THE MYSTERY UNFOLDED--ANOTHER RECOGNITION, WHICH, IT IS TO BE HOPED, THE
READER COULD NOT FORESEE.
The French lady then explained the whole mystery of Monimia's death, as a
stratagem she had concerted with the clergyman and doctor, in order to
defeat the pernicious designs of Fathom, who seemed determined to support
his false pretensions by dint of perjury and fraud, which they would have
found it very difficult to elude. She observed, that the physician had
actually despaired of Monimia's life, and it was not till after she
herself was made acquainted with the prognostic, that she wrote the
letter to Renaldo, which she committed to the care of Madam Clement, with
an earnest entreaty, that it should not be sent till after her decease.
But that lady, believing the Count had been certainly abused by his
treacherous confidant, despatched the billet without the knowledge of
Monimia, whose health was restored by the indefatigable care of the
physician, and the sage exhortations of the clergyman, by which she was
reconciled to life. In a word, the villany of Fathom had inspired her
with some faint hope that Renaldo might still be innocent; and that
notion contributed not a little to her cure.
The letter having so effectually answered their warmest hopes, in
bringing back Renaldo such a pattern of constancy and love, the
confederates, in consequence of his enthusiastic sorrow, had planned this
meeting, as the most interesting way of restoring two virtuous lovers to
the arms of each other; for which purpose the good clergyman had pitched
upon his own church, and indulged them with the use of the vestry, in
which they now were presented with a small but elegant collation.
Melvil heard this succinct detail with equal joy and admiration. He
poured forth the dictates of his gratitude to the preservers of his
happiness.--"This church," said he, "shall henceforth possess a double
share of my veneration; this holy man will, I hope, finish the charitable
work he has begun, by tying those bands of our happiness, which nought
but death shall have power to unbind." Then turning to that object which
was the star of his regard, "Do I not overrate," said he, "my interest
with the fair Monimia?" She made no verbal reply; but answered by an
emphatic glance, more eloquent than all the power of rhetoric and speech.
This language, which is universal in the world of love, he perfectly well
understood, and, in token of that faculty, sealed the assent which she
had smiled, with a kiss imprinted on her polished forehead.
In order to dissipate these interesting ideas, which, by being too long
indulged, might have endangered his reason, Madam Clement entreated him
to entertain the company with a detail of what had happened to him in his
last journey to the empire, and Monimia expressed a desire of knowing, in
particular, the issue of his contest with Count Trebasi, who, she knew,
had usurped the succession of his father.
Thus solicited, he could not refuse to gratify their curiosity and
concern. He explained his obligations to the benevolent Jew; related the
steps he had taken at Vienna for the recovery of his inheritance;
informed them of his happy rencontre with his father-in-law; of his
sister's deliverance, and marriage; of the danger into which his life had
been precipitated by the news of Monimia's death; and, lastly, of his
adventure with the banditti, in favour of a gentleman, who, he afterwards
understood, had been robbed in the most base and barbarous manner by
Fathom. He likewise, to the astonishment of all present, and of his
mistress in particular, communicated some circumstances, which shall
appear in due season.
Monimia's tender frame being quite fatigued with the scene she had acted,
and her mind overwhelmed with the prosperous tidings she had heard, after
having joined the congratulations of the company, on the good fortune of
her Renaldo, begged leave to retire, that she might by repose recruit her
exhausted spirits; and the night being pretty far spent, she was
conducted by her lover to Madam Clement's coach, that stood in waiting,
in which also the rest of the company made shift to embark, and were
carried to the house of that good lady, where, after they were invited to
dine, and Melvil entreated to bring Don Diego and the Jew along with
them, they took leave of one another, and retired to their respective
lodgings in a transport of joy and satisfaction.
As for Renaldo, his rapture was still mixed with apprehension, that all
he had seen and heard was no more than an unsubstantial vision, raised by
some gay delirium of a disordered imagination. While his breast
underwent those violent, though blissful emotions of joy and admiration,
his friend the Castilian spent the night in ruminating over his own
calamities, and in a serious and severe review of his own conduct. He
compared his own behaviour with that of the young Hungarian, and found
himself so light in the scale, that he smote his breast with violence,
exclaiming in an agony of remorse:
"Count Melvil has reason to grieve; Don Diego to despair. His
misfortunes flow from the villany of mankind; mine are the fruit of my
own madness. He laments the loss of a mistress, who fell a sacrifice to
the perfidious arts of a crafty traitor. She was beautiful, virtuous,
accomplished, and affectionate; he was fraught with sensibility and love.
