f000001,20.720,22.880,"the castle of otoronto by horace."
f000002,22.880,24.960,"chapter two."
f000003,24.960,34.000,"Matilda, who by Hippolita's order had retired to her apartment, was illdisposed to take any rest."
f000004,34.000,37.840,"The shocking fate of her brother had deeply affected her."
f000005,37.840,55.360,"She was surprised at not seeing Isabella; but the strange words which had fallen from her father, and his obscure menace to the Princess his wife, accompanied by the most furious behaviour, had filled her gentle mind with terror and alarm."
f000006,55.360,64.880,"She waited anxiously for the return of Bianca, a young damsel that attended her, whom she had sent to learn what was become of Isabella."
f000007,64.880,73.400,"Bianca soon appeared, and informed her mistress of what she had gathered from the servants, that Isabella was nowhere to be found."
f000008,73.400,92.120,"She related the adventure of the young peasant who had been discovered in the vault, though with many simple additions from the incoherent accounts of the domestics; and she dwelt principally on the gigantic leg and foot which had been seen in the gallerychamber."
f000009,92.120,104.320,"This last circumstance had terrified Bianca so much, that she was rejoiced when Matilda told her that she would not go to rest, but would watch till the Princess should rise."
f000010,104.320,112.080,"The young Princess wearied herself in conjectures on the flight of Isabella, and on the threats of Manfred to her mother."
f000011,112.080,121.680,"But what business could he have so urgent with the chaplain? said Matilda, Does he intend to have my brother's body interred privately in the chapel?"
f000012,121.680,125.440,"Oh, Madam! said Bianca, now I guess."
f000013,125.440,135.800,"As you are become his heiress, he is impatient to have you married: he has always been raving for more sons; I warrant he is now impatient for grandsons."
f000014,135.800,147.960,"As sure as I live, Madam, I shall see you a bride at last.Good madam, you won't cast off your faithful Bianca: you won't put Donna Rosara over me now you are a great Princess."
f000015,147.960,153.520,"My poor Bianca, said Matilda, how fast your thoughts amble!"
f000016,153.520,155.680,"I a great princess!"
f000017,155.680,163.280,"What hast thou seen in Manfred's behaviour since my brother's death that bespeaks any increase of tenderness to me?"
f000018,163.280,170.440,"No, Bianca; his heart was ever a stranger to mebut he is my father, and I must not complain."
f000019,170.440,184.120,"Nay, if Heaven shuts my father's heart against me, it overpays my little merit in the tenderness of my motherO that dear mother! yes, Bianca, 'tis there I feel the rugged temper of Manfred."
f000020,184.120,193.080,"I can support his harshness to me with patience; but it wounds my soul when I am witness to his causeless severity towards her."
f000021,193.080,199.280,"Madam, said Bianca, all men use their wives so, when they are weary of them."
f000022,199.280,206.600,"And yet you congratulated me but now, said Matilda, when you fancied my father intended to dispose of me!"
f000023,206.600,211.160,"I would have you a great Lady, replied Bianca, come what will."
f000024,211.160,222.760,"I do not wish to see you moped in a convent, as you would be if you had your will, and if my Lady, your mother, who knows that a bad husband is better than no husband at all, did not hinder you."
f000025,222.760,224.840,"Bless me! what noise is that!"
f000026,224.840,226.040,"St. Nicholas forgive me!"
f000027,226.040,228.080,"I was but in jest."
f000028,228.080,235.640,"It is the wind, said Matilda, whistling through the battlements in the tower above: you have heard it a thousand times."
f000029,235.640,253.960,"Nay, said Bianca, there was no harm neither in what I said: it is no sin to talk of matrimonyand so, Madam, as I was saying, if my Lord Manfred should offer you a handsome young Prince for a bridegroom, you would drop him a curtsey, and tell him you would rather take the veil?"
f000030,253.960,254.840,"Thank Heaven!"
f000031,254.840,263.600,"I am in no such danger, said Matilda: you know how many proposals for me he has rejected And you thank him, like a dutiful daughter, do you, Madam?"
