When her strength returned, she rose, and was suffered to leave
the hall, though her anxiety, having produced some vain enquiries,
concerning Madame Montoni, had thus made a discovery of herself. Towards
her chamber she now hastened, as fast as her steps would bear her, for
she still perceived, upon her passage, the sounds of confusion at a
distance, and she endeavoured, by taking her way through some obscure
rooms, to avoid encountering the persons, whose looks had terrified her
before, as well as those parts of the castle, where the tumult might
still rage.
At length, she reached her chamber, and, having secured the door of the
corridor, felt herself, for a moment, in safety. A profound stillness
reigned in this remote apartment, which not even the faint murmur of
the most distant sounds now reached. She sat down, near one of the
casements, and, as she gazed on the mountain-view beyond, the deep
repose of its beauty struck her with all the force of contrast, and she
could scarcely believe herself so near a scene of savage discord. The
contending elements seemed to have retired from their natural spheres,
and to have collected themselves into the minds of men, for there alone
the tempest now reigned.
Emily tried to tranquillize her spirits, but anxiety made her constantly
listen for some sound, and often look out upon the ramparts, where all,
however, was lonely and still. As a sense of her own immediate danger
had decreased, her apprehension concerning Madame Montoni heightened,
who, she remembered, had been fiercely threatened with confinement in
the east turret, and it was possible, that her husband had satisfied his
present vengeance with this punishment. She, therefore, determined, when
night should return, and the inhabitants of the castle should be asleep,
to explore the way to the turret, which, as the direction it stood in
was mentioned, appeared not very difficult to be done. She knew, indeed,
that although her aunt might be there, she could afford her no effectual
assistance, but it might give her some comfort even to know, that she
was discovered, and to hear the sound of her niece's voice; for
herself, any certainty, concerning Madame Montoni's fate, appeared more
tolerable, than this exhausting suspense.
Meanwhile, Annette did not appear, and Emily was surprised, and somewhat
alarmed for her, whom, in the confusion of the late scene, various
accidents might have befallen, and it was improbable, that she would
have failed to come to her apartment, unless something unfortunate had
happened. Thus the hours passed in solitude, in silence, and in anxious
conjecturing. Being not once disturbed by a message, or a sound, it
appeared, that Montoni had wholly forgotten her, and it gave her some
comfort to find, that she could be so unnoticed. She endeavoured to
withdraw her thoughts from the anxiety, that preyed upon them, but they
refused controul; she could neither read, or draw, and the tones of her
lute were so utterly discordant with the present state of her feelings,
that she could not endure them for a moment.