The Mysteries of Udolpho

The travellers passed an agreeable evening; but St. Aubert was fatigued

with his journey; and, as Valancourt seemed again sensible of pain, they

separated soon after supper.

In the morning St. Aubert found that Valancourt had passed a restless

night; that he was feverish, and his wound very painful. The surgeon,

when he dressed it, advised him to remain quietly at Beaujeu; advice

which was too reasonable to be rejected. St. Aubert, however, had no

favourable opinion of this practitioner, and was anxious to commit

Valancourt into more skilful hands; but learning, upon enquiry, that

there was no town within several leagues which seemed more likely to

afford better advice, he altered the plan of his journey, and determined

to await the recovery of Valancourt, who, with somewhat more ceremony

than sincerity, made many objections to this delay.

By order of his surgeon, Valancourt did not go out of the house that

day; but St. Aubert and Emily surveyed with delight the environs of

the town, situated at the feet of the Pyrenean Alps, that rose, some

in abrupt precipices, and others swelling with woods of cedar, fir, and

cypress, which stretched nearly to their highest summits. The cheerful

green of the beech and mountain-ash was sometimes seen, like a gleam of

light, amidst the dark verdure of the forest; and sometimes a torrent

poured its sparkling flood, high among the woods.

Valancourt's indisposition detained the travellers at Beaujeu several

days, during which interval St. Aubert had observed his disposition and

his talents with the philosophic inquiry so natural to him. He saw

a frank and generous nature, full of ardour, highly susceptible of

whatever is grand and beautiful, but impetuous, wild, and somewhat

romantic. Valancourt had known little of the world. His perceptions were

clear, and his feelings just; his indignation of an unworthy, or his

admiration of a generous action, were expressed in terms of equal

vehemence. St. Aubert sometimes smiled at his warmth, but seldom checked

it, and often repeated to himself, 'This young man has never been at

Paris.'

A sigh sometimes followed this silent ejaculation. He determined

not to leave Valancourt till he should be perfectly recovered; and, as

he was now well enough to travel, though not able to manage his horse,

St. Aubert invited him to accompany him for a few days in the carriage.

This he the more readily did, since he had discovered that Valancourt

was of a family of the same name in Gascony, with whose respectability

he was well acquainted. The latter accepted the offer with great

pleasure, and they again set forward among these romantic wilds about

Rousillon. They travelled leisurely; stopping wherever a scene uncommonly grand

appeared; frequently alighting to walk to an eminence, whither the mules

could not go, from which the prospect opened in greater magnificence;

and often sauntering over hillocks covered with lavender, wild thyme,

juniper, and tamarisc; and under the shades of woods, between those

boles they caught the long mountain-vista, sublime beyond any thing that

Emily had ever imagined.