f000032,263.600,298.760,"But come, Madam; suppose, tomorrow morning, he was to send for you to the great council chamber, and there you should find at his elbow a lovely young Prince, with large black eyes, a smooth white forehead, and manly curling locks like jet; in short, Madam, a young hero resembling the picture of the good Alfonso in the gallery, which you sit and gaze at for hours together Do not speak lightly of that picture, interrupted Matilda sighing; I know the adoration with which I look at that picture is uncommonbut I am not in love with a coloured panel."
f000033,298.760,323.520,"The character of that virtuous Prince, the veneration with which my mother has inspired me for his memory, the orisons which, I know not why, she has enjoined me to pour forth at his tomb, all have concurred to persuade me that somehow or other my destiny is linked with something relating to him."
f000034,323.520,341.680,"how should that be? said Bianca; I have always heard that your family was in no way related to his: and I am sure I cannot conceive why my Lady, the Princess, sends you in a cold morning or a damp evening to pray at his tomb: he is no saint by the almanack."
f000035,341.680,346.960,"If you must pray, why does she not bid you address yourself to our great St. Nicholas?"
f000036,346.960,350.480,"I am sure he is the saint I pray to for a husband."
f000037,350.480,365.360,"Perhaps my mind would be less affected, said Matilda, if my mother would explain her reasons to me: but it is the mystery she observes, that inspires me with thisI know not what to call it."
f000038,365.360,379.440,"As she never acts from caprice, I am sure there is some fatal secret at bottomnay, I know there is: in her agony of grief for my brother's death she dropped some words that intimated as much."
f000039,379.440,383.680,"Oh! dear Madam, cried Bianca, what were they?"
f000040,383.680,392.480,"No, said Matilda, if a parent lets fall a word, and wishes it recalled, it is not for a child to utter it."
f000041,392.480,408.960,"was she sorry for what she had said? asked Bianca; I am sure, Madam, you may trust me With my own little secrets when I have any, I may, said Matilda; but never with my mother's: a child ought to have no ears or eyes but as a parent directs."
f000042,408.960,420.000,"Well! to be sure, Madam, you were born to be a saint, said Bianca, and there is no resisting one's vocation: you will end in a convent at last."
f000043,420.000,434.120,"But there is my Lady Isabella would not be so reserved to me: she will let me talk to her of young men: and when a handsome cavalier has come to the castle, she has owned to me that she wished your brother Conrad resembled him."
f000044,434.120,439.880,"Bianca, said the Princess, I do not allow you to mention my friend disrespectfully."
f000045,439.880,446.160,"Isabella is of a cheerful disposition, but her soul is pure as virtue itself."
f000046,446.160,461.600,"She knows your idle babbling humour, and perhaps has now and then encouraged it, to divert melancholy, and enliven the solitude in which my father keeps us Blessed Mary! said Bianca, starting, there it is again!"
f000047,461.600,464.760,"Dear Madam, do you hear nothing? this castle is certainly haunted!"
f000048,464.760,468.120,"Peace! said Matilda, and listen!"
f000049,468.120,475.520,"I did think I heard a voice but it must be fancy: your terrors, I suppose, have infected me."
f000050,475.520,477.200,"Indeed! indeed!"
f000051,477.200,483.600,"Madam, said Bianca, halfweeping with agony, I am sure I heard a voice."
f000052,483.600,488.120,"Does anybody lie in the chamber beneath? said the Princess."
f000053,488.120,497.040,"Nobody has dared to lie there, answered Bianca, since the great astrologer, that was your brother's tutor, drowned himself."
f000054,497.040,506.160,"For certain, Madam, his ghost and the young Prince's are now met in the chamber belowfor Heaven's sake let us fly to your mother's apartment!"
f000055,506.160,509.320,"I charge you not to stir, said Matilda."
f000056,509.320,515.040,"If they are spirits in pain, we may ease their sufferings by questioning them."
f000057,515.040,523.880,"They can mean no hurt to us, for we have not injured themand if they should, shall we be more safe in one chamber than in another?"
f000058,523.880,528.520,"Reach me my beads; we will say a prayer, and then speak to them."
f000059,528.520,533.200,"dear Lady, I would not speak to a ghost for the world! cried Bianca."
f000060,533.200,539.120,"As she said those words they heard the casement of the little chamber below Matilda's open."
f000061,539.120,547.200,"They listened attentively, and in a few minutes thought they heard a person sing, but could not distinguish the words."
