"The lonely mountains o'er,
And the resounding shore,
A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament!
From haunted spring, and dale,
Edg'd with poplar pale,
The parting genius is with sighing sent;
With flower-inwoven tresses torn
The nymphs in twilight shade of tangled thicket mourn."
MILTON.
While the Marchesa and the Monk were thus meditating conspiracies
against Ellena, she was still in the Ursaline convent on the lake of
Celano. In this obscure sanctuary, indisposition, the consequence of
the long and severe anxiety she had suffered, compelled her to remain.
A fever was on her spirits, and an universal lassitude prevailed over
her frame; which became the more effectual, from her very solicitude
to conquer it. Every approaching day she hoped she should be able to
pursue her journey homeward, yet every day found her as incapable of
travelling as the last, and the second week was already gone, before
the fine air of Celano, and the tranquillity of her asylum, began
to revive her. Vivaldi, who was her daily visitor at the grate of
the convent; and who, watching over her with intense solicitude, had
hitherto forbore to renew a subject, which, by agitating her spirits,
might affect her health, now, that her health strengthened, ventured
gradually to mention his fears lest the place of her retreat should be
discovered, and lest he yet might irrecoverably lose her, unless she
would approve of their speedy marriage. At every visit he now urged the
subject, represented the dangers that surrounded them, and repeated
his arguments and entreaties; for now, when he believed that time was
pressing forward fatal evils, he could no longer attend to the delicate
scruples, that bade him be sparing in entreaty. Ellena, had she obeyed
the dictates of her heart, would have rewarded his attachment and his
services, by a frank approbation of his proposal; but the objections
which reason exhibited against such a concession, she could neither
overcome or disregard.
Vivaldi, after he had again represented their present dangers, and
claimed the promise of her hand, received in the presence of her
deceased relative, Signora Bianchi, gently ventured to remind her, that
an event as sudden as lamentable, had first deferred their nuptials,
and that if Bianchi had lived, Ellena would have bestowed, long since,
the vows he now solicited. Again he intreated her, by every sacred and
tender recollection, to conclude the fearful uncertainty of their fate,
and to bestow upon him the right to protect her, before they ventured
forth from this temporary asylum.
Ellena immediately admitted the sacredness of the promise, which she
had formerly given, and assured Vivaldi that she considered herself
as indissolubly bound to wed him as if it had been given at the altar;
but she objected to a confirmation of it, till his family should
seem willing to receive her for their daughter; when, forgetting the
injuries she had received from them, she would no longer refuse their
alliance. She added, that Vivaldi ought to be more jealous of the
dignity of the woman, whom he honoured with his esteem, than to permit
her making a greater concession.
Vivaldi felt the full force of this appeal; he recollected, with
anguish, circumstances of which she was happily ignorant, but which
served to strengthen with him the justness of her reproof. And, as the
aspersions which the Marchese had thrown upon her name, crowded to his
memory, pride and indignation swelled his heart, and so far overcame
apprehension of hazard, that he formed a momentary resolution to
abandon every other consideration, to that of asserting the respect
which was due to Ellena, and to forbear claiming her for his wife, till
his family should make acknowledgment of their error, and willingly
admit her in the rank of their child. But this resolution was as
transient as plausible; other considerations, and former fears pressed
upon him. He perceived the strong improbability, that they would
ever make a voluntary sacrifice of their pride to his love; or yield
mistakes, nurtured by prejudice and by willing indulgence, to truth and
a sense of justice. In the mean time, the plans, which would be formed
for separating him from Ellena, might succeed, and he should lose her
for ever. Above all, it appeared, that the best, the only method, which
remained for confuting the daring aspersions that had affected her
name, was, by proving the high respect he himself felt for her, and
presenting her to the world in the sacred character of his wife. These
considerations quickly determined him to persevere in his suit; but it
was impossible to urge them to Ellena, since the circumstances they
must unfold, would not only shock her delicacy and afflict her heart,
but would furnish the proper pride she cherished with new arguments
against approaching a family, who had thus grossly insulted her.
While these considerations occupied him, the emotion they occasioned
did not escape Ellena's observation; it encreased, as he reflected
on the impossibility of urging them to her, and on the hopelessness
of prevailing with her, unless he could produce new arguments in
his favour. His unaffected distress awakened all her tenderness and
gratitude; she asked herself whether she ought any longer to assert her
own rights, when by doing so, she sacrificed the peace of him, who had
incurred so much danger for her sake, who had rescued her from severe
oppression, and had so long and so well proved the strength of his
affection.
