The Mysteries of Udolpho

'Cut down the trees too!' said St. Aubert.

'Certainly. Why should I not? they interrupt my prospects. There is a

chesnut which spreads its branches before the whole south side of the

chateau, and which is so ancient that they tell me the hollow of its

trunk will hold a dozen men. Your enthusiasm will scarcely contend that

there can be either use, or beauty, in such a sapless old tree as this.'

'Good God!' exclaimed St. Aubert, 'you surely will not destroy that

noble chesnut, which has flourished for centuries, the glory of the

estate! It was in its maturity when the present mansion was built. How

often, in my youth, have I climbed among its broad branches, and sat

embowered amidst a world of leaves, while the heavy shower has pattered

above, and not a rain drop reached me! How often I have sat with a book

in my hand, sometimes reading, and sometimes looking out between the

branches upon the wide landscape, and the setting sun, till twilight

came, and brought the birds home to their little nests among the leaves!

How often--but pardon me,' added St. Aubert, recollecting that he was

speaking to a man who could neither comprehend, nor allow his feelings,

'I am talking of times and feelings as old-fashioned as the taste that

would spare that venerable tree.'

'It will certainly come down,' said M. Quesnel; 'I believe I shall plant

some Lombardy poplars among the clumps of chesnut, that I shall leave

of the avenue; Madame Quesnel is partial to the poplar, and tells me how

much it adorns a villa of her uncle, not far from Venice.'

'On the banks of the Brenta, indeed,' continued St. Aubert, 'where its

spiry form is intermingled with the pine, and the cypress, and where

it plays over light and elegant porticos and colonnades, it,

unquestionably, adorns the scene; but among the giants of the forest,

and near a heavy gothic mansion--'

'Well, my good sir,' said M. Quesnel, 'I will not dispute with you. You

must return to Paris before our ideas can at all agree. But A-PROPOS of

Venice, I have some thoughts of going thither, next summer; events may

call me to take possession of that same villa, too, which they tell me

is the most charming that can be imagined. In that case I shall leave

the improvements I mention to another year, and I may, perhaps, be

tempted to stay some time in Italy.'

Emily was somewhat surprised to hear him talk of being tempted to remain

abroad, after he had mentioned his presence to be so necessary at Paris,

that it was with difficulty he could steal away for a month or two; but

St. Aubert understood the self-importance of the man too well to wonder

at this trait; and the possibility, that these projected improvements

might be deferred, gave him a hope, that they might never take place.