The Mysteries of Udolpho

When her strength returned, she rose, and was suffered to leave

the hall, though her anxiety, having produced some vain enquiries,

concerning Madame Montoni, had thus made a discovery of herself. Towards

her chamber she now hastened, as fast as her steps would bear her, for

she still perceived, upon her passage, the sounds of confusion at a

distance, and she endeavoured, by taking her way through some obscure

rooms, to avoid encountering the persons, whose looks had terrified her

before, as well as those parts of the castle, where the tumult might

still rage.

At length, she reached her chamber, and, having secured the door of the

corridor, felt herself, for a moment, in safety. A profound stillness

reigned in this remote apartment, which not even the faint murmur of

the most distant sounds now reached. She sat down, near one of the

casements, and, as she gazed on the mountain-view beyond, the deep

repose of its beauty struck her with all the force of contrast, and she

could scarcely believe herself so near a scene of savage discord. The

contending elements seemed to have retired from their natural spheres,

and to have collected themselves into the minds of men, for there alone

the tempest now reigned.

Emily tried to tranquillize her spirits, but anxiety made her constantly

listen for some sound, and often look out upon the ramparts, where all,

however, was lonely and still. As a sense of her own immediate danger

had decreased, her apprehension concerning Madame Montoni heightened,

who, she remembered, had been fiercely threatened with confinement in

the east turret, and it was possible, that her husband had satisfied his

present vengeance with this punishment. She, therefore, determined, when

night should return, and the inhabitants of the castle should be asleep,

to explore the way to the turret, which, as the direction it stood in

was mentioned, appeared not very difficult to be done. She knew, indeed,

that although her aunt might be there, she could afford her no effectual

assistance, but it might give her some comfort even to know, that she

was discovered, and to hear the sound of her niece's voice; for

herself, any certainty, concerning Madame Montoni's fate, appeared more

tolerable, than this exhausting suspense.

Meanwhile, Annette did not appear, and Emily was surprised, and somewhat

alarmed for her, whom, in the confusion of the late scene, various

accidents might have befallen, and it was improbable, that she would

have failed to come to her apartment, unless something unfortunate had

happened. Thus the hours passed in solitude, in silence, and in anxious

conjecturing. Being not once disturbed by a message, or a sound, it

appeared, that Montoni had wholly forgotten her, and it gave her some

comfort to find, that she could be so unnoticed. She endeavoured to

withdraw her thoughts from the anxiety, that preyed upon them, but they

refused controul; she could neither read, or draw, and the tones of her

lute were so utterly discordant with the present state of her feelings,

that she could not endure them for a moment.