simple
pleasure. The group before him consisted of French and Spanish peasants,
the inhabitants of a neighbouring hamlet, some of whom were performing a
sprightly dance, the women with castanets in their hands, to the sounds
of a lute and a tamborine, till, from the brisk melody of France, the
music softened into a slow movement, to which two female peasants danced
a Spanish Pavan.

The Count, comparing this with the scenes of such gaiety as he had
witnessed at Paris, where false taste painted the features, and, while
it vainly tried to supply the glow of nature, concealed the charms
of animation--where affectation so often distorted the air, and vice
perverted the manners--sighed to think, that natural graces and innocent
pleasures flourished in the wilds of solitude, while they drooped amidst
the concourse of polished society. But the lengthening shadows reminded
the travellers, that they had no time to lose; and, leaving this joyous
group, they pursued their way towards the little inn, which was to
shelter them from the night.

The rays of the setting sun now threw a yellow gleam upon the forests of
pine and chesnut, that swept down the lower region of the mountains, and
gave resplendent tints to the snowy points above. But soon, even this
light faded fast, and the scenery assumed a more tremendous appearance,
invested with the obscurity of twilight. Where the torrent had been
seen, it was now only heard; where the wild cliffs had displayed
every variety of form and attitude, a dark mass of mountains now alone
appeared; and the vale, which far, far below had opened its dreadful
chasm, the eye could no longer fathom. A melancholy gleam still lingered
on the summits of the highest Alps, overlooking the deep repose of
evening, and seeming to make the stillness of the hour more awful.

Blanche viewed the scene in silence, and listened with enthusiasm to the
murmur of the pines, that extended in dark lines along the mountains,
and to the faint voice of the izard, among the rocks, that came at
intervals on the air. But her enthusiasm sunk into apprehension, when,
as the shadows deepened, she looked upon the doubtful precipice, that
bordered the road, as well as on the various fantastic forms of danger,
that glimmered through the obscurity beyond it; and she asked her
father, how far they were from the inn, and whether he did not consider
the road to be dangerous at this late hour. The Count repeated the first
question