THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO
PART 42
CHAPTER XVI
Unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles: infected minds
To their deaf pillows will discharge their
secrets.
More needs she the divine, than the physician.
MACBETH
On the
following evening, the view of the convent towers, rising among the shadowy
woods, reminded Emily of the nun, whose condition had so much affected her;
and, anxious to know how she was, as well as to see some of her former friends,
she and the Lady Blanche extended their walk to the monastery. At the gate
stood a carriage, which, from the heat of the horses, appeared to have just
arrived; but a more than common stillness pervaded the court and the cloisters,
through which Emily and Blanche passed in their way to the great hall, where a
nun, who was crossing to the stair-case, replied to the enquiries of the
former, that sister Agnes was still living, and sensible, but that it was
thought she could not survive the night. In the parlour, they found several of
the boarders, who rejoiced to see Emily, and told her many little circumstances
that had happened in the convent since her departure, and which were
interesting to her only because they related to persons, whom she had regarded
with affection. While they thus conversed the abbess entered the room, and
expressed much satisfaction at seeing Emily, but her manner was unusually
solemn, and her countenance dejected. 'Our house,' said she, after the first
salutations were over, 'is truly a house of mourning—a daughter is now paying
the debt of nature.—You have heard, perhaps, that our daughter Agnes is dying?'
Emily
expressed her sincere concern.
'Her
death presents to us a great and awful lesson,' continued the abbess; 'let us
read it, and profit by it; let it teach us to prepare ourselves for the change,
that awaits us all! You are young, and have it yet in your power to secure
"the peace that passeth all understanding"—the peace of conscience.
Preserve it in your youth, that it may comfort you in age; for vain, alas! and
imperfect are the good deeds of our latter years, if those of our early life
have been evil!'
Emily
would have said, that good deeds, she hoped, were never vain; but she
considered that it was the abbess who spoke, and she remained silent.
'The
latter days of Agnes,' resumed the abbess, 'have been exemplary; would they
might atone for the errors of her former ones! Her sufferings now, alas! are
great; let us believe, that they will make her peace hereafter! I have left her
with her confessor, and a gentleman, whom she has long been anxious to see, and
who is just arrived from Paris. They, I hope, will be able to administer the
repose, which her mind has hitherto wanted.'
Emily
fervently joined in the wish.
'During
her illness, she has sometimes named you,' resumed the abbess; 'perhaps, it
would comfort her to see you; when her present visitors have left her, we will
go to her chamber, if the scene will not be too melancholy for your spirits.
But, indeed, to such scenes, however painful, we ought to accustom ourselves,
for they are salutary to the soul, and prepare us for what we are ourselves to
suffer.'
Emily
became grave and thoughtful; for this conversation brought to her recollection
the dying moments of her beloved father, and she wished once more to weep over
the spot, where his remains were buried. During the silence, which followed the
abbess' speech, many minute circumstances attending his last hours occurred to
her—his emotion on perceiving himself to be in the neighbourhood of
Chateau-le-Blanc—his request to be interred in a particular spot in the church
of this monastery—and the solemn charge he had delivered to her to destroy
certain papers, without examining them.—She recollected also the mysterious and
horrible words in those manuscripts, upon which her eye had involuntarily
glanced; and, though they now, and, indeed, whenever she remembered them,
revived an excess of painful curiosity, concerning their full import, and the
motives for her father's command, it was ever her chief consolation, that she
had strictly obeyed him in this particular.
Little
more was said by the abbess, who appeared too much affected by the subject she
had lately left, to be willing to converse, and her companions had been for
some time silent from the same cause, when this general reverie was interrupted
by the entrance of a stranger, Monsieur Bonnac, who had just quitted the
chamber of sister Agnes. He appeared much disturbed, but Emily fancied, that
his countenance had more the expression of horror, than of grief. Having drawn
the abbess to a distant part of the room, he conversed with her for some time,
during which she seemed to listen with earnest attention, and he to speak with
caution, and a more than common degree of interest. When he had concluded, he
bowed silently to the rest of the company, and quitted the room. The abbess,
soon after, proposed going to the chamber of sister Agnes, to which Emily
consented, though not without some reluctance, and Lady Blanche remained with
the boarders below.
