The Romance of the Forest, interspersed with some pieces of poetry.Radcliffe, Ann Ward
General
The Romance of the Forest, interspersed with some pieces of poetry.
Radcliffe, Ann Ward
Gothic fiction
Sometimes she looked back to her father; but in him she only saw an
enemy from whom she must fly: this remembrance heightened her sorrow;
yet it was not the recollection of the suffering he had occasioned her,
by which she was so much afflicted, as by the sense of his unkindness:
she wept bitterly. At length, with that artless piety which innocence
only knows, she addressed the Supreme Being, and resigned herself to his
care. Her mind then gradually became peaceful and reassured, and soon
after she sunk to repose.
CHAPTER V
A SURPRISE--AN ADVENTURE--A
MYSTERY.
The night passed without any alarm; Peter had remained upon his post,
and heard nothing that prevented his sleeping. La Motte heard him, long
before he saw him, most musically snoring; though it must be owned there
was more of the bass than of any other part of the gamut in his
performance. He was soon roused by the _bravura_ of La Motte, whose
notes sounded discord to his ears, and destroyed the torpor of his
tranquillity.
God bless you, master! what's the matter? cried Peter, waking, are they
come?
Yes, for aught you care, they might be come. Did I place you here to
sleep, sirrah? Bless you, master, returned Peter, sleep is the only
comfort to be had here; I'm sure I would not deny it to a dog in such a
place as this.
La Motte sternly questioned him concerning any noise he might have heard
in the night; and Peter full as solemnly protested he had heard none; an
assertion which was strictly true, for he had enjoyed the comfort of
being asleep the whole time.
La Motte ascended to the trap-door and listened attentively. No sounds
were heard, and as he ventured to lift it, the full light of the sun
burst upon his sight, the morning being now far advanced: he walked
softly along the chambers, and looked through a window--no person was to
be seen. Encouraged by this apparent security, he ventured down the
stairs of the tower, and entered the first apartment. He was proceeding
towards the second, when suddenly recollecting himself, he first peeped
through the crevice of the door, which stood half open. He looked, and
distinctly saw a person sitting near the window, upon which his arm
rested.
The discovery so much shocked him, that for a moment he lost all
presence of mind, and was utterly unable to move from the spot. The
person, whose back was towards him, arose, and turned his head: La Motte
now recovered himself, and quitting the apartment as quickly and at the
same time as silently as possible, ascended to the closet. He raised the
trap-door, but, before he closed it, heard the footsteps of a person
entering the outward chamber. Bolts or other fastening to the trap there
was none; and his security depended solely upon the exact correspondence
of the boards. The outer door of the stone room had no means of defence,
and the fastenings of the inner one were on the wrong side to afford
security even till some means of escape could be found.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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