The Mysteries of Udolpho

La Voisin felt that he had pursued the subject too far, and he dropped

it, saying, 'We are in darkness, I forgot to bring a light.'

'No,' said St. Aubert, 'this is a light I love. Sit down, my good

friend. Emily, my love, I find myself better than I have been all day;

this air refreshes me. I can enjoy this tranquil hour, and that music,

which floats so sweetly at a distance. Let me see you smile. Who touches

that guitar so tastefully? are there two instruments, or is it an echo I

hear?'

'It is an echo, monsieur, I fancy. That guitar is often heard at night,

when all is still, but nobody knows who touches it, and it is sometimes

accompanied by a voice so sweet, and so sad, one would almost think the

woods were haunted.' 'They certainly are haunted,' said St. Aubert with

a smile, 'but I believe it is by mortals.' 'I have sometimes heard it

at midnight, when I could not sleep,' rejoined La Voisin, not seeming to

notice this remark, 'almost under my window, and I never heard any music

like it. It has often made me think of my poor wife till I cried. I have

sometimes got up to the window to look if I could see anybody, but as

soon as I opened the casement all was hushed, and nobody to be seen; and

I have listened, and listened till I have been so timorous, that even

the trembling of the leaves in the breeze has made me start. They say

it often comes to warn people of their death, but I have heard it these

many years, and outlived the warning.'

Emily, though she smiled at the mention of this ridiculous superstition,

could not, in the present tone of her spirits, wholly resist its

contagion. 'Well, but, my good friend,' said St. Aubert, 'has nobody had courage to

follow the sounds? If they had, they would probably have discovered who

is the musician.' 'Yes, sir, they have followed them some way into the

woods, but the music has still retreated, and seemed as distant as ever,

and the people have at last been afraid of being led into harm, and

would go no further. It is very seldom that I have heard these sounds so

early in the evening. They usually come about midnight, when that bright

planet, which is rising above the turret yonder, sets below the woods on

the left.' 'What turret?' asked St. Aubert with quickness, 'I see none.'

'Your pardon, monsieur, you do see one indeed, for the moon shines full

upon it;--up the avenue yonder, a long way off; the chateau it belongs

to is hid among the trees.' 'Yes, my dear sir,' said Emily, pointing, 'don't you see something

glitter above the dark woods? It is a fane, I fancy, which the rays fall

upon.' 'O yes, I see what you mean; and who does the chateau belong to?'