f000062,547.200,557.400,"This can be no evil spirit, said the Princess, in a low voice; it is undoubtedly one of the familyopen the window, and we shall know the voice."
f000063,557.400,560.800,"I dare not, indeed, Madam, said Bianca."
f000064,560.800,566.480,"Thou art a very fool, said Matilda, opening the window gently herself."
f000065,566.480,576.000,"The noise the Princess made was, however, heard by the person beneath, who stopped; and they concluded had heard the casement open."
f000066,576.000,581.680,"Is anybody below? said the Princess; if there is, speak."
f000067,581.680,583.680,"Yes, said an unknown voice."
f000068,583.680,586.560,"Who is it? said Matilda."
f000069,586.560,589.640,"A stranger, replied the voice."
f000070,589.640,597.520,"What stranger? said she; and how didst thou come there at this unusual hour, when all the gates of the castle are locked?"
f000071,597.520,600.040,"I am not here willingly, answered the voice."
f000072,600.040,605.880,"But pardon me, Lady, if I have disturbed your rest; I knew not that I was overheard."
f000073,605.880,616.280,"Sleep had forsaken me; I left a restless couch, and came to waste the irksome hours with gazing on the fair approach of morning, impatient to be dismissed from this castle."
f000074,616.280,625.320,"Thy words and accents, said Matilda, are of melancholy cast; if thou art unhappy, I pity thee."
f000075,625.320,636.080,"If poverty afflicts thee, let me know it; I will mention thee to the Princess, whose beneficent soul ever melts for the distressed, and she will relieve thee."
f000076,636.080,641.240,"I am indeed unhappy, said the stranger; and I know not what wealth is."
f000077,641.240,655.000,"But I do not complain of the lot which Heaven has cast for me; I am young and healthy, and am not ashamed of owing my support to myselfyet think me not proud, or that I disdain your generous offers."
f000078,655.000,666.000,"I will remember you in my orisons, and will pray for blessings on your gracious self and your noble mistressif I sigh, Lady, it is for others, not for myself."
f000079,666.000,679.320,"Now I have it, Madam, said Bianca, whispering the Princess; this is certainly the young peasant; and, by my conscience, he is in loveWell! this is a charming adventure!do, Madam, let us sift him."
f000080,679.320,683.240,"He does not know you, but takes you for one of my Lady Hippolita's women."
f000081,683.240,687.720,"Art thou not ashamed, Bianca! said the Princess."
f000082,687.720,691.760,"What right have we to pry into the secrets of this young man's heart?"
f000083,691.760,696.200,"He seems virtuous and frank, and tells us he is unhappy."
f000084,696.200,699.680,"Are those circumstances that authorise us to make a property of him?"
f000085,699.680,702.560,"How are we entitled to his confidence?"
f000086,702.560,712.720,"how little you know of love! replied Bianca; why, lovers have no pleasure equal to talking of their mistress."
f000087,712.720,716.800,"And would you have ME become a peasant's confidante? said the Princess."
f000088,716.800,725.640,"Well, then, let me talk to him, said Bianca; though I have the honour of being your Highness's maid of honour, I was not always so great."
f000089,725.640,732.840,"Besides, if love levels ranks, it raises them too; I have a respect for any young man in love."
f000090,732.840,736.160,"Peace, simpleton! said the Princess."
f000091,736.160,740.480,"Though he said he was unhappy, it does not follow that he must be in love."
f000092,740.480,761.120,"Think of all that has happened today, and tell me if there are no misfortunes but what love causes.Stranger, resumed the Princess, if thy misfortunes have not been occasioned by thy own fault, and are within the compass of the Princess Hippolita's power to redress, I will take upon me to answer that she will be thy protectress."
f000093,761.120,773.840,"When thou art dismissed from this castle, repair to holy father Jerome, at the convent adjoining to the church of St. Nicholas, and make thy story known to him, as far as thou thinkest meet."
f000094,773.840,779.960,"He will not fail to inform the Princess, who is the mother of all that want her assistance."
f000095,779.960,787.440,"Farewell; it is not seemly for me to hold farther converse with a man at this unwonted hour."
f000096,787.440,810.360,"if a poor and worthless stranger might presume to beg a minute's audience farther; am I so happy? the casement is not shut; might I venture to ask Speak quickly, said Matilda; the morning dawns apace: should the labourers come into the fields and perceive usWhat wouldst thou ask?"
