As she listened, she thought she distinguished female voices mingling
with the laughter, and this confirmed her worst surmise, concerning the
character of Signora Livona and her companions. It was evident, that
they had not been brought hither by compulsion; and she beheld herself
in the remote wilds of the Apennine, surrounded by men, whom she
considered to be little less than ruffians, and their worst associates,
amid scenes of vice, from which her soul recoiled in horror. It was at
this moment, when the scenes of the present and the future opened to her
imagination, that the image of Valancourt failed in its influence, and
her resolution shook with dread. She thought she understood all the
horrors, which Montoni was preparing for her, and shrunk from an
encounter with such remorseless vengeance, as he could inflict. The
disputed estates she now almost determined to yield at once, whenever
he should again call upon her, that she might regain safety and freedom;
but then, the remembrance of Valancourt would steal to her heart, and
plunge her into the distractions of doubt.
She continued walking in the gallery, till evening threw its melancholy
twilight through the painted casements, and deepened the gloom of
the oak wainscoting around her; while the distant perspective of
the corridor was so much obscured, as to be discernible only by the
glimmering window, that terminated it.
Along the vaulted halls and passages below, peals of laughter echoed
faintly, at intervals, to this remote part of the castle, and seemed to
render the succeeding stillness more dreary. Emily, however, unwilling
to return to her more forlorn chamber, whither Annette was not yet come,
still paced the gallery. As she passed the door of the apartment, where
she had once dared to lift the veil, which discovered to her a spectacle
so horrible, that she had never after remembered it, but with emotions
of indescribable awe, this remembrance suddenly recurred. It now brought
with it reflections more terrible, than it had yet done, which the late
conduct of Montoni occasioned; and, hastening to quit the gallery, while
she had power to do so, she heard a sudden step behind her.--It might
be that of Annette; but, turning fearfully to look, she saw, through the
gloom, a tall figure following her, and all the horrors of that chamber
rushed upon her mind. In the next moment, she found herself clasped in
the arms of some person, and heard a deep voice murmur in her ear.
When she had power to speak, or to distinguish articulated sounds, she
demanded who detained her. 'It is I,' replied the voice--'Why are you thus alarmed?' She looked on the face of the person who spoke, but the feeble light,
that gleamed through the high casement at the end of the gallery, did
not permit her to distinguish the features.