At the
door of the chamber they met the confessor, whom, as he lifted up his head on
their approach, Emily observed to be the same that had attended her dying
father; but he passed on, without noticing her, and they entered the apartment,
where, on a mattress, was laid sister Agnes, with one nun watching in the chair
beside her. Her countenance was so much changed, that Emily would scarcely have
recollected her, had she not been prepared to do so: it was ghastly, and
overspread with gloomy horror; her dim and hollow eyes were fixed on a
crucifix, which she held upon her bosom; and she was so much engaged in
thought, as not to perceive the abbess and Emily, till they stood at the
bed-side. Then, turning her heavy eyes, she fixed them, in wild horror, upon
Emily, and, screaming, exclaimed, 'Ah! that vision comes upon me in my dying
hours!'
Emily
started back in terror, and looked for explanation to the abbess, who made her
a signal not to be alarmed, and calmly said to Agnes, 'Daughter, I have brought
Mademoiselle St. Aubert to visit you: I thought you would be glad to see her.'
Agnes
made no reply; but, still gazing wildly upon Emily, exclaimed, 'It is her very
self! Oh! there is all that fascination in her look, which proved my
destruction! What would you have—what is it you came to demand—Retribution?—It
will soon be yours—it is yours already. How many years have passed, since last
I saw you! My crime is but as yesterday.—Yet I am grown old beneath it; while
you are still young and blooming—blooming as when you forced me to commit that
most abhorred deed! O! could I once forget it!—yet what would that avail?—the
deed is done!'
Emily,
extremely shocked, would now have left the room; but the abbess, taking her
hand, tried to support her spirits, and begged she would stay a few moments,
when Agnes would probably be calm, whom now she tried to sooth. But the latter
seemed to disregard her, while she still fixed her eyes on Emily, and added,
'What are years of prayers and repentance? they cannot wash out the foulness of
murder!—Yes, murder! Where is he—where is he?—Look there—look there!—see where
he stalks along the room! Why do you come to torment me now?' continued Agnes,
while her straining eyes were bent on air, 'why was not I punished before?—O!
do not frown so sternly! Hah! there again! 'til she herself! Why do you look so
piteously upon me—and smile, too? smile on me! What groan was that?'
Agnes
sunk down, apparently lifeless, and Emily, unable to support herself, leaned
against the bed, while the abbess and the attendant nun were applying the usual
remedies to Agnes. 'Peace,' said the abbess, when Emily was going to speak,
'the delirium is going off, she will soon revive. When was she thus before,
daughter?'
'Not of
many weeks, madam,' replied the nun, 'but her spirits have been much agitated
by the arrival of the gentleman she wished so much to see.'
'Yes,'
observed the abbess, 'that has undoubtedly occasioned this paroxysm of frenzy.
When she is better, we will leave her to repose.'
Emily
very readily consented, but, though she could now give little assistance, she
was unwilling to quit the chamber, while any might be necessary.
When Agnes
recovered her senses, she again fixed her eyes on Emily, but their wild
expression was gone, and a gloomy melancholy had succeeded. It was some moments
before she recovered sufficient spirits to speak; she then said feebly—'The
likeness is wonderful!—surely it must be something more than fancy. Tell me, I
conjure you,' she added, addressing Emily, 'though your name is St. Aubert, are
you not the daughter of the Marchioness?'
'What
Marchioness?' said Emily, in extreme surprise; for she had imagined, from the
calmness of Agnes's manner, that her intellects were restored. The abbess gave
her a significant glance, but she repeated the question.
'What
Marchioness?' exclaimed Agnes, 'I know but of one—the Marchioness de Villeroi.'
Emily,
remembering the emotion of her late father, upon the unexpected mention of this
lady, and his request to be laid near to the tomb of the Villerois, now felt
greatly interested, and she entreated Agnes to explain the reason of her
question. The abbess would now have withdrawn Emily from the room, who being,
however, detained by a strong interest, repeated her entreaties.
