I had walked for nearly an hour, and had now come to a rising ground. I
looked back to have a last prospect of the convent and the town, whose
well-known outlines were already become obscured by distance, and by the
white masses of vapour that yet lingered in the valley. But on the
eminence to which I had arrived, the fresh morning breezes awoke, and
played coolly on my brows. Methought I heard music in the air. It was
the pious hymns of the monks that were yet borne up towards me, as if to
express once more their parting blessing and long farewell.
Involuntarily I joined in the anthem, and lingered on the spot,
unwilling to break a train of intricate associations, which it would
require volumes to analyse and develope.
But now the sun rose in full glory over the towers of Koenigswald. The
glossy foliage of the trees, already tinged by the first hues of
autumn, shone in his dazzling golden light. There was pleasure even in
the rustling sound of the dew-drops that fell like showers of diamonds,
amid the myriads of insects that danced hummingly through the stilly air
of the sheltering thickets. The birds, too, were awake, and fluttered,
singing and rejoicing in amorous play, through the woods. To crown all,
it was a holiday, and there came a religious procession of peasant lads
and girls, in their best attire, up the hill side.
Never had I before enjoyed such a mood of mind. I seemed to myself
wholly metamorphosed; and as if inspired by some newly awoke energies, I
strode rapidly down the opposite side of the hill.
To the first _bauer_ whom I happened to meet, I put the question,
whether he knew the place where, according to the route that had been
given to me, I was first to pass the night; and he described to me very
accurately a footpath leading off from the high road, and winding
through the mountains, by which I should reach more rapidly than by any
other course, the place of my destination.
I had parted with the _Bauer_, and had walked on for a considerable
space in complete solitude, when, for the first time since my setting
out, the thoughts occurred to me of the unknown beauty, and my
fantastical plan of going in search of her. But, as if by some new and
supernatural influence, her image had now vanished almost quite away; so
that it was with difficulty I could trace the pale disfigured
lineaments. The more that I laboured to retain this apparition firmly in
my remembrance, the more fallaciously it melted, as if into vapour, from
my sight; only my extravagant behaviour in the convent, after that
mysterious adventure, remained fresh in my recollection. It was now even
to myself inconceivable with what patience the Prior had borne with all
this; and how, instead of inflicting the punishment I so justly
deserved, he had sent me forth into the world.
I soon became convinced, that the visit of the unknown beauty had been
nothing more nor less than a vision, the consequence of too stedfast
application. Instead of imputing this, as I would formerly have done, to
any direct interference of the devil, I ascribed it to the natural
deception of my own disordered senses. Nay, the circumstance of the
stranger being dressed exactly like St Rosalia, seemed to prove, that
the animated and excellent picture of that saint, which, in an oblique
direction, I could behold from the confessional, had a great share in
producing my delusion.
Deeply did I admire the wisdom of the Prior, who had chosen the only
proper means for my recovery; for, shut up within the convent walls,
always brooding over my own gloomy thoughts, and surrounded ever by the
same objects, I must irretrievably have fallen into utter madness.
Becoming always more reconciled to the rational conclusion, that I had
but dreamed, I could scarcely help laughing at myself; nay, with a
levity which before had been most remote from my character, I made a
jest of my own supposition, that a female saint had fallen in love with
me; whereupon I recollected also, with equal merriment, that I had once
imagined myself to be transformed into St Anthony.
* * * * *
One morning, (it was after I had been already several days wandering
amid the mountains,) I found myself amid bold, frightfully piled up
masses of rock, and was obliged to proceed by narrow, dangerous
footpaths, beneath which the mountain rivulets roared and foamed in
their contracted ravines. The path became always more lonely, wild, and
arduous. The autumnal sun (it was in September) rose high in heaven, and
burned upon my uncovered head. I panted for thirst, for no spring was
near, and I could not reach the torrents, though their voice was
audible; moreover, there was yet no sign of my approach to the village,
which had been marked for my next resting place.
At last, quite exhausted, I sat down upon a mass of rocks, and could not
resist taking a draught from my basket-bottle, notwithstanding that I
wished to reserve as much as possible of the extraordinary liquor. I
felt instantly the mantling glow of quickened circulation in every vein,
and energetic bracing of every fibre, while, refreshed and strengthened,
I boldly marched forward, in order to gain the appointed station, which
now could not be far distant.
The dark pine-tree woods became always more and more dense, and the
ground more steep and uneven. Suddenly I heard near me a rustling in
the thickets, and then a horse neighed aloud, which was there bound to a
tree. I advanced some steps farther, as the path guided me onwards,
till, almost petrified with terror, I suddenly found myself on the verge
of a tremendous precipice, beyond which the river, which I have already
mentioned, was thundering and foaming at an immeasurable distance below.
