'Here,' said he, offering it to Ferdinand, 'seal your
vows--swear by this sacred pledge of honor never to repeat what I
shall now reveal.' Ferdinand vowed upon the sword, and raising his
eyes to heaven, solemnly swore. The marquis then resumed his seat, and
proceeded. 'You are now to learn that, about a century ago, this castle was in
the possession of Vincent, third marquis of Mazzini, my grandfather.
At that time there existed an inveterate hatred between our family and
that of della Campo. I shall not now revert to the origin of the
animosity, or relate the particulars of the consequent feuds--suffice
it to observe, that by the power of our family, the della Campos were
unable to preserve their former consequence in Sicily, and they have
therefore quitted it for a foreign land to live in unmolested
security. To return to my subject.--My grandfather, believing his life
endangered by his enemy, planted spies upon him. He employed some of
the numerous banditti who sought protection in his service, and after
some weeks past in waiting for an opportunity, they seized Henry della
Campo, and brought him secretly to this castle. He was for some time
confined in a close chamber of the southern buildings, where he
expired; by what means I shall forbear to mention. The plan had been
so well conducted, and the secrecy so strictly preserved, that every
endeavour of his family to trace the means of his disappearance proved
ineffectual.
Their conjectures, if they fell upon our family, were
supported by no proof; and the della Campos are to this day ignorant
of the mode of his death. A rumour had prevailed long before the death
of my father, that the southern buildings of the castle were haunted.
I disbelieved the fact, and treated it accordingly. One night, when
every human being of the castle, except myself, was retired to rest, I
had such strong and dreadful proofs of the general assertion, that
even at this moment I cannot recollect them without horror. Let me, if
possible, forget them. From that moment I forsook those buildings;
they have ever since been shut up, and the circumstance I have
mentioned, is the true reason why I have resided so little at the
castle.' Ferdinand listened to this narrative in silent horror. He remembered
the temerity with which he had dared to penetrate those
apartments--the light, and figure he had seen--and, above all, his
situation in the stair-case of the tower. Every nerve thrilled at the
recollection; and the terrors of remembrance almost equalled those of
reality.
The marquis permitted his daughters to change their apartments, but he
commanded Ferdinand to tell them, that, in granting their request, he
consulted their ease only, and was himself by no means convinced of
its propriety. They were accordingly reinstated in their former
chambers, and the great room only of madame's apartments was reserved
for the marchioness, who expressed her discontent to the marquis in
terms of mingled censure and lamentation. The marquis privately
reproved his daughters, for what he termed the idle fancies of a weak
mind; and desired them no more to disturb the peace of the castle with
the subject of their late fears. They received this reproof with
silent submission--too much pleased with the success of their suit to
be susceptible of any emotion but joy.