As she applied these questions, she appeared to herself an unjust and
selfish being, unwilling to make any sacrifice for the tranquillity of
him, who had given her liberty, even at the risk of his life. Her very
virtues, now that they were carried to excess, seemed to her to border
upon vices; her sense of dignity, appeared to be narrow pride; her
delicacy weakness; her moderated affection cold ingratitude; and her
circumspection, little less than prudence degenerated into meanness.
Vivaldi, as apt in admitting hope as fear, immediately perceived her
resolution beginning to yield, and he urged again every argument which
was likely to prevail over it. But the subject was too important for
Ellena, to be immediately decided upon; he departed with only a faint
assurance of encouragement; and she forbade him to return till the
following day, when she would acquaint him with her final determination.
This interval was, perhaps, the most painful he had ever experienced.
Alone, and on the banks of the lake, he passed many hours in alternate
hope and fear; in endeavouring to anticipate the decision, on which
seemed suspended all his future peace, and abruptly recoiling from it,
as often as imagination represented it to be adverse.
Of the walls, that enclosed her, he scarcely ever lost sight; the
view of them seemed to cherish his hopes, and, while he gazed upon
their rugged surface, Ellena alone was pictured on his fancy; till his
anxiety to learn her disposition towards him arose to agony, and he
would abruptly leave the spot. But an invisible spell still seemed to
attract him back again, and evening found him pacing slowly beneath the
shade of those melancholy boundaries that concealed his Ellena.
Her day was not more tranquil. Whenever prudence and decorous pride
forbade her to become a member of the Vivaldi family, as constantly
did gratitude, affection, irresistible tenderness plead the cause of
Vivaldi. The memory of past times returned; and the very accents of the
deceased seemed to murmur from the grave, and command her to fulfil the
engagement, which had soothed the dying moments of Bianchi.
On the following morning, Vivaldi was at the gates of the convent, long
before the appointed hour, and he lingered in dreadful impatience, till
the clock struck the signal for his entrance.
Ellena was already in the parlour; she was alone, and rose in disorder
on his approach. His steps faultered, his voice was lost, and his eyes
only, which he fixed with a wild earnestness on her's, had power to
enquire her resolution. She observed the paleness of his countenance,
and his emotion, with a mixture of concern and approbation. At that
moment, he perceived her smile, and hold out her hand to him; and fear,
care, and doubt vanished at once from his mind. He was incapable of
thanking her, but sighed deeply as he pressed her hand, and, overcome
with joy, supported himself against the grate that separated them.
"You are, then, indeed my own!" said Vivaldi, at length recovering his
voice--"We shall be no more parted--you are mine for ever! But your
countenance changes! O heaven! surely I have not mistaken! speak! I
conjure you, Ellena; relieve me from these terrible doubts!"
"I am yours, Vivaldi," replied Ellena faintly, "oppression can part us
no more."
She wept, and drew her veil over her eyes.
"What mean those tears?" said Vivaldi, with alarm. "Ah! Ellena," he
added in a softened voice, "should tears mingle with such moments as
these! Should your tears fall upon my heart now! They tell me, that
your consent is given with reluctance--with grief; that your love is
feeble, your heart--yes Ellena! that your whole heart is no longer
mine!"
"They ought rather to tell you," replied Ellena, "that it is all your
own; that my affection never was more powerful than now, when it can
overcome every consideration with respect to your family, and urge me
to a step which must degrade me in their eyes,--and, I fear, in my own."
"O retract that cruel assertion!" interrupted Vivaldi, "Degrade you
in your own!--degrade you in their eyes!" He was much agitated; his
countenance was flushed, and an air of more than usual dignity dilated
his figure.
"The time shall come, my Ellena," he added with energy, "when they
shall understand your worth, and acknowledge your excellence. O! that
I were an Emperor, that I might shew to all the world how much I love
and honour you!"
Ellena gave him her hand, and, withdrawing her veil, smiled on him
through her tears, with gratitude and reviving courage.
Before Vivaldi retired to the convent, he obtained her consent to
consult with an aged Benedictine, whom he had engaged in his interest,
as to the hour at which the marriage might be solemnized with least
observation. The priest informed him, that at the conclusion of the
vesper-service, he should be disengaged for several hours; and that, as
the first hour after sun-set was more solitary than almost any other,
the brotherhood being then assembled in the refectory, he would meet
Vivaldi and Ellena at that time, in a chapel on the edge of the lake, a
short distance from the Benedictine convent, to which it belonged, and
celebrate their nuptials.
