mercy!—Mercy! (repeated I starting), what mercy should I have extended to him who preserved my life but to entail dishonour upon it? I have taken but a just revenge (continued I)'; and my spirits were reanimated by the idea.
"Casting a look of savage triumph upon the body, I darted across it, and fled almost with the velocity of lightning towards the castle. As I was entering the court, I met a holy man, who lived in a neighbouring monastery, the confessor of the Earl and his family, coming out; I would have pushed by him, but he caught my arm.
'Alas, my son! (said he, in an accent of pity) your disordered looks too plainly prove your knowledge of the sad event which has happened in the castle during your absence. How unfortunate that you could not be found yesterday when your brother wrote to inform you of it, and request your company hither; your presence might have mitigated his transports.'
