the Staircase, and
forced into one of the Cells which lined the Cavern's sides.

My blood ran cold, as I gazed upon this melancholy abode. The cold
vapours hovering in the air, the walls green with damp, the bed of
Straw so forlorn and comfortless, the Chain destined to bind me for
ever to my prison, and the Reptiles of every description which as the
torches advanced towards them, I descried hurrying to their retreats,
struck my heart with terrors almost too exquisite for nature to bear.
Driven by despair to madness, I burst suddenly from the Nuns who held
me: I threw myself upon my knees before the Prioress, and besought her
mercy in the most passionate and frantic terms.

'If not on me,' said I, 'look at least with pity on that innocent
Being, whose life is attached to mine! Great is my crime, but let not
my Child suffer for it! My Baby has committed no fault: Oh! spare me
for the sake of my unborn Offspring, whom ere it tastes life your
severity dooms to destruction!'

The Prioress drew back haughtily: She forced her habit from my grasp,
as if my touch had been contagious.

'What?' She exclaimed with an exasperated air; 'What? Dare you plead
for the produce of your shame? Shall a Creature be permitted to live,
conceived in guilt so monstrous? Abandoned Woman, speak for him no
more! Better that the Wretch should perish than live: Begotten in
perjury, incontinence, and pollution, It cannot fail to prove a Prodigy
of vice. Hear me, thou Guilty! Expect no mercy from me either for
yourself, or Brat. Rather pray that Death may seize you before you
produce it; Or if it must see the light, that its eyes may immediately
be closed again for ever! No aid shall be given you in your labour;
Bring your Offspring into the world yourself, Feed it yourself, Nurse
it yourself, Bury it yourself: God grant that the latter may happen
soon, lest you receive comfort from the fruit of your iniquity!'

This inhuman speech, the threats which it contained, the dreadful
sufferings foretold to me by the Domina, and her prayers for my
Infant's death, on whom though unborn I already doated, were more than
my exhausted frame could support. Uttering a deep groan, I fell
senseless at the feet of my unrelenting Enemy. I know not how long I
remained in this situation; But I imagine that some time must have
elapsed before my recovery, since it sufficed the Prioress and her Nuns
to quit the Cavern. When my senses returned, I found m