Doubtless his heart must have deeply suffered; his behaviour denotes the
keenness of his woe; his eyes are everflowing fountains of tears; his
bosom the habitation of sighs; five hundred leagues hath he measured in a
pilgrimage to her tomb; nightly he visits the dreary vault where she now
lies at rest; her solitary grave is his couch; he converses with darkness
and the dead, until each lonely aisle re-echoes his distress. What would
be his penance, had he my cause! were he conscious of having murdered a
beloved wife and darling daughter! Ah wretch!--ah cruel homicide!--what
had those dear victims done to merit such a fate? Were they not ever
gentle and obedient, ever aiming to give thee satisfaction and delight?
Say, that Serafina was enamoured of a peasant; say, that she had
degenerated from the honour of her race. The inclinations are
involuntary; perhaps that stranger was her equal in pedigree and worth.
Had they been fairly questioned, they might have justified, at least
excused, that conduct which appeared so criminal; or had they owned the
offence, and supplicated pardon--O barbarous monster that I am! was all
the husband--was all the father extinguished in my heart? How shall my
own errors be forgiven, if I refused to pardon the frailties of my own
blood--of those who are most dear to my affection? Yet nature pleaded
strongly in their behalf!--My heart was bursting while I dismissed them
to the shades of death. I was maddened with revenge! I was guided by
that savage principle which falsely we call honour.
"Accursed phantom! that assumes the specious title, and misleads our
wretched nation! Is it then honourable to skulk like an assassin, and
plunge the secret dagger in the heart of some unhappy man, who hath
incurred my groundless jealousy or suspicion, without indulging him with
that opportunity which the worst criminal enjoys? Or is it honourable to
poison two defenceless women, a tender wife, an amiable daughter, whom
even a frown would almost have destroyed?--O! this is cowardice,
brutality, hell-born fury and revenge! Heaven hath not mercy to forgive
such execrable guilt. Who gave thee power, abandoned ruffian! over the
lives of those whom God hath stationed as thy fellows of probation;--over
those whom he had sent to comfort and assist thee; to sweeten all thy
cares, and smooth the rough uneven paths of life? O! I am doomed to
never-ceasing horror and remorse! If misery can atone for such enormous
guilt, I have felt it in the extreme. Like an undying vulture it preys
upon my heart;--to sorrow I am wedded; I hug that teeming consort to my
soul;--never, ah! never shall we part; for soon as my fame shall shine
unclouded by the charge of treason that now hangs over it, I will devote
myself to penitence and woe. A cold, damp pavement shall be my bed; my
raiment shall be sackcloth; the fields shall furnish herbage for my food;
the stream shall quench my thirst; the minutes shall be numbered by my
groans; the night be privy to my strains of sorrow, till Heaven, in pity
to my sufferings, release me from the penance I endure. Perhaps the
saints whom I have murdered will intercede for my remission."
Such was the exercise of grief, in which the hapless Castilian consumed
the night; he had not yet consigned himself to rest, when Renaldo
entering his chamber, displayed such a gleam of wildness and rapture on
his countenance, as overwhelmed him with amazement; for, till that
moment, he had never seen his visage unobscured with woe. "Pardon this
abrupt intrusion, my friend," cried Melvil, "I could no longer withhold
from your participation, the great, the unexpected turn, which hath this
night dispelled all my sorrows, and restored me to the fruition of
ineffable joy. Monimia lives!--the fair, the tender, the virtuous
Monimia lives, and smiles upon my vows! This night I retrieved her from
the grave. I held her in these arms; I pressed her warm delicious lips
to mine! Oh, I am giddy with intolerable pleasure!"
