The Mysteries of Udolpho

As she listened, she thought she distinguished female voices mingling

with the laughter, and this confirmed her worst surmise, concerning the

character of Signora Livona and her companions. It was evident, that

they had not been brought hither by compulsion; and she beheld herself

in the remote wilds of the Apennine, surrounded by men, whom she

considered to be little less than ruffians, and their worst associates,

amid scenes of vice, from which her soul recoiled in horror. It was at

this moment, when the scenes of the present and the future opened to her

imagination, that the image of Valancourt failed in its influence, and

her resolution shook with dread. She thought she understood all the

horrors, which Montoni was preparing for her, and shrunk from an

encounter with such remorseless vengeance, as he could inflict. The

disputed estates she now almost determined to yield at once, whenever

he should again call upon her, that she might regain safety and freedom;

but then, the remembrance of Valancourt would steal to her heart, and

plunge her into the distractions of doubt.

She continued walking in the gallery, till evening threw its melancholy

twilight through the painted casements, and deepened the gloom of

the oak wainscoting around her; while the distant perspective of

the corridor was so much obscured, as to be discernible only by the

glimmering window, that terminated it.

Along the vaulted halls and passages below, peals of laughter echoed

faintly, at intervals, to this remote part of the castle, and seemed to

render the succeeding stillness more dreary. Emily, however, unwilling

to return to her more forlorn chamber, whither Annette was not yet come,

still paced the gallery. As she passed the door of the apartment, where

she had once dared to lift the veil, which discovered to her a spectacle

so horrible, that she had never after remembered it, but with emotions

of indescribable awe, this remembrance suddenly recurred. It now brought

with it reflections more terrible, than it had yet done, which the late

conduct of Montoni occasioned; and, hastening to quit the gallery, while

she had power to do so, she heard a sudden step behind her.--It might

be that of Annette; but, turning fearfully to look, she saw, through the

gloom, a tall figure following her, and all the horrors of that chamber

rushed upon her mind. In the next moment, she found herself clasped in

the arms of some person, and heard a deep voice murmur in her ear.

When she had power to speak, or to distinguish articulated sounds, she

demanded who detained her. 'It is I,' replied the voice--'Why are you thus alarmed?' She looked on the face of the person who spoke, but the feeble light,

that gleamed through the high casement at the end of the gallery, did

not permit her to distinguish the features.