ing ardour of her lover's gaze, as, with a seraphic smile, she articulated, "Trust me, I will not fail.". "When the sun sinks behind the mountain, I will await you at the low portal which opens from the ramparts," said Di Rinaldini. Adelheida waved her hand in token of assent, and fled from the hall. CHAP. CHAP. IX. Oh married love! thy bard shall own, Thy golden chains inlaid with down, Thy lamps with heav'n's own splendor bright. LANGHORNE It came o'er his soul as doth the thunder, Whilst distant yet, with an unexpected burst, It threats the trembling ear. MASON. CHILLING was the breeze, which, lingering over the rich blossoms of the pomegranates, bent the heads of the dusky cypress, and darkened the path of the lovers, as they struck into the forest, to avoid the observation of the inmates of the Castle. The golden splendor of the sky had faded into VOL. I. I into gloom, the brilliant star of evening twinkled over worlds unknown, as they reached the ivy-mantled walls of the chapel. Father Luitfrido, true to his appointment, met them in the porch: he spoke not, but grasping the hand of Adelheida, led her up the nave. She felt his tremble, as he approached the monument of the Marchesa di Montranzo-cold as the clammy kue of death was his touch. Shuddering, he stopped-" My children,” he articulated, "here, in the sight of my God, and of your God-here, before the hallowed shrine of Heaven's angel, I promise to befriend, to aid you; pour out then the seeret wishes of your souls; tell me your hopes of bliss, and soften my moments of torture." Adelheida-Hu berto, hung on the lips of each, as, with clasped hands, they bent their knees before the canon. He threw his arms around them; he yielded, for a moment, to the agony of remembrance: "Yes, such were my prospects," he murmured; "such the dawn dawn of felicity; but bitter was the cup of fate-bitter-Father of Mercy! 'twas thy hand which dealt the blow." Sobbing, almost convulsed, he turned from them, and impressed his lips on the ice-cold marble. "Leave me, happy, chosen lovers," he at length resumed; "this night I give to reflection; to-morrow, ere the matin-bell shall have chimed, invested with the sacred power of my calling, I will await you at the altar, and join hands where hearts have long been one." During the walk to Montranzo, it was agreed, that Vannina should be intrusted with the secret of the intended marriage; nay, should attend Adelheida to the chapel, and witness the pure faith of their plighted vows. The disclosure of the clandestine step to the Conte Alverani, was an after consideration, and was to be left to the promised exertions of the canon. weight of woe, and features beaming the pure serenity of a contented mind, Adelheida arose with the morning's sunbeam from her couch of down, and, attended by Vannina, repaired to the chapel. She felt no pang for her breach of duty; she loved her father, yet she knew him weak: it was the monk Brazilio, not the Conte, she sought to deceive-the monk Brazilio, who fatally swayed the every action of her parent, and whose dreaded influence condemned her to the necessity of excluding him her confidence-the monk Brazilio, who had sworn enmity to Di Rinaldini, who had said the union never should take place: her heart, consequently, acquitted her of intentional disobedience, and she pictured pardon and happiness when her marriage should be revealed. But though, with the light grace of a hamadryad, she had tripped along the rocky passes of the mountain wilds, the sight of Father Luitfrido, in his sacerdotal robes, awaiting her at the altar, filled her bosom with un known |