The Mysteries of Udolpho

When her senses returned, she found herself surrounded by men, among

whom was Barnardine, who were lifting her from the floor, and then bore

her along the chamber. She was sensible of what passed, but the extreme

languor of her spirits did not permit her to speak, or move, or even to

feel any distinct fear. They carried her down the stair-case, by which

she had ascended; when, having reached the arch-way, they stopped, and

one of the men, taking the torch from Barnardine, opened a small door,

that was cut in the great gate, and, as he stepped out upon the road,

the light he bore shewed several men on horseback, in waiting. Whether

it was the freshness of the air, that revived Emily, or that the objects

she now saw roused the spirit of alarm, she suddenly spoke, and made an

ineffectual effort to disengage herself from the grasp of the ruffians,

who held her.

Barnardine, meanwhile, called loudly for the torch, while distant voices

answered, and several persons approached, and, in the same instant, a

light flashed upon the court of the castle. Again he vociferated for the

torch, and the men hurried Emily through the gate. At a short distance,

under the shelter of the castle walls, she perceived the fellow, who had

taken the light from the porter, holding it to a man, busily employed

in altering the saddle of a horse, round which were several horsemen,

looking on, whose harsh features received the full glare of the torch;

while the broken ground beneath them, the opposite walls, with the

tufted shrubs, that overhung their summits, and an embattled watch-tower

above, were reddened with the gleam, which, fading gradually away, left

the remoter ramparts and the woods below to the obscurity of night.

'What do you waste time for, there?' said Barnardine with an oath, as he

approached the horsemen.

'Dispatch--dispatch!' 'The saddle will be ready in a minute,' replied the man who was buckling

it, at whom Barnardine now swore again, for his negligence, and Emily,

calling feebly for help, was hurried towards the horses, while the

ruffians disputed on which to place her, the one designed for her not

being ready. At this moment a cluster of lights issued from the great

gates, and she immediately heard the shrill voice of Annette above

those of several other persons, who advanced. In the same moment, she

distinguished Montoni and Cavigni, followed by a number of ruffian-faced

fellows, to whom she no longer looked with terror, but with hope, for,

at this instant, she did not tremble at the thought of any dangers, that

might await her within the castle, whence so lately, and so anxiously

she had wished to escape. Those, which threatened her from without, had

engrossed all her apprehensions.