f000097,810.360,821.120,"I know not how, I know not if I dare, said the Young stranger, faltering; yet the humanity with which you have spoken to me emboldensLady! dare I trust you?"
f000098,821.120,825.200,"Heavens! said Matilda, what dost thou mean?"
f000099,825.200,827.520,"With what wouldst thou trust me?"
f000100,827.520,832.040,"Speak boldly, if thy secret is fit to be entrusted to a virtuous breast."
f000101,832.040,842.120,"I would ask, said the peasant, recollecting himself, whether what I have heard from the domestics is true, that the Princess is missing from the castle?"
f000102,842.120,845.920,"What imports it to thee to know? replied Matilda."
f000103,845.920,849.760,"Thy first words bespoke a prudent and becoming gravity."
f000104,849.760,853.720,"Dost thou come hither to pry into the secrets of Manfred?"
f000105,853.720,855.080,"Adieu."
f000106,855.080,856.600,"I have been mistaken in thee."
f000107,856.600,863.720,"Saying these words she shut the casement hastily, without giving the young man time to reply."
f000108,863.720,874.160,"I had acted more wisely, said the Princess to Bianca, with some sharpness, if I had let thee converse with this peasant; his inquisitiveness seems of a piece with thy own."
f000109,874.160,886.720,"It is not fit for me to argue with your Highness, replied Bianca; but perhaps the questions I should have put to him would have been more to the purpose than those you have been pleased to ask him."
f000110,886.720,890.640,"Oh! no doubt, said Matilda; you are a very discreet personage!"
f000111,890.640,893.080,"May I know what YOU would have asked him?"
f000112,893.080,898.200,"A bystander often sees more of the game than those that play, answered Bianca."
f000113,898.200,905.800,"Does your Highness think, Madam, that this question about my Lady Isabella was the result of mere curiosity?"
f000114,905.800,909.840,"No, no, Madam, there is more in it than you great folks are aware of."
f000115,909.840,923.280,"Lopez told me that all the servants believe this young fellow contrived my Lady Isabella's escape; now, pray, Madam, observe you and I both know that my Lady Isabella never much fancied the Prince your brother."
f000116,923.280,929.360,"Well! he is killed just in a critical minuteI accuse nobody."
f000117,929.360,943.520,"A helmet falls from the moonso, my Lord, your father says; but Lopez and all the servants say that this young spark is a magician, and stole it from Alfonso's tomb Have done with this rhapsody of impertinence, said Matilda."
f000118,943.520,956.040,"Nay, Madam, as you please, cried Bianca; yet it is very particular though, that my Lady Isabella should be missing the very same day, and that this young sorcerer should be found at the mouth of the trapdoor."
f000119,956.040,983.360,"I accuse nobody; but if my young Lord came honestly by his death Dare not on thy duty, said Matilda, to breathe a suspicion on the purity of my dear Isabella's fame."
f000120,983.360,992.520,"and at the very next word, he asks innocently, pour soul! if my Lady Isabella is missing."
f000121,992.520,1002.000,"To be sure, said Matilda, thy observations are not totally without foundationIsabella's flight amazes me."
f000122,1002.000,1008.640,"The curiosity of the stranger is very particular; yet Isabella never concealed a thought from me."
f000123,1008.640,1018.680,"So she told you, said Bianca, to fish out your secrets; but who knows, Madam, but this stranger may be some Prince in disguise?"
f000124,1018.680,1022.440,"Do, Madam, let me open the window, and ask him a few questions."
f000125,1022.440,1032.240,"No, replied Matilda, I will ask him myself, if he knows aught of Isabella; he is not worthy I should converse farther with him."
f000126,1032.240,1041.760,"She was going to open the casement, when they heard the bell ring at the posterngate of the castle, which is on the right hand of the tower, where Matilda lay."
f000127,1041.760,1046.040,"This prevented the Princess from renewing the conversation with the stranger."
f000128,1046.040,1057.400,"After continuing silent for some time, I am persuaded, said she to Bianca, that whatever be the cause of Isabella's flight it had no unworthy motive."
f000129,1057.400,1064.800,"If this stranger was accessory to it, she must be satisfied with his fidelity and worth."