'Bring me
that casket, sister,' said Agnes; 'I will shew her to you; yet you need only
look in that mirror, and you will behold her; you surely are her daughter: such
striking resemblance is never found but among near relations.'
The nun
brought the casket, and Agnes, having directed her how to unlock it, she took
thence a miniature, in which Emily perceived the exact resemblance of the
picture, which she had found among her late father's papers. Agnes held out her
hand to receive it; gazed upon it earnestly for some moments in silence; and
then, with a countenance of deep despair, threw up her eyes to Heaven, and
prayed inwardly. When she had finished, she returned the miniature to Emily.
'Keep it,' said she, 'I bequeath it to you, for I must believe it is your
right. I have frequently observed the resemblance between you; but never, till
this day, did it strike upon my conscience so powerfully! Stay, sister, do not
remove the casket—there is another picture I would shew.'
Emily
trembled with expectation, and the abbess again would have withdrawn her.
'Agnes is still disordered,' said she, 'you observe how she wanders. In these
moods she says any thing, and does not scruple, as you have witnessed, to
accuse herself of the most horrible crimes.'
Emily,
however, thought she perceived something more than madness in the
inconsistencies of Agnes, whose mention of the Marchioness, and production of
her picture, had interested her so much, that she determined to obtain further
information, if possible, respecting the subject of it.
The nun
returned with the casket, and, Agnes pointing out to her a secret drawer, she
took from it another miniature. 'Here,' said Agnes, as she offered it to Emily,
'learn a lesson for your vanity, at least; look well at this picture, and see
if you can discover any resemblance between what I was, and what I am.'
Emily
impatiently received the miniature, which her eyes had scarcely glanced upon,
before her trembling hands had nearly suffered it to fall—it was the
resemblance of the portrait of Signora Laurentini, which she had formerly seen
in the castle of Udolpho—the lady, who had disappeared in so mysterious a
manner, and whom Montoni had been suspected of having caused to be murdered.
In silent
astonishment, Emily continued to gaze alternately upon the picture and the
dying nun, endeavouring to trace a resemblance between them, which no longer
existed.
'Why do
you look so sternly on me?' said Agnes, mistaking the nature of Emily's
emotion.
'I have
seen this face before,' said Emily, at length; 'was it really your
resemblance?'
'You may
well ask that question,' replied the nun,—'but it was once esteemed a striking
likeness of me. Look at me well, and see what guilt has made me. I then was
innocent; the evil passions of my nature slept. Sister!' added she solemnly,
and stretching forth her cold, damp hand to Emily, who shuddered at its
touch—'Sister! beware of the first indulgence of the passions; beware of the
first! Their course, if not checked then, is rapid—their force is
uncontroulable—they lead us we know not whither—they lead us perhaps to the
commission of crimes, for which whole years of prayer and penitence cannot
atone!—Such may be the force of even a single passion, that it overcomes every
other, and sears up every other approach to the heart. Possessing us like a
fiend, it leads us on to the acts of a fiend, making us insensible to pity and
to conscience. And, when its purpose is accomplished, like a fiend, it leaves
us to the torture of those feelings, which its power had suspended—not
annihilated,—to the tortures of compassion, remorse, and conscience. Then, we
awaken as from a dream, and perceive a new world around us—we gaze in
astonishment, and horror—but the deed is committed; not all the powers of
heaven and earth united can undo it—and the spectres of conscience will not
fly! What are riches—grandeur—health itself, to the luxury of a pure
conscience, the health of the soul;—and what the sufferings of poverty,
disappointment, despair—to the anguish of an afflicted one! O! how long is it
since I knew that luxury! I believed, that I had suffered the most agonizing
pangs of human nature, in love, jealousy, and despair—but these pangs were
ease, compared with the stings of conscience, which I have since endured. I
tasted too what was called the sweet of revenge—but it was transient, it
expired even with the object, that provoked it. Remember, sister, that the
passions are the seeds of vices as well as of virtues, from which either may
spring, accordingly as they are nurtured. Unhappy they who have never been
taught the art to govern them!'
