h a distance from the castle; for,
if any dread of discovery had made him unwilling to perpetrate the
deed there, a much nearer place might have sufficed for the purpose of
concealment. These considerations, however, did not immediately occur to
Emily, with whom so many circumstances conspired to rouse terror, that
she had no power to oppose it, or to enquire coolly into its grounds;
and, if she had done so, still there were many appearances which would
too well have justified her most terrible apprehensions. She did not
now dare to speak to her conductors, at the sound of whose voices she
trembled; and when, now and then, she stole a glance at them, their
countenances, seen imperfectly through the gloom of evening, served to
confirm her fears.
The sun had now been set some time; heavy clouds, whose lower skirts
were tinged with sulphureous crimson, lingered in the west, and threw a
reddish tint upon the pine forests, which sent forth a solemn sound, as
the breeze rolled over them. The hollow moan struck upon Emily's heart,
and served to render more gloomy and terrific every object around
her,--the mountains, shaded in twilight--the gleaming torrent, hoarsely
roaring--the black forests, and the deep glen, broken into rocky
recesses, high overshadowed by cypress and sycamore and winding into
long obscurity. To this glen, Emily, as she sent forth her anxious eye,
thought there was no end; no hamlet, or even cottage, was seen, and
still no distant bark of watch dog, or even faint, far-off halloo
came on the wind. In a tremulous voice, she now ventured to remind the
guides, that it was growing late, and to ask again how far they had to
go: but they were too much occupied by their own discourse to attend
to her question, which she forbore to repeat, lest it should provoke a
surly answer. Having, however, soon after, finished their supper, the
men collected the fragments into their wallet, and proceeded along this
winding glen, in gloomy silence; while Emily again mused upon her own
situation, and concerning the motives of Montoni for involving her in
it. That it was for some evil purpose towards herself, she could not
doubt; and it seemed, that, if he did not intend to destroy her, with a
view of immediately seizing her estates, he meant to reserve her a
while in concealment, for some more terrible design, for one that might
equally gratify his avarice and still more his deep revenge. At this
moment, remembering Signor Broc
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