Carlo soon after entered with some fruit: Your Excellenza is tired after your long ramble, said he, as he set the fruit upon the table: but you have more to see after breakfast. There is a place in the vaulted passages leading

to

Montoni frowned upon him, and waved his hand for him to leave the room. Carlo stopped, looked down, and then added, as he advanced to the breakfast table, and took up the basket of fruit, I made bold, your Excellenza, to bring some cherries here, for my honoured lady and my young mistress. Will your ladyship taste them, madame? said Carlo presenting the basket: they are very fine ones, though I gathered them myself, and from an old tree that catches all the south sun; they are as big as plums, your ladyship.

Very well, old Carlo, said Madame Montoni, I am obliged to you.

And the young signora, too, she may like some of them; rejoined Carlo, turning with the basket to Emily; it will do me good to see her eat some.

Thank you, Carlo, said Emily, taking some cherries, and smiling kindly.

Come, come, said Montoni, impatiently, enough of this. Leave the room, but be in waiting. I shall want you presently.

Carlo obeyed; and Montoni, soon after, went out to examine farther into the state of the castle, while Emily remained with her aunt, patiently enduring her ill-humour, and endeavouring, with much sweetness, to soothe her affliction, instead of resenting its effect.

When Madame Montoni retired to her dressing room, Emily endeavoured to amuse herself by a view of the castle. Through a folding door she passed from the great hall to the ramparts, which extended along the brow of the precipice round three sides of the edifice; the fourth was guarded by the high walls of the courts, and by the gateway through which she had passed on the preceding evening. The grandeur of the broad ramparts, and the changing scenery they overlooked, excited her high admiration; for the extent of the terraces allowed the features of the country to be seen in such various points of view, that they appeared to form new landscapes. She often paused to examine the gothic magnificence of Udolpho, its proud irregularity, its lofty towers and battlements, its high arched casements, and its slender watch towers, perched upon the corners of turrets. Then she would lean on the wall of the terrace, and, shuddering, measure with her eye, the precipice below, till the dark summits of the woods arrested it. Wherever she turned appeared mountain tops, forests of pine, and narrow glens, opening among the Ap

penines, and retiring from the sight into inaccessible regions.

While she thus leaned, Monteni, followed by two men, appeared ascending a winding path cut in the rock below. He stopped upon a cliff, and pointing to the ramparts, turn ed to his followers, and talked with much eagerness and gesticulation. Emily perceived that one of these men was Carlo; the other was in the dress of a peasant, and he alone seemed to be receiving the directions of Montoni.

She withdrew from the walls, and pursued her walk, till she heard at a distance the sound of carriage wheels, and then the loud bell of the portal, when it instantly occurred to her that Count Morano was arrived. As she has tily passed the folding doors from the terrace towards her own apartment, several persons entered the hall by an opposite door. She saw them at the extremity of the arcades, and immediately retreated; but the agitation of her spirits, and the extent and duskiness of the hall, had prevented her from distinguishing the persons of the strangers. Her fears, however, had but one object, and they called up that object to her fancy;-she believed that she had seen Count Morano.

When she thought that they had passed the hall, she ventured again to the door, and proceeded unobserved to her room, where she remained, agitated with apprehensions, and listening to every distant sound. At length, hearing voices on the rampart, she hastened to her window, and observed Montoni, with signor Cavigni, walking below, conversing earnestly, and often stopping and turning to wards each other, at which time their discourse seemed to be uncommonly interesting.

Of the several persons who had appeared in the hall, here was Cavigni alone: but Emily's alarm was soon after heightened by the steps of some one in the corridor, who, she apprehended, brought a message from the Count. In the next moment Annette appeared.

Ah, ma'amselle, said she, here is the signor Cavigni arrived! I am sure I rejoice to see a Christian person in this place; and then he is so goodnatured too, he always takes so much notice of me. And here is also signor Verezzi, and who do you think besides, ma'amselle?

I cannot guess, Annette; tell me quickly.

Nay, ma'am, do guess once.

Well, then, said Emily, with assumed composure, it is -Count Morano, I suppose.

Holy Virgin! cried Annette, are you ill, ma'amselle? You are going to faint; let me get some water.

Emily sunk into a chair; stay Annette, said she, feebly, do not leave me-I shall soon be better-open the casement. The count, you say-he is come then?

Who, I-the count! No, ma'amselle, I did not say so.

He is not come then? said Emily, eagerly. No, ma'am

selle.

You are sure of it?

Why I was

Lord bless me! said Annette, you recover very suddenly ma'am; why, I thought you was dying just now. But the count-you are sure is not come ? O, yes, quite sure of that, ma'amselle. looking out through the grate in the north turret when the carriages drove into the court yard, and I never expected to see so goodly a sight in this dismal old castle; but here are masters and servants, too, enough to make the place ring again. O, I was ready to leap through the rusty old bars for joy! O, who would ever have thought of seeing a Christian face in this huge dreary house! I could have kissed the very horses that brought them.

Well, Annette, well, I am better now.

Yes, ma'amselle, I see you are. O, all the servants will lead merry lives here now; we shall have singing and dancing in the little hall, for the signor cannot hear us there-and droll stories-Ludovico's come, ma'am; yes, there is Ludovico come with them; you remember Ludovico ma'am-a tall handsome young man-signor Cavigni's lacquey-who always wears his cloak with such a grace, thrown round his left arm, and his hat set on so smartly, all on one side, and

No, said Emily, who was wearied by her loquacity.