With this proposal, Vivaldi immediately returned to Ellena; when it
was agreed that the party should assemble at the hour mentioned by the
priest. Ellena, who had thought it proper to mention her intention to
the Abbess of the Ursalines, was, by her permission, to be attended
by a lay-sister; and Vivaldi was to meet her without the walls, and
conduct her to the altar. When the ceremony was over, the fugitives
were to embark in a vessel, hired for the purpose, and, crossing the
lake, proceed towards Naples. Vivaldi again withdrew to engage a boat,
and Ellena to prepare for the continuance of her journey.
As the appointed hour drew near, her spirits sunk, and she watched with
melancholy foreboding, the sun retiring amidst stormy clouds, and his
rays fading from the highest points of the mountains, till the gloom
of twilight prevailed over the scene. She then left her apartment,
took a grateful leave of the hospitable Abbess, and, attended by the
lay-sister, quitted the convent.
Immediately without the gate she was met by Vivaldi, whose look, as he
put her arm within his, gently reproached her for the dejection of her
air.
They walked in silence towards the chapel of San Sebastian. The scene
appeared to sympathize with the spirits of Ellena. It was a gloomy
evening, and the lake, which broke in dark waves upon the shore,
mingled its hollow sounds with those of the wind, that bowed the lofty
pines, and swept in gusts among the rocks. She observed with alarm the
heavy thunder clouds, that rolled along the sides of the mountains,
and the birds circling swiftly over the waters, and scudding away to
their nests among the cliffs; and she noticed to Vivaldi, that, as a
storm seemed approaching, she wished to avoid crossing the lake. He
immediately ordered Paulo to dismiss the boat, and to be in waiting
with a carriage, that, if the weather should become clear, they might
not be detained longer than was otherwise necessary.
As they approached the chapel, Ellena fixed her eyes on the mournful
cypresses which waved over it, and sighed. "Those," she said, "are
funereal mementos--not such as should grace the altar of marriage!
Vivaldi, I could be superstitious.--Think you not they are portentous
of future misfortune? But forgive me; my spirits are weak."
Vivaldi endeavoured to soothe her mind, and tenderly reproached her
for the sadness she indulged. Thus they entered the chapel. Silence,
and a kind of gloomy sepulchral light, prevailed within. The venerable
Benedictine, with a brother, who was to serve as guardian to the bride,
were already there, but they were kneeling, and engaged in prayer.
Vivaldi led the trembling Ellena to the altar, where they waited till
the Benedictines should have finished, and these were moments of
great emotion. She often looked round the dusky chapel, in fearful
expectation of discovering some lurking observer; and, though she knew
it to be very improbable, that any person in this neighbourhood could
be interested in interrupting the ceremony, her mind involuntarily
admitted the possibility of it. Once, indeed, as her eyes glanced over
a casement, Ellena fancied she distinguished a human face laid close to
the glass, as if to watch what was passing within; but when she looked
again, the apparition was gone. Notwithstanding this, she listened
with anxiety to the uncertain sounds without, and sometimes started as
the surges of the lake dashed over the rock below, almost believing
she heard the steps and whispering voices of men in the avenues of the
chapel. She tried, however, to subdue apprehension, by considering,
that if this were true, an harmless curiosity might have attracted
some inhabitants of the convent hither, and her spirits became more
composed, till she observed a door open a little way, and a dark
countenance looking from behind it. In the next instant it retreated,
and the door was closed.
Vivaldi, who perceived Ellena's complexion change, as she laid her hand
on his arm, followed her eyes to the door, but, no person appearing, he
enquired the cause of her alarm.
"We are observed," said Ellena, "some person appeared at that door!"
"And if we are observed, my love," replied Vivaldi, "who is there in
this neighbourhood whose observation we can have reason to fear? Good
father, dispatch," he added, turning to the priest, "you forget that we
are waiting."
The officiating priest made a signal that he had nearly concluded his
orison; but the other brother rose immediately, and spoke with Vivaldi,
who desired that the doors of the chapel might be fastened to prevent
intrusion.
"We dare not bar the gates of this holy temple," replied the
Benedictine, "it is a sanctuary, and never may be closed."
"But you will allow me to repress idle curiosity," said Vivaldi, "and
to enquire who watches beyond that door? The tranquillity of this lady
demands thus much."
The brother assented, and Vivaldi stepped to the door; but perceiving
no person in the obscure passage beyond it, he returned with lighter
steps to the altar, from which the officiating priest now rose.