Don Diego was confounded at this declaration, which he considered as the
effects of a disordered brain. He never doubted that Renaldo's grief had
at length overpowered his reason, and that his words were the effects of
mere frenzy. While he mused on this melancholy subject, the Count
composed his features, and, in a succinct and well-connected detail,
explained the whole mystery of his happiness, to the inexpressible
astonishment of the Spaniard, who shed tears of satisfaction, and
straining the Hungarian to his breast, "O my son," said he, "you see what
recompense Heaven hath in store for those who pursue the paths of real
virtue; those paths from which I myself have been fatally misled by a
faithless vapour, which hath seduced my steps, and left me darkling in
the abyss of wretchedness. Such as you describe this happy fair, was
once my Serafina, rich in every grace of mind and body which nature could
bestow. Had it pleased Heaven to bless her with a lover like Renaldo!
but no more, the irrevocable shaft is fled. I will not taint your
enjoyment with my unavailing sighs!"
Melvil assured this disconsolate father, that no pleasure, no avocation
should ever so entirely engross his mind, but that he should still find
an hour for sympathy and friendship. He communicated the invitation of
Madam Clement, and insisted upon his compliance, that he might have an
opportunity of seeing and approving the object of his passion. "I can
refuse nothing to the request of Count de Melvil," replied the Spaniard,
"and it were ungrateful in me to decline the honour you propose. I own
myself inflamed with a desire of beholding a young lady, whose
perfections I have seen reflected in your sorrow; my curiosity is,
moreover, interested on account of that humane gentlewoman, whose
uncommon generosity sheltered such virtue in distress; but my disposition
is infectious, and will, I am afraid, hang like a damp upon the general
festivity of your friends."
Melvil would take no denial, and having obtained his consent, repaired to
the house of Joshua, whose countenance seemed to unbend gradually into a
total expression of joy and surprise, as he learned the circumstances of
this amazing event. He faithfully promised to attend the Count at the
appointed hour, and, in the meantime, earnestly exhorted him to take some
repose, in order to quiet the agitation of his spirits, which must have
been violently hurried on this occasion. The advice was salutary, and
Renaldo resolved to follow it.
He returned to his lodgings, and laid himself down; but, notwithstanding
the fatigue he had undergone, sleep refused to visit his eyelids, all his
faculties being kept in motion by the ideas that crowded so fast upon his
imagination. Nevertheless, though his mind continued in agitation, his
body was refreshed, and he arose in the forenoon with more serenity and
vigour than he had enjoyed for many months. Every moment his heart
throbbed with new rapture, when he found himself on the brink of
possessing all that his soul held dear and amiable; he put on his gayest
looks and apparel; insisted upon the Castilian's doing the same honour to
the occasion; and the alteration of dress produced such an advantageous
change in the appearance of Don Diego, that when Joshua arrived at the
appointed hour, he could scarce recognise his features, and complimented
him very politely on the improvement of his looks.
True it is, the Spaniard was a personage of a very prepossessing mien and
noble deportment; and had not grief, by increasing his native gravity, in
some measure discomposed the symmetry of his countenance, he would have
passed for a man of a very amiable and engaging physiognomy. They set
out in the Jew's coach for the house of Madam Clement, and were ushered
into an apartment, where they found the clergyman and physician with that
lady, to whom Don Diego and the Hebrew were by Melvil introduced.
Before they had seated themselves, Renaldo inquired about the health of
Monimia, and was directed to the next room by Madam Clement, who
permitted him to go thither, and conduct her to the company. He was not
slow of availing himself of this permission. He disappeared in an
instant, and, during his short absence, Don Diego was strangely disturbed
The blood flushed and forsook his cheeks by turns; a cold vapour seemed
to shiver through his nerves; and at his breast he felt uncommon
palpitation. Madam Clement observed his discomposure, and kindly
inquired into the cause; when he replied, "I have such an interest in
what concerns the Count de Melvil, and my imagination is so much
prepossessed with the perfections of Monimia, that I am, as it were,
agonised with expectation; yet never did my curiosity before raise such
tumults as those that now agitate my bosom."
He had scarce pronounced these words, when the door, reopening, Renaldo
led in this mirror of elegance and beauty, at sight of whom the
Israelite's countenance was distorted into a stare of admiration. But if
such was the astonishment of Joshua, what were the emotions of the
Castilian, when, in the beauteous orphan, he beheld the individual
features of his long-lost Serafina!