f000130,1064.800,1072.160,"I observed, did not you, Bianca? that his words were tinctured with an uncommon infusion of piety."
f000131,1072.160,1079.240,"It was no ruffian's speech; his phrases were becoming a man of gentle birth."
f000132,1079.240,1085.640,"I told you, Madam, said Bianca, that I was sure he was some Prince in disguise."
f000133,1085.640,1101.040,"Yet, said Matilda, if he was privy to her escape, how will you account for his not accompanying her in her flight? why expose himself unnecessarily and rashly to my father's resentment?"
f000134,1101.040,1108.600,"As for that, Madam, replied she, if he could get from under the helmet, he will find ways of eluding your father's anger."
f000135,1108.600,1113.000,"I do not doubt but he has some talisman or other about him."
f000136,1113.000,1124.920,"You resolve everything into magic, said Matilda; but a man who has any intercourse with infernal spirits, does not dare to make use of those tremendous and holy words which he uttered."
f000137,1124.920,1131.320,"Didst thou not observe with what fervour he vowed to remember ME to heaven in his prayers?"
f000138,1131.320,1135.760,"Yes; Isabella was undoubtedly convinced of his piety."
f000139,1135.760,1143.360,"Commend me to the piety of a young fellow and a damsel that consult to elope! said Bianca."
f000140,1143.360,1149.000,"No, no, Madam, my Lady Isabella is of another guess mould than you take her for."
f000141,1149.000,1165.520,"She used indeed to sigh and lift up her eyes in your company, because she knows you are a saint; but when your back was turned You wrong her, said Matilda; Isabella is no hypocrite; she has a due sense of devotion, but never affected a call she has not."
f000142,1165.520,1185.600,"On the contrary, she always combated my inclination for the cloister; and though I own the mystery she has made to me of her flight confounds me; though it seems inconsistent with the friendship between us; I cannot forget the disinterested warmth with which she always opposed my taking the veil."
f000143,1185.600,1191.520,"She wished to see me married, though my dower would have been a loss to her and my brother's children."
f000144,1191.520,1195.400,"For her sake I will believe well of this young peasant."
f000145,1195.400,1199.920,"Then you do think there is some liking between them, said Bianca."
f000146,1199.920,1207.640,"While she was speaking, a servant came hastily into the chamber and told the Princess that the Lady Isabella was found."
f000147,1207.640,1210.080,"Where? said Matilda."
f000148,1210.080,1220.960,"She has taken sanctuary in St. Nicholas's church, replied the servant; Father Jerome has brought the news himself; he is below with his Highness."
f000149,1220.960,1223.720,"Where is my mother? said Matilda."
f000150,1223.720,1227.160,"She is in her own chamber, Madam, and has asked for you."
f000151,1227.160,1243.200,"Manfred had risen at the first dawn of light, and gone to Hippolita's apartment, to inquire if she knew aught of Isabella."
f000152,1243.200,1249.520,"While he was questioning her, word was brought that Jerome demanded to speak with him."
f000153,1249.520,1265.680,"Manfred, little suspecting the cause of the Friar's arrival, and knowing he was employed by Hippolita in her charities, ordered him to be admitted, intending to leave them together, while he pursued his search after Isabella."
f000154,1265.680,1270.320,"Is your business with me or the Princess? said Manfred."
f000155,1270.320,1273.600,"With both, replied the holy man."
f000156,1273.600,1277.800,"The Lady Isabella What of her? interrupted Manfred, eagerly."
f000157,1277.800,1281.560,"Is at St. Nicholas's altar, replied Jerome."
f000158,1281.560,1290.400,"That is no business of Hippolita, said Manfred with confusion; let us retire to my chamber, Father, and inform me how she came thither."
f000159,1290.400,1318.280,"No, my Lord, replied the good man, with an air of firmness and authority, that daunted even the resolute Manfred, who could not help revering the saintlike virtues of Jerome; my commission is to both, and with your Highness's goodliking, in the presence of both I shall deliver it; but first, my Lord, I must interrogate the Princess, whether she is acquainted with the cause of the Lady Isabella's retirement from your castle."
f000160,1318.280,1324.960,"No, on my soul, said Hippolita; does Isabella charge me with being privy to it?"