"My children," said he, "I have made you wait,--but an old man's
prayers are not less important than a young man's vows, though this is
not a moment when you will admit that truth."
"I will allow whatever you please, good father," replied Vivaldi,
"if you will administer those vows, without further delay;----time
presses."
The venerable priest took his station at the altar, and opened the
book. Vivaldi placed himself on his right hand, and with looks of
anxious love, endeavoured to encourage Ellena, who, with a dejected
countenance, which her veil but ill concealed, and eyes fixed on the
ground, leaned on her attendant sister. The figure and homely features
of this sister; the tall stature and harsh visage of the brother,
clothed in the gray habit of his order; the silvered head and placid
physiognomy of the officiating priest, enlightened by a gleam from the
lamp above, opposed to the youthful grace and spirit of Vivaldi, and
the milder beauty and sweetness of Ellena, formed altogether a group
worthy of the pencil.
The priest had begun the ceremony, when a noise from without again
alarmed Ellena, who observed the door once more cautiously opened, and
a man bend forward his gigantic figure from behind it. He carried a
torch, and its glare, as the door gradually unclosed, discovered other
persons in the passage beyond, looking forward over his shoulder into
the chapel. The fierceness of their air, and the strange peculiarity of
their dress, instantly convinced Ellena that they were not inhabitants
of the Benedictine convent, but some terrible messengers of evil. Her
half-stifled shriek alarmed Vivaldi, who caught her before she fell to
the ground; but, as he had not faced the door, he did not understand
the occasion of her terror, till the sudden rush of footsteps made him
turn, when he observed several men armed, and very singularly habited,
advancing towards the altar.
"Who is he that intrudes upon this sanctuary?" he demanded sternly,
while he half rose from the ground where Ellena had sunk.
"What sacrilegious footsteps," cried the priest, "thus rudely violate
this holy place?"
Ellena was now insensible; and the men continuing to advance, Vivaldi
drew his sword to protect her.
The priest and Vivaldi now spoke together, but the words of neither
could be distinguished, when a voice, tremendous from its loudness,
like bursting thunder, dissipated the cloud of mystery.
"You Vincentio di Vivaldi, and of Naples," it said, "and you Ellena di
Rosalba, of Villa Altieri, we summon you to surrender, in the name of
the most holy Inquisition!"
"The Inquisition!" exclaimed Vivaldi, fiercely believing what he heard.
"Here is some mistake!"
The official repeated the summons, without deigning to reply.
Vivaldi, yet more astonished, added, "Do not imagine you can so far
impose upon my credulity, as that I can believe myself to have fallen
within the cognizance of the Inquisition."
"You may believe what you please, Signor," replied the chief officer,
"but you and that lady are our prisoners."
"Begone, impostor!" said Vivaldi, springing from the ground, where
he had supported Ellena, "or my sword shall teach you to repent your
audacity!"
"Do you insult an officer of the Inquisition!" exclaimed the ruffian.
"That holy Community will inform you what you incur by resisting it's
mandate."
The priest interrupted Vivaldi's' retort, "If you are really officers
of that tremendous tribunal," he said, "produce some proof of your
office. Remember this place is sanctified, and tremble for the
consequence of imposition. You do wrong to believe, that I will deliver
up to you persons who have taken refuge here, without an unequivocal
demand from that dread power."
"Produce your form of summons," demanded Vivaldi, with haughty
impatience.
"It is here," replied the official, drawing forth a black scroll, which
he delivered to the priest, "Read, and be satisfied!"
The Benedictine started the instant he beheld the scroll, but he
received and deliberately examined it. The kind of parchment, the
impression of the seal, the particular form of words, the private
signals, understood only by the initiated--all announced this to
be a true instrument of arrestation from the _Holy Office_. The
scroll dropped from his hand, and he fixed his eyes, with surprize
and unutterable compassion, upon Vivaldi, who stooped to reach the
parchment, when it was snatched by the official.
"Unhappy young man!" said the priest, "it is too true; you are summoned
by that awful power, to answer to your crime, and I am spared from the
commission of a terrible offence!"
Vivaldi appeared thunderstruck. "For what crime, holy father, am I
called upon to answer? This is some bold and artful imposture, since it
can delude even you! What crime--what offence?"
"I did not think you had been thus hardened in guilt!" replied the
priest, "Forbear! add not the audacity of falsehood, to the headlong
passions of youth. You understand too well your crime."
