The Mysteries of Udolpho

A beautiful evening, that had succeeded to a sultry day, at length

induced Emily to walk, though she knew that Bertrand must attend her,

and, with Maddelina for her companion, she left the cottage, followed by

Bertrand, who allowed her to choose her own way. The hour was cool and

silent, and she could not look upon the country around her, without

delight. How lovely, too, appeared the brilliant blue, that coloured all

the upper region of the air, and, thence fading downward, was lost in

the saffron glow of the horizon! Nor less so were the varied shades and

warm colouring of the Apennines, as the evening sun threw his slanting

rays athwart their broken surface. Emily followed the course of the

stream, under the shades, that overhung its grassy margin. On the

opposite banks, the pastures were animated with herds of cattle of a

beautiful cream-colour; and, beyond, were groves of lemon and orange,

with fruit glowing on the branches, frequent almost as the leaves,

which partly concealed it. She pursued her way towards the sea, which

reflected the warm glow of sun-set, while the cliffs, that rose over its

edge, were tinted with the last rays. The valley was terminated on the

right by a lofty promontory, whose summit, impending over the waves, was

crowned with a ruined tower, now serving for the purpose of a beacon,

whose shattered battlements and the extended wings of some sea-fowl,

that circled near it, were still illumined by the upward beams of the

sun, though his disk was now sunk beneath the horizon; while the lower

part of the ruin, the cliff on which it stood and the waves at its foot,

were shaded with the first tints of twilight.

Having reached this headland, Emily gazed with solemn pleasure on the

cliffs, that extended on either hand along the sequestered shores,

some crowned with groves of pine, and others exhibiting only barren

precipices of grayish marble, except where the crags were tufted with

myrtle and other aromatic shrubs. The sea slept in a perfect calm;

its waves, dying in murmurs on the shores, flowed with the gentlest

undulation, while its clear surface reflected in softened beauty the

vermeil tints of the west. Emily, as she looked upon the ocean, thought

of France and of past times, and she wished, Oh! how ardently, and

vainly--wished! that its waves would bear her to her distant, native

home!

'Ah! that vessel,' said she, 'that vessel, which glides along so

stately, with its tall sails reflected in the water is, perhaps, bound

for France! Happy--happy bark!' She continued to gaze upon it, with warm

emotion, till the gray of twilight obscured the distance, and veiled it

from her view. The melancholy sound of the waves at her feet assisted

the tenderness, that occasioned her tears, and this was the only sound,

that broke upon the hour, till, having followed the windings of the

beach, for some time, a chorus of voices passed her on the air. She

paused a moment, wishing to hear more, yet fearing to be seen, and,

for the first time, looked back to Bertrand, as her protector, who

was following, at a short distance, in company with some other person.

Reassured by this circumstance, she advanced towards the sounds, which

seemed to arise from behind a high promontory, that projected athwart

the beach.