What, ma'amselle, don't you remember Ludovico-who rowed the Cavaliero's gondola at the last regatta, and won the prize? and who used to sing such sweet verses about Orlando's and about the black-a-moors, too; and CharlyCharly-magne, yes, that was the name, all under my lattice, in the west portico, on the moonlight nights at Venice! O! I have listened to him!

I fear to thy peril, my good Annette, said Emily; for it seems his verses have stolen thy heart. But let me advise you; if it is so, keep the secret; never let him know it. Ah-ma'amselle!-how can one keep such a secret as

that?

Well, Annette, I am now so much better that you may Leave me.

O, but, ma'amselle, I forgot to ask-how did you sleep in this dreary old chamber last night?-As well as usual. Did you hear no noises?-None.-Nor see any thing?-Nothing. Well, that is surprising!--Not in the least: and now tell me why you ask these questions.

O, ma'amselle! I would not tell you for the world, nor all I have heard about this chamber, either; it would fright

en you so.

If that is all, you have frightened me already, and may therefore tell me what you know without hurting your conscience.

O Lord! they say the room is haunted, and has been so these many years.

It is by a ghost, then, who can draw bolts, said Emily, endeavouring to laugh away her apprehensions; for I left that door open last night, and found it fastened this morning.

Annette turned pale, and said not a word.

Do you know whether any of the servants fastened this door in the morning, before I rose !

No, ma'am, that I will be bound they did not; but I don't know: shall I go and ask, ma'amselle? said Annette, moving hastily towards the corridor.

Stay, Annette, I have other questions to ask; tell me what you have heard concerning this room, and whither that staircase leads?

I will go and ask it all directly, ma'am; besides, I am sure. my lady wants me. I cannot stay now, indeed ma'am.

She hurried from the room, without waiting Emily's reply, whose heart, lightened by the certainty that Morano was not arrived, allowed her to smile at the superstitious terror which had seized on Annette; for though she sometimes felt its influence herself, she could smile at it when apparent in other persons.

Montoni having refused Emily another chamber, she determined to bear with patience the evil she could not remove, and, in order to make the room as comfortable as possible, unpacked her books, her sweet delight in happier days, and her soothing resource in the hours of moderate sorrow but there were hours when even these failed of their effect; when the genius, the taste, the enthusiasm of the sublimest writers were felt no longer.

Her little library being arranged on a high chest, part of the furniture of the room, she took out her drawing utensils, and was tranquil enough to be pleased with the thought of sketching the sublime scenes beheld from her windows; but she suddenly checked this pleasure, remembering how often she had soothed herself by the intention of obtaining amusement of this kind, and had been prevented by some new circumstance of misfortune.

How can I suffer myself to be deluded by hope, said she, and, because Count Morano is not yet arrived, feel a momentary happiness? Alas! what is it to me, whether he is here to-day, or to-morrow, if he comes at all?-and that he will come-it were weakness to doubt.

To withdraw her thoughts, however, from the subject of her misfortunes, she attempted to read, but her attention wandered from the page, and at length she threw aside the book and determined to explore the adjoining chambers of the castle. Her imagination was pleased with the view of ancient grandeur, and an emotion of melancholy awe

awakened all its powers, as she walked through rooms obscure and desolate, where no footsteps had passed probably for many years, and remembered the strange history of the former possessor of the edifice. This brought to her recollection the veiled picture, which had attracted her curiosity on the preceding night, and she resolved to examine it. As she passed through the chambers that led to this, she found herself somewhat agitated; its connexions with the late lady of the castle, and the conversation of Annette, together with the circumstance of the veil, throwing a mystery over the object that excited a faint degree of terror. But a terror of this nature, as it occupies and expands the mind, and elevates it to high expectation, is purely su blime, and leads us, by a kind of fascination, to seek even the object from which we appear to shrink.

She

Emily passed on with faltering steps, and having paused a moment at the door, before she attempted to open it, she then hastily entered the chamber, and went toward the picture, which appeared to be enclosed in a frame of uncommon size, that hung in a dark part of the room. paused again, and then with a timid hand lifted the veil ; but instantly let it fall-perceiving that what it had con cealed was no picture, and, before she could leave the chamber, she dropped senseless on the floor.

When she recovered her recollection, the remembrance of what she had seen had nearly deprived her of it a second time. She had scarcely strength to remove from the room, and regain her own; and, when arrived there, wanted courage to remain alone. Horror occupied her mind, and excluded, for a time, all sense of past, and dread of future misfortune: she seated herself near the casement, because from thence she heard voices, though distant, on the terrace, and might see people pass, and these, trifling as they were, were reviving circumstances. When her spirits had recovered their tone, she considered whether she should mention what she had seen to Madame Montoni, and various and important motives urged her to do so, among which the least was the hope of the relief which an overburdened mind finds in speaking of the subject of its interest. But she was aware of the terrible consequences which such a communication might lead to; and dreading the indiscretion of her aunt, at length endea voured to arm herself with resolution to observe a profound silence on the subject. Montoni and Verezzi soon after passed under the casements, speaking cheerfully, and their voices revived her. Presently the signors Bertolini and Cavigni joined the party on the terrace, and Emily, supposing that Madame Montoni was then alone, went to seek her; for the solitude of her chamber, and its proximity to that where she had received so severe a shock, again effected her spirits.