was followed by a long parenthesis. "You will now see how strong I have become, when you hear tbe words that I can calmly speak-know then, tl1at you can tell me noth ing worse than I lllrendy know. I know that he is dead, to whom I l1ad given myself, nnd whom - ! repeat it to you, Ricl1arcl, as his fl"iend -and whom, as heaven is my witness, I most truly loved." "I believe it-! know it, Emmeline; and he knew it too." "Did he 1-are you sure he knew it 1" she asked, putting }1er hand upon my arm, as she spoke these words in a tone of ap. pealing softness. "Ah, Riclwrd, could I know that he felt this convi ction to the last-could I have been by to hM'e I1card him avow it - to lmve laid bare my heart before him-to l1ave lis· toned to the last words in wl1 ich he received and returned my nfl'ections! Oh, those last words! those last words! Let me l1ear them 1 'VJ1at were they 1 It is for tl1is I sent for you to co.me. It is those words tlmt I would henr ! 'reU me, then, ll1chnn~, and set my l~eart at rest - give pence to my mind, :md rcheYe me from tlus anxiety! What said be at the last what said he 1" "\Viii it relieve you? !fear not,Emmelinc-Ifcaritwould only do you harm to listen to such matters now. You could not bear it now." |