f000161,1324.960,1336.160,"Father, interrupted Manfred, I pay due reverence to your holy profession; but I am sovereign here, and will allow no meddling priest to interfere in the affairs of my domestic."
f000162,1336.160,1347.480,"If you have aught to say attend me to my chamber; I do not use to let my wife be acquainted with the secret affairs of my state; they are not within a woman's province."
f000163,1347.480,1353.320,"My Lord, said the holy man, I am no intruder into the secrets of families."
f000164,1353.320,1362.480,"My office is to promote peace, to heal divisions, to preach repentance, and teach mankind to curb their headstrong passions."
f000165,1362.480,1371.320,"I forgive your Highness's uncharitable apostrophe; I know my duty, and am the minister of a mightier prince than Manfred."
f000166,1371.320,1374.880,"Hearken to him who speaks through my organs."
f000167,1374.880,1378.040,"Manfred trembled with rage and shame."
f000168,1378.040,1383.600,"Hippolita's countenance declared her astonishment and impatience to know where this would end."
f000169,1383.600,1387.880,"Her silence more strongly spoke her observance of Manfred."
f000170,1387.880,1431.600,"The Lady Isabella, resumed Jerome, commends herself to both your Highnesses; she thanks both for the kindness with which she has been treated in your castle: she deplores the loss of your son, and her own misfortune in not becoming the daughter of such wise and noble Princes, whom she shall always respect as Parents; she prays for uninterrupted union and felicity between you Manfred's colour changed: but as it is no longer possible for her to be allied to you, she entreats your consent to remain in sanctuary, till she can learn news of her father, or, by the certainty of his death, be at liberty, with the approbation of her guardians, to dispose of herself in suitable marriage."
f000171,1431.600,1445.520,"I shall give no such consent, said the Prince, but insist on her return to the castle without delay: I am answerable for her person to her guardians, and will not brook her being in any hands but my own."
f000172,1445.520,1451.000,"Your Highness will recollect whether that can any longer be proper, replied the Friar."
f000173,1451.000,1467.360,"I want no monitor, said Manfred, colouring; Isabella's conduct leaves room for strange suspicionsand that young villain, who was at least the accomplice of her flight, if not the cause of it The cause! interrupted Jerome; was a YOUNG man the cause?"
f000174,1467.360,1470.760,"This is not to be borne! cried Manfred."
f000175,1470.760,1474.480,"Am I to be bearded in my own palace by an insolent Monk?"
f000176,1474.480,1477.480,"Thou art privy, I guess, to their amours."
f000177,1477.480,1487.480,"I would pray to heaven to clear up your uncharitable surmises, said Jerome, if your Highness were not satisfied in your conscience how unjustly you accuse me."
f000178,1487.480,1504.880,"I do pray to heaven to pardon that uncharitableness: and I implore your Highness to leave the Princess at peace in that holy place, where she is not liable to be disturbed by such vain and worldly fantasies as discourses of love from any man."
f000179,1504.880,1510.440,"Cant not to me, said Manfred, but return and bring the Princess to her duty."
f000180,1510.440,1514.840,"It is my duty to prevent her return hither, said Jerome."
f000181,1514.840,1523.160,"She is where orphans and virgins are safest from the snares and wiles of this world; and nothing but a parent's authority shall take her thence."
f000182,1523.160,1527.600,"I am her parent, cried Manfred, and demand her."
f000183,1527.600,1542.400,"She wished to have you for her parent, said the Friar; but Heaven that forbad that connection has for ever dissolved all ties betwixt you: and I announce to your Highness Stop! audacious man, said Manfred, and dread my displeasure."
f000184,1542.400,1555.160,"Holy farther, said Hippolita, it is your office to be no respecter of persons: you must speak as your duty prescribes: but it is my duty to hear nothing that it pleases not my Lord I should hear."
f000185,1555.160,1557.320,"Attend the Prince to his chamber."
f000186,1557.320,1568.840,"I will retire to my oratory, and pray to the blessed Virgin to inspire you with her holy counsels, and to restore the heart of my gracious Lord to its wonted peace and gentleness."
f000187,1568.840,1571.200,"Excellent woman! said the Friar."
f000188,1571.200,1571.640,"My Lord, I attend your pleasure."