This horrible act was no sooner perpetrated, than the Friar beheld the
enormity of his crime. A cold dew flowed over his limbs; his eyes
closed; He staggered to a chair, and sank into it almost as lifeless as
the Unfortunate who lay extended at his feet. From this state He was
rouzed by the necessity of flight, and the danger of being found in
Antonia’s apartment. He had no desire to profit by the execution of his
crime. Antonia now appeared to him an object of disgust. A deadly cold
had usurped the place of that warmth which glowed in his bosom: No
ideas offered themselves to his mind but those of death and guilt, of
present shame and future punishment. Agitated by remorse and fear He
prepared for flight: Yet his terrors did not so compleatly master his
recollection, as to prevent his taking the precautions necessary for
his safety. He replaced the pillow upon the bed, gathered up his
garments, and with the fatal Talisman in his hand, bent his unsteady
steps towards the door. Bewildered by fear, He fancied that his flight
was opposed by Legions of Phantoms; Whereever He turned, the disfigured
Corse seemed to lie in his passage, and it was long before He succeeded
in reaching the door. The enchanted Myrtle produced its former effect.
The door opened, and He hastened down the staircase. He entered the
Abbey unobserved, and having shut himself into his Cell, He abandoned
his soul to the tortures of unavailing remorse, and terrors of
impending detection.
CHAPTER IX.
Tell us, ye Dead, will none of you in pity
To those you left behind disclose the secret?
O! That some courteous Ghost would blab it out,
What ’tis you are, and we must shortly be.
I’ve heard that Souls departed have sometimes
Fore-warned Men of their deaths:
’Twas kindly done
To knock, and give the alarum.
BLAIR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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