'Alas!
unhappy!' said the abbess, 'and ill-informed of our holy religion!' Emily
listened to Agnes, in silent awe, while she still examined the miniature, and
became confirmed in her opinion of its strong resemblance to the portrait at
Udolpho. 'This face is familiar to me,' said she, wishing to lead the nun to an
explanation, yet fearing to discover too abruptly her knowledge of Udolpho.
'You are
mistaken,' replied Agnes, 'you certainly never saw that picture before.'
'No,'
replied Emily, 'but I have seen one extremely like it.' 'Impossible,' said
Agnes, who may now be called the Lady Laurentini.
'It was
in the castle of Udolpho,' continued Emily, looking stedfastly at her.
'Of
Udolpho!' exclaimed Laurentini, 'of Udolpho in Italy!' 'The same,' replied
Emily.
'You know
me then,' said Laurentini, 'and you are the daughter of the Marchioness.' Emily
was somewhat surprised at this abrupt assertion. 'I am the daughter of the late
Mons. St. Aubert,' said she; 'and the lady you name is an utter stranger to
me.'
'At least
you believe so,' rejoined Laurentini.
Emily
asked what reasons there could be to believe otherwise.
'The
family likeness, that you bear her,' said the nun. 'The Marchioness, it is
known, was attached to a gentleman of Gascony, at the time when she accepted
the hand of the Marquis, by the command of her father. Ill-fated, unhappy
woman!'
Emily,
remembering the extreme emotion which St. Aubert had betrayed on the mention of
the Marchioness, would now have suffered something more than surprise, had her
confidence in his integrity been less; as it was, she could not, for a moment,
believe what the words of Laurentini insinuated; yet she still felt strongly
interested, concerning them, and begged, that she would explain them further.
'Do not
urge me on that subject,' said the nun, 'it is to me a terrible one! Would that
I could blot it from my memory!' She sighed deeply, and, after the pause of a
moment, asked Emily, by what means she had discovered her name?
'By your
portrait in the castle of Udolpho, to which this miniature bears a striking
resemblance,' replied Emily.
'You have
been at Udolpho then!' said the nun, with great emotion. 'Alas! what scenes
does the mention of it revive in my fancy—scenes of happiness—of suffering—and
of horror!'
At this
moment, the terrible spectacle, which Emily had witnessed in a chamber of that
castle, occurred to her, and she shuddered, while she looked upon the nun—and
recollected her late words—that 'years of prayer and penitence could not wash out
the foulness of murder.' She was now compelled to attribute these to another
cause, than that of delirium. With a degree of horror, that almost deprived her
of sense, she now believed she looked upon a murderer; all the recollected
behaviour of Laurentini seemed to confirm the supposition, yet Emily was still
lost in a labyrinth of perplexities, and, not knowing how to ask the questions,
which might lead to truth, she could only hint them in broken sentences.
'Your
sudden departure from Udolpho'—said she.
Laurentini
groaned.
'The
reports that followed it,' continued Emily—'The west chamber—the mournful
veil—the object it conceals!—when murders are committed—'
The nun
shrieked. 'What! there again!' said she, endeavouring to raise herself, while
her starting eyes seemed to follow some object round the room—'Come from the
grave! What! Blood—blood too!—There was no blood—thou canst not say it!—Nay, do
not smile,—do not smile so piteously!'
Laurentini
fell into convulsions, as she uttered the last words; and Emily, unable any
longer to endure the horror of the scene, hurried from the room, and sent some
nuns to the assistance of the abbess.
The Lady
Blanche, and the boarders, who were in the parlour, now assembled round Emily,
and, alarmed by her manner and affrighted countenance, asked a hundred
questions, which she avoided answering further, than by saying, that she
believed sister Agnes was dying. They received this as a sufficient explanation
of her terror, and had then leisure to offer restoratives, which, at length,
somewhat revived Emily, whose mind was, however, so much shocked with the
terrible surmises, and perplexed with doubts by some words from the nun, that
she was unable to converse, and would have left the convent immediately, had
she not wished to know whether Laurentini would survive the late attack. After
waiting some time, she was informed, that, the convulsions having ceased,
Laurentini seemed to be reviving, and Emily and Blanche were departing, when
the abbess appeared, who, drawing the former aside, said she had something of
consequence to say to her, but, as it was late, she would not detain her then,
and requested to see her on the following day.
