he foreground;--the spiral summits of the mountains, touched with
a purple tint, broken and steep above, but shelving gradually to their
base; the open valley, marked by no formal lines of art; and the tall
groves of cypress, pine and poplar, sometimes embellished by a ruined
villa, whose broken columns appeared between the branches of a pine,
that seemed to droop over their fall.

From other parts of the gardens, the character of the view was entirely
changed, and the fine solitary beauty of the landscape shifted for the
crowded features and varied colouring of inhabitation.

The sun was now gaining fast upon the sky, and the party quitted the
gardens, and retired to repose.

CHAPTER IV

And poor Misfortune feels the lash of Vice.
THOMSON

Emily seized the first opportunity of conversing alone with Mons.
Quesnel, concerning La Vallee. His answers to her enquiries were
concise, and delivered with the air of a man, who is conscious of
possessing absolute power and impatient of hearing it questioned. He
declared, that the disposal of the place was a necessary measure; and
that she might consider herself indebted to his prudence for even the
small income that remained for her. 'But, however,' added he, 'when
this Venetian Count (I have forgot his name) marries you, your present
disagreeable state of dependence will cease. As a relation to you I
rejoice in the circumstance, which is so fortunate for you, and, I may
add, so unexpected by your friends.' For some moments Emily was chilled
into silence by this speech; and, when she attempted to undeceive him,
concerning the purport of the note she had inclosed in Montoni's letter,
he appeared to have some private reason for disbelieving her assertion,
and, for a considerable time, persevered in accusing her of capricious
conduct. Being, at length, however, convinced that she really disliked
Morano and had positively rejected his suit, his resentment was
extravagant, and he expressed it in terms equally pointed and inhuman;
for, secretly flattered by the prospect of a connection with a nobleman,
whose title he had affected to forget, he was incapable of feeling
pity for whatever sufferings of his niece might stand in the way of his
ambition.

Emily saw at once in his manner all the difficulties, that awaited
her, and, though no oppression could have power to make her renounce
Valancourt for Morano, her fortitude now trembled at an encounter with
the violent p