With astonishment, too, I beheld, on a projecting point of rock which
jutted over the chasm, what appeared to me the figure of a man. At
first, I suspected some new delusion; but, recovering in some degree
from my fear, I ventured nearer, and perceived a young man in uniform,
on the very outermost point of the rocky cliff. His sabre, his hat, with
a high plume of feathers, and a portefeuille, lay beside him;--with half
his body hanging over the abyss, he seemed to be asleep, and always to
sink down lower and lower! His fall was inevitable!
I ventured nearer. Seizing him with one hand, and endeavouring to pull
him back, I shouted aloud, "For God's sake, sir, awake! For Heaven's
sake, beware!"--I said no more; for, at that moment, starting from his
sleep, and at the same moment losing his equilibrium, he fell down into
the cataract!
His mangled form must have dashed from point to point of the rocks in
his descent. I heard one piercing yell of agony, which echoed through
the immeasurable abyss, from which at last only a hollow moaning arose,
which soon also died away.
Struck with unutterable horror, I stood silent and motionless. At last,
by a momentary impulse, I seized the hat, the sword, the portefeuille,
and wished to withdraw myself as quickly as possible from the fatal
spot.
Now, however, I observed a young man dressed as a _chasseur_ emerge from
the wood, and coming forward to meet me. At first, he looked at me
earnestly and scrutinizingly--then, all at once, broke out into
immoderate laughter; whereat an ice-cold shuddering vibrated through all
my frame.
"_Sapperment!_ my Lord Count," said the youth, "your masquerade is
indeed admirable and complete; and if the Lady Baroness were not
apprized before hand, I question if even she would recognize you in this
disguise.--But what have you done with the uniform, my lord?"
"As for that," replied I, "I threw it down the rocks into the
water."--Yet these words were _not mine_! I only gave utterance,
involuntarily and almost unconsciously, to expressions, which, by means
of some supernatural influence, rose up within me.
I stood afterwards silent, and absorbed in thought, with my staring eyes
always turned to the rocks, as if from thence the mangled frame of the
unfortunate Count would ascend to bear witness against me. My conscience
accused me as his murderer; but, though thus unnerved, I continued to
hold the hat, the sword, and the portefeuille, convulsively firm in my
grasp.
"Now, my lord," resumed the chasseur, "I shall ride on by the carriage
road to the village, where I shall keep myself _incognito_ in the small
house to the left-hand side of the gate. Of course, you will now walk
down to the castle, where you are probably expected by this time. Your
hat and sword I shall take with me."
I gave them to him accordingly.--"Now, farewell, my lord," added the
youth; "much pleasure attend you in the castle!"
Hereupon, whistling and singing, he vanished away into the woods. I
heard him afterwards untie the horse, that was there bound to a tree,
and ride off.
When I had recovered myself in some measure from my confusion, and
reflected on the adventure, I was obliged to confess, that I had become
wholly the victim of chance or destiny, which had at once thrown me into
the most extraordinary circumstances. It was quite obvious, that an
exact resemblance of my face and figure with those of the unfortunate
Count, had deceived the chasseur; and that his master must have chosen
the dress of a capuchin, in order to carry on some adventure in the
castle, of which the completion had now devolved upon me! Death had
overtaken him, and at the same moment a wonderful fatality had _forced_
me into his place. An inward irresistible impulse to act the part of the
deceased Count, overpowered every doubt, and stunned the warning voice
of conscience, which accused me of murder _now_, and of shameless
intended crimes _yet to come_!
I now opened the portefeuille. Letters, money, and bank-bills, to a
considerable amount, fell into my hands. I wished to go through the
papers, one by one, in order that I might be aware of the late Count's
situation. But my internal disquietude, the confusion of a thousand
strange ideas, which crowded through my brain, did not admit of this.
After walking a few paces, I again stood still. I seated myself on a
rock, and endeavoured to force myself into a quieter mood of mind. I saw
the danger of stepping, thus wholly unprepared, into a circle of people,
of whom I knew nothing. Then suddenly I heard a sound of hunting horns
through the wood, and voices shouting and rejoicing, which came always
nearer and nearer. My heart beat with violence--my breath
faltered.--Now, indeed, a new life, a new world, were about to be opened
upon me!
I turned into a small, narrow footpath, which led me down a steep
declivity. On stepping out of the thicket, I beheld an extensive, nobly
built castle, lying beneath me in the valley. _There_, of course, was
the intended scene of the adventure which the late Count had in
contemplation, and I walked courageously onwards. I soon found myself in
the finely kept walks of the park, by which the castle was surrounded.
At last, in a dark side allee, in a kind of _berceau_, I saw two male
figures, of whom one was in the dress of a lay monk. They came nearer,
but were engaged in deep discourse, and never once observed me.