A beautiful evening, that had succeeded to a sultry day, at length
induced Emily to walk, though she knew that Bertrand must attend her,
and, with Maddelina for her companion, she left the cottage, followed by
Bertrand, who allowed her to choose her own way. The hour was cool and
silent, and she could not look upon the country around her, without
delight. How lovely, too, appeared the brilliant blue, that coloured all
the upper region of the air, and, thence fading downward, was lost in
the saffron glow of the horizon! Nor less so were the varied shades and
warm colouring of the Apennines, as the evening sun threw his slanting
rays athwart their broken surface. Emily followed the course of the
stream, under the shades, that overhung its grassy margin. On the
opposite banks, the pastures were animated with herds of cattle of a
beautiful cream-colour; and, beyond, were groves of lemon and orange,
with fruit glowing on the branches, frequent almost as the leaves,
which partly concealed it. She pursued her way towards the sea, which
reflected the warm glow of sun-set, while the cliffs, that rose over its
edge, were tinted with the last rays. The valley was terminated on the
right by a lofty promontory, whose summit, impending over the waves, was
crowned with a ruined tower, now serving for the purpose of a beacon,
whose shattered battlements and the extended wings of some sea-fowl,
that circled near it, were still illumined by the upward beams of the
sun, though his disk was now sunk beneath the horizon; while the lower
part of the ruin, the cliff on which it stood and the waves at its foot,
were shaded with the first tints of twilight.
Having reached this headland, Emily gazed with solemn pleasure on the
cliffs, that extended on either hand along the sequestered shores,
some crowned with groves of pine, and others exhibiting only barren
precipices of grayish marble, except where the crags were tufted with
myrtle and other aromatic shrubs. The sea slept in a perfect calm;
its waves, dying in murmurs on the shores, flowed with the gentlest
undulation, while its clear surface reflected in softened beauty the
vermeil tints of the west. Emily, as she looked upon the ocean, thought
of France and of past times, and she wished, Oh! how ardently, and
vainly--wished! that its waves would bear her to her distant, native
home!
'Ah! that vessel,' said she, 'that vessel, which glides along so
stately, with its tall sails reflected in the water is, perhaps, bound
for France! Happy--happy bark!' She continued to gaze upon it, with warm
emotion, till the gray of twilight obscured the distance, and veiled it
from her view. The melancholy sound of the waves at her feet assisted
the tenderness, that occasioned her tears, and this was the only sound,
that broke upon the hour, till, having followed the windings of the
beach, for some time, a chorus of voices passed her on the air. She
paused a moment, wishing to hear more, yet fearing to be seen, and,
for the first time, looked back to Bertrand, as her protector, who
was following, at a short distance, in company with some other person.
Reassured by this circumstance, she advanced towards the sounds, which
seemed to arise from behind a high promontory, that projected athwart
the beach.