THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO. A Komance. INTERSPERSED WITH SOME PIECES OF POETRY. IN THREE VOLUMES. BY ANN RADCLIFFE. VOL. IL. Philadelphia: PUBLISHED BY J. J. WOODWARD, No. 279 Market Street. ....... 1828. be THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO. CHAP. XVIIJ. CONTINUED FROM VOL. I. THE extent and darkness of these tall woods awakened terrific images in her mind, and she almost expected to see banditti start up from under the trees. At length the carriages emerged upon a heathy rock, and soon after reached the castle gates, where the deep tone of the portal bell, which was struck upon to give notice of their arrival, increased the fearful emotions that had assailed Emily. While they waited till the servant within should come to open the gates, she anxiously surveyed the edifice: but the gloom that overspread it allowed her to distinguish little more than a part of its outline, with the massy walls of the ramparts, and to know that it was vast, ancient, and dreary. From the parts she saw, she judged of the heavy strength and extent of the whole. The gateway before her, lead. ⚫ing into the courts, was of gigantic size, and was defended by two round towers, crowned by overhanging turrets, embattled, where, instead of banners, now waved long grass and wild plants, that had taken root among the mouldering stones, and which seemed to sigh, as the breeze rolled past, over the desolation around them. The towers were united by a curtain, pierced and embattled also, below which appeared the pointed arch of a huge portcullis, surmounting the gates: from these, the walls of the ramparts extended 3002 S 366 13,5 (RECAP) to other towers, overlooking the precipice, who shattered outline, appearing on a gleam that l gered in the west, told of the ravages of war. Beyond these all was lost in the obscurity of evening. While Emily gazed with awe upon the scene, footsteps were heard within the gates, and the undrawing of bolts; after which an ancient servant of the castle appeared, forcing back the huge folds of the portal to admit his lord. As the carriage wheels rolled heavily under the portcullis, Emily's heart sunk, and she seemed as if she was going into her prison; the gloomy court, into which she passed, served to confirm the idea, and her imagination, ever awake to circumstance, suggested even more terrors than her reason could justify. Another gate delivered them into the second court, grass grown, and more wild than the first, where, as she surveyed through the twilight its desolation-its lofty walls, overtopped with briony, moss, and nightshade, and the embattled towers that rose above-long suffering and murder came to her thoughts. One of those instan taneous and unaccountable convictions, which sometimes conquer even strong minds, impressed her with its horror. The sentiment was not diminished, when she entered an extensive gothic hall, obscured by the gloom of evening, which a light, glimmering at a distance through a long perspective of arches, only rendered more striking. As a servant brought the lamp nearer, partial gleams fell upon the pillars and the pointed arches, forming a strong contrast with their sha. dows that stretched along the pavement and the walls. The sudden journey of Montoni had prevented his people from making any other preparations for his reception than could be had in the short insince the arrival of the servant who had been sent forwards from Venice; and this, in some measure, may account for the air of extreme desolation that every where appeared. The servant, who came to light Montoni, bowed in silence, and the mucles of his countenance relaxed with no symptom of joy. Montoni noticed the salutation by a slight motion of his hand, and passed on, while his lady following, and looking round with a degree of surprise and discontent, which she seemed fearful of expressing, and Emily, surveying the extent and grandeur of the hall in timid wonder, approached a marble staircase. The arches here opened to a lofty vault, from the centre of which hung a tripod lamp, which a servant was hastily lighting: and the rich fretwork of the roof, a corri. dor, leading into several upper apartments, and a painted window, stretching nearly from the pavement to the ceiling of the hall, become gradually visible. Having crossed the foot of the staircase, and passed through an anti-room, they entered a spacious apartment, whose walls, wainscoted with black larch wood, the growth of the neighbouring mountains, were scarcely distinguishable from darkness itself. Bring more light, said Montoni, as he entered. The servant, sitting down his lamp, was withdrawing to obey him, when Madame Montoni, observing that the even. ing air of this mountainous region was cold, and that she should like a fire, Montoni ordered that wood might be brought. While he paced the room with thoughtful steps, and Madame Montoni sat silently on a couch at the upper end of it, waiting till the servant returned, Emily was observing the singular solemnity and desolation of the apartment, viewed, as it now was, by the glimmer of the single lamp, placed near a large Venetian mirror, that duskily relected the scene, with the tall figure |