Thus passed the time, till twelve o'clock, soon after which the distant
sounds, that murmured through the castle, ceased, and sleep seemed to
reign over all. Emily then seated herself at the casement, where she
was soon recalled from the reverie, into which she sunk, by very unusual
sounds, not of music, but like the low mourning of some person in
distress. As she listened, her heart faltered in terror, and she became
convinced, that the former sound was more than imaginary. Still,
at intervals, she heard a kind of feeble lamentation, and sought to
discover whence it came. There were several rooms underneath, adjoining
the rampart, which had been long shut up, and, as the sound probably
rose from one of these, she leaned from the casement to observe, whether
any light was visible there. The chambers, as far as she could perceive,
were quite dark, but, at a little distance, on the rampart below, she
thought she saw something moving.
The faint twilight, which the stars shed, did not enable her to
distinguish what it was; but she judged it to be a sentinel, on watch,
and she removed her light to a remote part of the chamber, that she
might escape notice, during her further observation.
The same object still appeared. Presently, it advanced along the
rampart, towards her window, and she then distinguished something like
a human form, but the silence, with which it moved, convinced her it
was no sentinel. As it drew near, she hesitated whether to retire; a
thrilling curiosity inclined her to stay, but a dread of she scarcely
knew what warned her to withdraw.
While she paused, the figure came opposite to her casement, and was
stationary. Every thing remained quiet; she had not heard even a
foot-fall; and the solemnity of this silence, with the mysterious form
she saw, subdued her spirits, so that she was moving from the casement,
when, on a sudden, she observed the figure start away, and glide down
the rampart, after which it was soon lost in the obscurity of night.
Emily continued to gaze, for some time, on the way it had passed, and
then retired within her chamber, musing on this strange circumstance,
and scarcely doubting, that she had witnessed a supernatural appearance.
When her spirits recovered composure, she looked round for some other
explanation. Remembering what she had heard of the daring enterprises of
Montoni, it occurred to her, that she had just seen some unhappy
person, who, having been plundered by his banditti, was brought hither a
captive; and that the music she had formerly heard, came from him.
Yet, if they had plundered him, it still appeared improbable, that they
should have brought him to the castle, and it was also more consistent
with the manners of banditti to murder those they rob, than to make them
prisoners. But what, more than any other circumstance, contradicted
the supposition, that it was a prisoner, was that it wandered on the
terrace, without a guard: a consideration, which made her dismiss
immediately her first surmise.