His feelings are not to be described. The fond parent, whose affection
shoots even to a sense of pain, feels not half such transport, when he
unexpectedly retrieves a darling child from the engulfing billows or
devouring flame. The hope of Zelos had been totally extinguished. His
heart had been incessantly torn with anguish and remorse, upbraiding him
as the murderer of Serafina. His, therefore, were the additional
transports of a father disburdened of the guilt of such enormous
homicide. His nerves were too much overpowered by this sudden
recognition, to manifest the sensation of his soul by external signs. He
started not, nor did he lift an hand in token of surprise; he moved not
from the spot on which he stood; but, riveting his eyes to those of the
lovely phantom, remained without motion, until she, approaching with her
lover, fell at his feet, and clasping his knees, exclaimed, "May I yet
call you father?"
This powerful shock aroused his faculties; a cold sweat bedewed his
forehead; his knees began to totter; he dropped upon the floor, and
throwing his arms around her, cried, "O nature! O Serafina! Merciful
Providence! thy ways are past finding out." So saying, he fell upon her
neck, and wept aloud. The tears of sympathetic joy trickled down her
snowy bosom, that heaved with rapture inexpressible. Renaldo's eyes
poured forth the briny stream. The cheeks of Madam Clement were not dry
in this conjuncture; she kneeled by Serafina, kissed her with all the
eagerness of maternal affection, and with uplifted hands adored the Power
that preordained this blessed event. The clergyman and doctor intimately
shared the general transport; and as for Joshua, the drops of true
benevolence flowed from his eyes, like the oil on Aaron's beard, while he
skipped about the room in an awkward ecstasy, and in a voice resembling
the hoarse notes of the long-eared tribe, cried, "O father Abraham! such
a moving scene hath not been acted since Joseph disclosed himself unto
his brethren in Egypt."
Don Diego having found utterance to his passion, proceeded in this
strain: "O my dear child! to find thee thus again, after our last unhappy
parting, is wonderful! miraculous! Blessed be the all-good, my
conscience. I am not then the dire assassin, who sacrificed his wife and
daughter to an infernal motive, falsely titled honour? though I am more
and more involved in a mystery, which I long to hear explained."
"That shall be my task," cried Renaldo, "but first permit me to implore
your sanction to my passion for the incomparable Serafina. You already
know our mutual sentiments; and though I own the possession of such
inestimable worth and beauty would be a recompense that infinitely
transcends the merit I can plead, yet, as it hath been my good fortune to
inspire her with a mutual flame, I hope to reap from your indulgence
here, what I could not expect from my own desert; and we present
ourselves, in hope of your paternal assent and benediction."
"Were she more fair and good and gentle than she is," answered the
Castilian, "and to my partial observation nought e'er appeared on earth
more beauteous and engaging, I would approve your title to her heart, and
recommend you to her smiles, with all a father's influence and power.
Yes, my daughter! my joy on this occasion is infinitely augmented by the
knowledge of those tender ties of love that bind thee to this amiable
youth; a youth to whose uncommon courage and generosity I owe my life and
my subsistence, together with the inexpressible delight that now revels
in my bosom. Enjoy, my children, the happy fruits of your reciprocal
attachment. May Heaven, which hath graciously conducted you through a
labyrinth of perplexity and woe, to this transporting view of blissful
days, indulge you with that uninterrupted stream of pure felicity, which
is the hope, and ought to be the boon of virtue, such as yours!"
So saying, he joined their hands, and embraced them with the most cordial
love and satisfaction, which diffused itself to every individual of the
company, who fervently invoked the Almighty Power, in behalf of this
enraptured pair. The tumult of these emotions having a little subsided,
and the Castilian being seated betwixt Renaldo and his beauteous bride,
he politely bespoke the indulgence of Madam Clement, begging she would
permit him to demand the performance of the Count's promise, that he
might be forthwith made acquainted with those circumstances of his own
fate which he was so impatient to learn.
The lady having assured him, that she and all the company would take
pleasure in hearing the recapitulation, the Spaniard, addressing himself
to Melvil, "In the name of Heaven!" said he, "how could you supplant that
rival, who fell a sacrifice to my resentment, after he had bewitched the
heart of Serafina? for, sure, the affection he had kindled in her breast
must have long survived his death," "That rival," replied the Count,
"who incurred your displeasure, was no other than Renaldo." With these
words, he applied to one eye a patch of black silk provided for the
purpose, and turning his face towards Don Diego, that gentleman started
with astonishment, crying, "Good Heaven! the very countenance of Orlando,
whom I slew! this is still more amazing!"