o impenetrable, that, even in noon-day, it was
impossible for those without, to see persons walking within, while the
closely-shaven sod effectually prevented footsteps being heard. The
moon was up, and nearly at the full, and all beneath me in the
richly-ornamented flower-garden was bathed in a sea of mellow light. The
marble statues that adorned the walks threw their lengthened shadows
at their bases, while their own whiteness seemed purer and fairer than
ever. The villa itself, half obscured by trees, seemed, in its tranquil
beauty, the very emblem of peace; and as the pillars of the portico
threw a deeper shadow, gave a broadness to the effect which struck me
as wonderfully beautiful. I gazed around me with momentarily increasing
admiration. The gentle murmuring of the leaves agitated by the breeze,
and the plash of the river, made the silence around me even more
striking. I stood lost in the enjoyment of the delicious repose of
the whole scene, when a slight noise upon the gravel walk attracted my
attention; I listened, and now distinctly heard footsteps approaching,
and also the voices of persons whispering in a low and much-suppressed
tone. They came nearer, and were now only concealed from my view by
the tall hedge, beneath which they walked; and soon the shadow of two
figures were cast along the broad walk in the bright moonlight. For a
moment they stopped speaking, and then I heard a laugh, in a low and
under tone--but such a laugh! My very blood ran chilled back upon my
heart as I heard it. Oh, if the fiend himself had given that dreadful
and heart-appalling laugh, it could not be more awful! It scarcely died
away in the faint echo, ere I heard the sobs, deep and low, of another
and far different voice. At this instant the figures emerged from the
darkness and stood in the bright moonlight. They stood beside an old
and broken pillar, which had once supported a sun-dial, and around whose
shaft the clustering ivy had wound itself. They were entirely concealed
by large cloaks which enveloped their entire figures, but still I could
perceive that one was much larger and more robust than the other. This
latter taking a small lamp, which was concealed beneath the folds of his
cloak, placed it upon the pillar, while at the same instant the other
figure, throwing off the cloak, knelt at his feet. Oh, that reason had
left me, or that life itself had parted from me, ere I should look
upon that scene! She--she who knelt an