"Falsehood!" retorted Vivaldi, "But your years, old man, and those
sacred vestments, protect you. For these ruffians, who have dared to
implicate that innocent victim," pointing to Ellena, "in the charge,
they shall have justice from my vengeance."
"Forbear! forbear!" said the priest, seizing his arms, "have pity
on yourself and on her. Know you not the punishment you incur from
resistance?"
"I know nor care not," replied Vivaldi, "but I will defend Ellena di
Rosalba to the last moment. Let them approach if they dare."
"It is on her, on her who lies senseless at your feet," said the
priest, "that they will wreck their vengeance for these insults; on
her--the partner of your guilt."
"The partner of my guilt!" exclaimed Vivaldi, with mingled astonishment
and indignation----"of my guilt!"
"Rash young man! does not the very veil she wears betray it? I marvel
how it could pass my observation!"
"You have stolen a nun from her convent," said the chief officer, "and
must answer for the crime. When you have wearied yourself with these
heroics, Signor, you must go with us; our patience is wearied already."
Vivaldi observed, for the first time, that Ellena was shrouded in a
nun's veil; it was the one which Olivia had lent, to conceal her
from the notice of the Abbess, on the night of her departure from San
Stefano, and which, in the hurry of that departure, she had forgotten
to leave with the nun. During this interval, her mind had been too
entirely occupied by cares and apprehension to allow her once to
notice, that the veil she wore was other than her usual one; but it had
been too well observed by some of the Ursaline sisters.
Though he knew not how to account for the circumstance of the veil,
Vivaldi began to perceive others which gave colour to the charge
brought against him, and to ascertain the wide circumference of the
snare that was spread around him. He fancied, too, that he perceived
the hand of Schedoni employed upon it, and that his dark spirit was
now avenging itself for the exposure he had suffered in the church
of the Spirito Santo, and for all the consequent mortifications. As
Vivaldi was ignorant of the ambitious hopes which the Marchesa had
encouraged in father Schedoni, he did not see the improbability, that
the Confessor would have dared to hazard her favour by this arrest of
her son; much less could he suspect, that Schedoni, having done so,
had secrets in his possession, which enabled him safely to defy her
resentment, and bind her in silence to his decree.
With the conviction, that Schedoni's was the master-hand that directed
the present manœuvre, Vivaldi stood aghast, and gazing in silent
unutterable anguish on Ellena, who, as she began to revive, stretched
forth her helpless hands, and called upon him to save her. "Do not
leave me," said she in accents the most supplicating, "I am safe while
you are with me."
At the sound of her voice, he started from his trance, and turning
fiercely upon the ruffians, who stood in sullen watchfulness around,
bade them depart, or prepare for his fury. At the same instant they
all drew their swords, and the shrieks of Ellena, and the supplications
of the officiating priest, were lost amidst the tumult of the
combatants.
Vivaldi, most unwilling to shed blood, stood merely on the defensive,
till the violence of his antagonists compelled him to exert all his
skill and strength. He then disabled one of the ruffians; but his skill
was insufficient to repel the other two, and he was nearly overcome,
when steps were heard approaching, and Paulo rushed into the chapel.
Perceiving his master beset, he drew his sword, and came furiously to
his aid. He fought with unconquerable audacity and fierceness, till
nearly at the moment when his adversary fell, other ruffians entered
the chapel, and Vivaldi with his faithful servant was wounded, and, at
length, disarmed.
Ellena, who had been withheld from throwing herself between the
combatants, now, on observing that Vivaldi was wounded, renewed her
efforts for liberty, accompanied by such agony of supplication and
complaint, as almost moved to pity the hearts of the surrounding
ruffians.
Disabled by his wounds, and also held by his enemies, Vivaldi was
compelled to witness her distress and danger, without a hope of
rescuing her. In frantic accents he called upon the old priest to
protect her.
"I dare not oppose the orders of the Inquisition," replied the
Benedictine, "even if I had sufficient strength to defy it's officials.
Know you not, unhappy young man, that it is death to resist them?"
"Death!" exclaimed Ellena, "death!"
"Ay lady, too surely so!"
"Signor, it would have been well for you," said one of the officers,
"if you had taken my advice; you will pay dearly for what you have
done," pointing to the ruffian, who lay severely wounded on the ground.
"My master will not have that to pay for, friend," said Paulo, "for if
you must know, that is a piece of my work; and, if my arms were now at
liberty, I would try if I could not match it among one of you, though
I am so slashed."