Emily
promised to visit her, and, having taken leave, returned with the Lady Blanche
towards the chateau, on the way to which the deep gloom of the woods made
Blanche lament, that the evening was so far advanced; for the surrounding
stillness and obscurity rendered her sensible of fear, though there was a
servant to protect her; while Emily was too much engaged by the horrors of the
scene she had just witnessed, to be affected by the solemnity of the shades,
otherwise than as they served to promote her gloomy reverie, from which,
however, she was at length recalled by the Lady Blanche, who pointed out, at
some distance, in the dusky path they were winding, two persons slowly
advancing. It was impossible to avoid them without striking into a still more
secluded part of the wood, whither the strangers might easily follow; but all
apprehension vanished, when Emily distinguished the voice of Mons. Du Pont, and
perceived, that his companion was the gentleman, whom she had seen at the
monastery, and who was now conversing with so much earnestness as not
immediately to perceive their approach. When Du Pont joined the ladies, the
stranger took leave, and they proceeded to the chateau, where the Count, when
he heard of Mons. Bonnac, claimed him for an acquaintance, and, on learning the
melancholy occasion of his visit to Languedoc, and that he was lodged at a
small inn in the village, begged the favour of Mons. Du Pont to invite him to
the chateau.
The
latter was happy to do so, and the scruples of reserve, which made M. Bonnac
hesitate to accept the invitation, being at length overcome, they went to the chateau,
where the kindness of the Count and the sprightliness of his son were exerted
to dissipate the gloom, that overhung the spirits of the stranger. M. Bonnac
was an officer in the French service, and appeared to be about fifty; his
figure was tall and commanding, his manners had received the last polish, and
there was something in his countenance uncommonly interesting; for over
features, which, in youth, must have been remarkably handsome, was spread a
melancholy, that seemed the effect of long misfortune, rather than of
constitution, or temper.
The
conversation he held, during supper, was evidently an effort of politeness, and
there were intervals in which, unable to struggle against the feelings, that
depressed him, he relapsed into silence and abstraction, from which, however,
the Count, sometimes, withdrew him in a manner so delicate and benevolent, that
Emily, while she observed him, almost fancied she beheld her late father.
The party
separated, at an early hour, and then, in the solitude of her apartment, the
scenes, which Emily had lately witnessed, returned to her fancy, with dreadful
energy. That in the dying nun she should have discovered Signora Laurentini,
who, instead of having been murdered by Montoni, was, as it now seemed, herself
guilty of some dreadful crime, excited both horror and surprise in a high
degree; nor did the hints, which she had dropped, respecting the marriage of
the Marchioness de Villeroi, and the enquiries she had made concerning Emily's
birth, occasion her a less degree of interest, though it was of a different
nature.
The
history, which sister Frances had formerly related, and had said to be that of
Agnes, it now appeared, was erroneous; but for what purpose it had been
fabricated, unless the more effectually to conceal the true story, Emily could
not even guess. Above all, her interest was excited as to the relation, which
the story of the late Marchioness de Villeroi bore to that of her father; for,
that some kind of relation existed between them, the grief of St. Aubert, upon
hearing her named, his request to be buried near her, and her picture, which
had been found among his papers, certainly proved. Sometimes it occurred to
Emily, that he might have been the lover, to whom it was said the Marchioness
was attached, when she was compelled to marry the Marquis de Villeroi; but that
he had afterwards cherished a passion for her, she could not suffer herself to
believe, for a moment. The papers, which he had so solemnly enjoined her to
destroy, she now fancied had related to this connection, and she wished more
earnestly than before to know the reasons, that made him consider the
injunction necessary, which, had her faith in his principles been less, would
have led to believe, that there was a mystery in her birth dishonourable to her
parents, which those manuscripts might have revealed.
