if only for a moment. But I refused--implacably
refused. I was convinced that she craved my forgiveness; and that I
could not give.

"Dr. Duras, who attended upon her, came to the door of my chamber and
implored me to grant him an interview:--then Nisida sought a similar
boon; but I was deaf to each and all.

"Yes--for there was still a being on whom I yet longed to wreak my
vengeance;--and that being was yourself, Francisco? I looked upon you as
the living evidence of my dishonor--the memorial of your mother's
boundless guilt. But I recoiled in horror from the idea of staining my
hands with the blood of a little child--yet I feared if I came near
you--if I saw your clinging affectionately to Vitangela--if I heard you
innocently and unconsciously mock me by calling me 'father!'--I felt I
should be unable to restrain the fury of my wrath!

"I know not how long I should have remained in the seclusion of my own
chamber--perhaps weeks and months, but one morning shortly after
daybreak, I was informed by the only servant whom I would admit near me,
that the countess had breathed her last during the night, and that
Nisida was so deeply affected by her mother's death, that she, poor
girl, was dangerously ill. Then I became frantic on account of my
daughter; and I quitted my apartment, not only to see that proper aid
was administered to her, but to complete the scheme of vengeance which I
had originally formed. Thus, in the first place, Dr. Duras was enjoined
to take up his abode altogether in the Riverola Palace, so long as
Nisida should require his services; and, on the other hand, a splendid
funeral was ordered for the Countess Riverola. But Vitangela's remains
went not in the velvet-covered coffin to the family vault;--no--her
flesh was buried in the same soil where rotted the flesh of her
paramour--and her skeleton was suspended from the same beam to which his
bones had been already hung. For I thought within myself: 'This is the
first time that the wife of a Count of Riverola has ever brought
dishonor and disgrace upon her husband; and I will take care that it
shall be the last. To Nisida will I leave all my estates--all my wealth,
save a miserable pittance as an inheritance for the bastard Francisco.
She shall inherit the title, and the man on whom she may confer her hand
shall be the next Count of Riverola. The wedding-day will be marked by a
revelation of the mystery of this cabinet; and the awful spectacle will
tea