"Peace, good Paulo! the deed was mine," said Vivaldi then addressing
the official, "For myself I care not, I have done my duty--but for
her!--Can you look upon her, innocent and helpless as she is, and not
relent! Can you, will you, barbarians! drag her, also, to destruction,
upon a charge too so daringly false?"
"Our relenting would be of no service to her," replied the official,
"we must do our duty. Whether the charge is true or false, she must
answer to it before her judges."
"What charge?" demanded Ellena.
"The charge of having broken your nun's vows," replied the priest.
Ellena raised her eyes to heaven; "Is it even so!" she exclaimed.
"You hear she acknowledges the crime," said one of the ruffians.
"She acknowledges no crime," replied Vivaldi; "she only perceives
the extent of the malice that persecutes her. O! Ellena, must I then
abandon you to their power! leave you for ever!"
The agony of this thought re-animated him with momentary strength; he
burst from the grasp of the officials, and once more clasped Ellena to
his bosom, who, unable to speak, wept, with the anguish of a breaking
heart, as her head sunk upon his shoulder. The ruffians around them so
far respected their grief, that, for a moment, they did not interrupt
it.
Vivaldi's exertion was transient; faint from sorrow, and from loss of
blood, he became unable to support himself, and was compelled again to
relinquish Ellena.
"Is there no help?" said she, with agony; "will you suffer him to
expire on the ground?"
The priest directed, that he should be conveyed to the Benedictine
convent, where his wounds might be examined, and medical aid
administered. The disabled ruffians were already carried thither;
but Vivaldi refused to go, unless Ellena might accompany him. It was
contrary to the rules of the place, that a woman should enter it, and
before the priest could reply, his Benedictine brother eagerly said,
that they dared not transgress the law of the convent.
Ellena's fears for Vivaldi entirely overcame those for herself,
and she entreated, that he would suffer himself to be conveyed to
the Benedictines; but he could not be prevailed with to leave her.
The officials, however, prepared to separate them; Vivaldi in vain
urged the useless cruelty of dividing him from Ellena, if, as they
had hinted, she also was to be carried to the Inquisition; and as
ineffectually demanded, whither they really designed to take her.
"We shall take good care of her, Signor," said an officer, "that is
sufficient for you. It signifies nothing whether you are going the same
way, you must not go together."
"Why, did you ever hear, Signor, of arrested persons being suffered to
remain in company?" said another ruffian, "Fine plots they would lay; I
warrant they would not contradict each other's evidence a tittle."
"You shall not separate me from my master, though," vociferated Paulo;
"I demand to be sent to the Inquisition with him, or to the devil, but
all is one for that."
"Fair and softly," replied the officer; "you shall be sent to the
Inquisition first, and to the devil afterwards; you must be tried
before you are condemned."
"But waste no more time," he added to his followers, and pointing to
Ellena, "away with her."
As he said this, they lifted Ellena in their arms. "Let me loose!"
cried Paulo, when he saw they were carrying her from the place, "let
me loose, I say!" and the violence of his struggles burst asunder the
cords which held him; a vain release, for he was instantly seized again.
Vivaldi, already exhausted by the loss of blood and the anguish of
his mind, made, however, a last effort to save her; he tried to raise
himself from the ground, but a sudden film came over his sight, and his
senses forsook him, while yet the name of Ellena faultered on his lips.
As they bore her from the chapel, she continued to call upon Vivaldi,
and alternately to supplicate that she might once more behold him, and
take one last adieu. The ruffians were inexorable, and she heard his
voice no more, for he no longer heard--no longer was able to reply to
her's.
"O! once again!" she cried in agony, "One word, Vivaldi! Let me hear
the sound of your voice yet once again!" But it was silent.
As she quitted the chapel, with eyes still bent towards the spot where
he lay, she exclaimed, in the piercing accents of despair, "Farewel,
Vivaldi!--O! for ever----ever, farewel!"
The tone, in which she pronounced the last "farewel!" was so touching,
that even the cold heart of the priest could not resist it; but he
impatiently wiped away the few tears, that rushed into his eyes, before
they were observed. Vivaldi heard it--it seemed to arouse him from
death!--he heard her mournful voice for the last time, and, turning his
eyes, saw her veil floating away through the portal of the chapel. All
suffering, all effort, all resistance were vain; the ruffians bound
him, bleeding as he was, and conveyed him to the Benedictine convent,
together with the wounded Paulo, who unceasingly vociferated on the way
thither, "I demand to be sent to the Inquisition! I demand to be sent
to the Inquisition!"