Reflections,
similar to these, engaged her mind, during the greater part of the night, and
when, at length, she fell into a slumber, it was only to behold a vision of the
dying nun, and to awaken in horrors, like those she had witnessed.
On the
following morning, she was too much indisposed to attend her appointment with
the abbess, and, before the day concluded, she heard, that sister Agnes was no
more. Mons. Bonnac received this intelligence, with concern; but Emily
observed, that he did not appear so much affected now, as on the preceding
evening, immediately after quitting the apartment of the nun, whose death was
probably less terrible to him, than the confession he had been then called upon
to witness. However this might be, he was perhaps consoled, in some degree, by
a knowledge of the legacy bequeathed him, since his family was large, and the
extravagance of some part of it had lately been the means of involving him in
great distress, and even in the horrors of a prison; and it was the grief he
had suffered from the wild career of a favourite son, with the pecuniary
anxieties and misfortunes consequent upon it, that had given to his countenance
the air of dejection, which had so much interested Emily.
To his
friend Mons. Du Pont he recited some particulars of his late sufferings, when
it appeared, that he had been confined for several months in one of the prisons
of Paris, with little hope of release, and without the comfort of seeing his
wife, who had been absent in the country, endeavouring, though in vain, to
procure assistance from his friends. When, at length, she had obtained an order
for admittance, she was so much shocked at the change, which long confinement
and sorrow had made in his appearance, that she was seized with fits, which, by
their long continuance, threatened her life.
'Our
situation affected those, who happened to witness it,' continued Mons. Bonnac,
'and one generous friend, who was in confinement at the same time, afterwards
employed the first moments of his liberty in efforts to obtain mine. He
succeeded; the heavy debt, that oppressed me, was discharged; and, when I would
have expressed my sense of the obligation I had received, my benefactor was
fled from my search. I have reason to believe he was the victim of his own
generosity, and that he returned to the state of confinement, from which he had
released me; but every enquiry after him was unsuccessful. Amiable and
unfortunate Valancourt!'
'Valancourt!'
exclaimed Mons. Du Pont. 'Of what family?'
'The
Valancourts, Counts Duvarney,' replied Mons. Bonnac.
The
emotion of Mons. Du Pont, when he discovered the generous benefactor of his
friend to be the rival of his love, can only be imagined; but, having overcome
his first surprise, he dissipated the apprehensions of Mons. Bonnac by
acquainting him, that Valancourt was at liberty, and had lately been in
Languedoc; after which his affection for Emily prompted him to make some
enquiries, respecting the conduct of his rival, during his stay at Paris, of
which M. Bonnac appeared to be well informed. The answers he received were such
as convinced him, that Valancourt had been much misrepresented, and, painful as
was the sacrifice, he formed the just design of relinquishing his pursuit of
Emily to a lover, who, it now appeared, was not unworthy of the regard, with
which she honoured him.
The
conversation of Mons. Bonnac discovered, that Valancourt, some time after his
arrival at Paris, had been drawn into the snares, which determined vice had
spread for him, and that his hours had been chiefly divided between the parties
of the captivating Marchioness and those gaming assemblies, to which the envy,
or the avarice, of his brother officers had spared no art to seduce him. In
these parties he had lost large sums, in efforts to recover small ones, and to
such losses the Count De Villefort and Mons. Henri had been frequent witnesses.
His resources were, at length, exhausted; and the Count, his brother,
exasperated by his conduct, refused to continue the supplies necessary to his
present mode of life, when Valancourt, in consequence of accumulated debts, was
thrown into confinement, where his brother suffered him to remain, in the hope,
that punishment might effect a reform of conduct, which had not yet been
confirmed by long habit.
In the
solitude of his prison, Valancourt had leisure for reflection, and cause for
repentance; here, too, the image of Emily, which, amidst the dissipation of the
city had been obscured, but never obliterated from his heart, revived with all
the charms of innocence and beauty, to reproach him for having sacrificed his
happiness and debased his talents by pursuits, which his nobler faculties would
formerly have taught him to consider were as tasteless as they were degrading.
