But, as I said, they set out for Padua, she and her husband, and the road lay over some barren mountains like these.This suited the Signor's purpose well.He watched the time of their departure, and sent his men after them, with directions what to do.They kept their distance, till they saw their opportunity, and this did not happen, till the second day's journey, when, the gentleman having sent his servants forward to the next town, may be, to have horses in readiness, the Signor's men quickened their pace, and overtook the carriage, in a hollow, between two mountains, where the woods prevented the servants from seeing what passed, though they were then not far off.When we came up, we fired our tromboni, but missed.'
Emily turned pale, at these words, and then hoped she had mistaken them; while Bertrand proceeded:
'The gentleman fired again, but he was soon made to alight, and it was as he turned to call his people, that he was struck.It was the most dexterous feat you ever saw--he was struck in the back with three stillettos at once.He fell, and was dispatched in a minute;but the lady escaped, for the servants had heard the firing, and came up before she could be taken care of."Bertrand," said the Signor, when his men returned'--'Bertrand!' exclaimed Emily, pale with horror, on whom not a syllable of this narrative had been lost.
'Bertrand, did I say?' rejoined the man, with some confusion--'No, Giovanni.But I have forgot where I was;--"Bertrand," said the Signor'--'Bertrand, again!' said Emily, in a faltering voice, 'Why do you repeat that name?'
Bertrand swore.'What signifies it,' he proceeded, 'what the man was called--Bertrand, or Giovanni--or Roberto? it's all one for that.
You have put me out twice with that--question."Bertrand," or Giovanni--or what you will--"Bertrand," said the Signor, "if your comrades had done their duty, as well as you, I should not have lost the lady.Go, my honest fellow, and be happy with this." He game him a purse of gold--and little enough too, considering the service he had done him.'
'Aye, aye,' said Ugo, 'little enough--little enough.'
Emily now breathed with difficulty, and could scarcely support herself.When first she saw these men, their appearance and their connection with Montoni had been sufficient to impress her with distrust; but now, when one of them had betrayed himself to be a murderer, and she saw herself, at the approach of night, under his guidance, among wild and solitary mountains, and going she scarcely knew whither, the most agonizing terror seized her, which was the less supportable from the necessity she found herself under of concealing all symptoms of it from her companions.Reflecting on the character and the menaces of Montoni, it appeared not improbable, that he had delivered her to them, for the purpose of having her murdered, and of thus securing to himself, without further opposition, or delay, the estates, for which he had so long and so desperately contended.Yet, if this was his design, there appeared no necessity for sending her to such a distance from the castle; for, if any dread of discovery had made him unwilling to perpetrate the deed there, a much nearer place might have sufficed for the purpose of concealment.These considerations, however, did not immediately occur to Emily, with whom so many circumstances conspired to rouse terror, that she had no power to oppose it, or to enquire coolly into its grounds; and, if she had done so, still there were many appearances which would too well have justified her most terrible apprehensions.She did not now dare to speak to her conductors, at the sound of whose voices she trembled; and when, now and then, she stole a glance at them, their countenances, seen imperfectly through the gloom of evening, served to confirm her fears.
The sun had now been set some time; heavy clouds, whose lower skirts were tinged with sulphureous crimson, lingered in the west, and threw a reddish tint upon the pine forests, which sent forth a solemn sound, as the breeze rolled over them.The hollow moan struck upon Emily's heart, and served to render more gloomy and terrific every object around her,--the mountains, shaded in twilight--the gleaming torrent, hoarsely roaring--the black forests, and the deep glen, broken into rocky recesses, high overshadowed by cypress and sycamore and winding into long obscurity.To this glen, Emily, as she sent forth her anxious eye, thought there was no end; no hamlet, or even cottage, was seen, and still no distant bark of watch dog, or even faint, far-off halloo came on the wind.In a tremulous voice, she now ventured to remind the guides, that it was growing late, and to ask again how far they had to go: but they were too much occupied by their own discourse to attend to her question, which she forbore to repeat, lest it should provoke a surly answer.Having, however, soon after, finished their supper, the men collected the fragments into their wallet, and proceeded along this winding glen, in gloomy silence; while Emily again mused upon her own situation, and concerning the motives of Montoni for involving her in it.That it was for some evil purpose towards herself, she could not doubt; and it seemed, that, if he did not intend to destroy her, with a view of immediately seizing her estates, he meant to reserve her a while in concealment, for some more terrible design, for one that might equally gratify his avarice and still more his deep revenge.At this moment, remembering Signor Brochio and his behaviour in the corridor, a few preceding nights, the latter supposition, horrible as it was, strengthened in her belief.Yet, why remove her from the castle, where deeds of darkness had, she feared, been often executed with secrecy?--from chambers, perhaps With many a foul, and midnight murder stain'd.