But, though his passions had been seduced, his heart was not depraved, nor had
habit riveted the chains, that hung heavily on his conscience; and, as he
retained that energy of will, which was necessary to burst them, he, at length,
emancipated himself from the bondage of vice, but not till after much effort
and severe suffering.
Being
released by his brother from the prison, where he had witnessed the affecting
meeting between Mons. Bonnac and his wife, with whom he had been for some time
acquainted, the first use of his liberty formed a striking instance of his
humanity and his rashness; for with nearly all the money, just received from
his brother, he went to a gaming-house, and gave it as a last stake for the
chance of restoring his friend to freedom, and to his afflicted family. The
event was fortunate, and, while he had awaited the issue of this momentous
stake, he made a solemn vow never again to yield to the destructive and
fascinating vice of gaming.
Having
restored the venerable Mons. Bonnac to his rejoicing family, he hurried from
Paris to Estuviere; and, in the delight of having made the wretched happy,
forgot, for a while, his own misfortunes. Soon, however, he remembered, that he
had thrown away the fortune, without which he could never hope to marry Emily;
and life, unless passed with her, now scarcely appeared supportable; for her goodness,
refinement, and simplicity of heart, rendered her beauty more enchanting, if
possible, to his fancy, than it had ever yet appeared. Experience had taught
him to understand the full value of the qualities, which he had before admired,
but which the contrasted characters he had seen in the world made him now
adore; and these reflections, increasing the pangs of remorse and regret,
occasioned the deep dejection, that had accompanied him even into the presence
of Emily, of whom he considered himself no longer worthy. To the ignominy of
having received pecuniary obligations from the Marchioness Chamfort, or any
other lady of intrigue, as the Count De Villefort had been informed, or of
having been engaged in the depredating schemes of gamesters, Valancourt had
never submitted; and these were some of such scandals as often mingle with
truth, against the unfortunate. Count De Villefort had received them from
authority which he had no reason to doubt, and which the imprudent conduct he
had himself witnessed in Valancourt, had certainly induced him the more readily
to believe. Being such as Emily could not name to the Chevalier, he had no
opportunity of refuting them; and, when he confessed himself to be unworthy of
her esteem, he little suspected, that he was confirming to her the most
dreadful calumnies. Thus the mistake had been mutual, and had remained so, when
Mons. Bonnac explained the conduct of his generous, but imprudent young friend
to Du Pont, who, with severe justice, determined not only to undeceive the
Count on this subject, but to resign all hope of Emily. Such a sacrifice as his
love rendered this, was deserving of a noble reward, and Mons. Bonnac, if it
had been possible for him to forget the benevolent Valancourt, would have
wished that Emily might accept the just Du Pont.
When the Count was informed of the error he had committed, he was
extremely shocked at the consequence of his credulity, and the account which
Mons. Bonnac gave of his friend's situation, while at Paris, convinced him,
that Valancourt had been entrapped by the schemes of a set of dissipated young
men, with whom his profession had partly obliged him to associate, rather than
by an inclination to vice; and, charmed by the humanity, and noble, though rash
generosity, which his conduct towards Mons. Bonnac exhibited, he forgave him
the transient errors, that had stained his youth, and restored him to the high
degree of esteem, with which he had regarded him, during their early
acquaintance. But, as the least reparation he could now make Valancourt was to
afford him an opportunity of explaining to Emily his former conduct, he
immediately wrote, to request his forgiveness of the unintentional injury he
had done him, and to invite him to Chateau-le-Blanc. Motives of delicacy
with-held the Count from informing Emily of this letter, and of kindness from
acquainting her with the discovery respecting Valancourt, till his arrival
should save her from the possibility of anxiety, as to its event; and this
precaution spared her even severer inquietude, than the Count had foreseen,
since he was ignorant of the symptoms of despair, which Valancourt's late conduct
had betrayed.
To be continued
