— Oh, spare me, Grimbald!

I will tempt hermits for thee in their cells,

And virgins in their dreams.

DRYDEN’S KING ARTHUR

‘It is a singular, but well-attested fact, that women who are compelled to undergo all the inconveniences and uneasiness of clandestine pregnancy, often fare better than those whose situation is watched over by tender and anxious relatives; and that concealed or illegitimate births are actually attended with less danger and suffering than those which have all the aid that skill and affection can give. So it appeared likely to fare with Isidora. The retirement in which her family lived — the temper of Donna Clara, as slow to suspect from want of penetration, as she was eager in pursuing an object once discovered, from the natural cupidity of a vacant mind — these circumstances, combined with the dress of the day, the enormous and enveloping fardingale, gave safety to her secret, at least till the arrival of its crisis. As this crisis approached, one may easily imagine the secret and trembling preparation — the important nurse, proud of the trust reposed in her — the confidential maid — the faithful and discreet medical attendant — to obtain all these Melmoth supplied her amply with money — a circumstance that would have surprised Isidora, as his appearance was always remarkably plain and private, if, at this moment of anxiety, any thought but that of the hour could have found room in her mind.

‘On the evening supposed to be that preceding the dreaded event, Melmoth had thrown an unusual degree of tenderness into his manner — he gazed on her frequently with anxious and silent fondness — he seemed to have something to communicate which he had not courage to disclose. Isidora, well versed in the language of the countenance, which is often, more than that of words, the language of the heart, intreated him to tell her what he looked. ‘Your father is returning,’ said Melmoth reluctantly. ‘He will certainly be here in a few days, perhaps in a few hours.’ Isidora heard him in silent horror. ‘My father!’ she cried — ‘I have never seen my father. — Oh, how shall I meet him now! And is my mother ignorant of this? — would she not have apprized me?’ — ‘She is ignorant at present; but she will not long be so.’ — ‘And from whence could you have obtained intelligence that she is ignorant of?’ Melmoth paused some time, — his features assumed a more contracted and gloomy character than they had done laterally — he answered with slow and stern reluctance — ‘Never again ask me that question — the intelligence that I can give you must be of more importance to you than the means by which I obtain it — enough for you that it is true.’ — ‘Pardon me, love,’ said Isidora; ‘it is probable that I may never again offend you — will you not, then, forgive my last offence?’

‘Melmoth seemed too intently occupied with his own thoughts to answer even her tears. He added, after a short and sullen pause, ‘Your betrothed bridegroom is coming with your father — Montilla’s father is dead — the arrangements are all concluded for your nuptials — your bridegroom is coming to wed the wife of another — with him comes your fiery, foolish brother, who has set out to meet his father and his future relative. There will be a feast prepared in the house on the occasion of your future nuptials — you may hear of a strange guest appearing at your festival — I will be there!’

‘Isidora stood stupified with horror. ‘Festival!’ she repeated — ‘a bridal festival! — and I already wedded to you, and about to become a mother!’

‘At this moment the trampling of many horsemen was heard as they approached the villa — the tumult of the domestics hurrying to admit and receive them, resounded through the apartments and Melmoth, with a gesture that seemed to Isidora rather like a menace than a farewell, instantly disappeared; and within an hour, Isidora knelt to the father she had never till then beheld — suffered herself to be saluted by Montilla — and accepted the embrace of her brother, who, in the petulance of his spirit, half rejected the chill and altered form that advanced to greet him.

‘Every thing at the family meeting was conducted in true Spanish formality. Aliaga kissed the cold hand of his withered wife — the numerous domestics exhibited a grave joy at the return of their master — Fra Jose assumed increased importance, and called for dinner in a louder tone. Montilla, the lover, a cold and quiet character, took things as they occurred.

‘Every thing lay hushed under a brief and treacherous calm. Isidora, who trembled at the approaching danger, felt her terrors on a sudden suspended. It was not so very near as she apprehended — and she bore with tolerable patience the daily mention of her approaching nuptials, while she was momently harassed by her confidential servants with hints of the impossibility of the event of which they were in expectation, being much longer delayed. Isidora heard, felt, endured all with courage — the grave congratulation of her father and mother — the self-complacent attentions of Montilla, sure of the bride and of her dower — the sullen compliance of the brother, who, unable to refuse his consent, was for ever hinting that his sister might have formed a higher connection. All these passed over her mind like a dream — the reality of her existence seemed internal, and she said to herself, — ‘Were I at the altar, were my hand locked in that of Montilla, Melmoth would rend me from him.’ A wild but deeply-fixed conviction — a wandering image of preternatural power, overshadowed her mind while she thought of Melmoth; — and this image, which had caused her so much terror and inquietude in her early hours of love, now formed her only resource against the hour of inconceivable suffering; as those unfortunate females in the Eastern Tales, whose beauty has attracted the fearful passion of some evil genie, are supposed to depend, at their nuptial hour, on the presence of the seducing spirit, to tear from the arms of the agonised parent, and the distracted bridegroom, the victim whom he has reserved for himself, and whose wild devotion to him gives a dignity to the union so unhallowed and unnatural.1

1 Vide the beautiful tale of Auheta the Princess of Egypt, and Maugraby the Sorcerer, in the Arabian Tales.

‘Aliaga’s heart expanded amid the approaching completion of the felicitous plans he had formed, and with his heart, his purse, which was its depositary, opened also, and he resolved to give a splendid fete in honour of his daughter’s nuptials. Isidora remembered Melmoth’s prediction of a fatal festival; and his words, ‘I will be there,’ gave her for a time a kind of trembling confidence. But as the preparations were carried on under her very eye, — as she was hourly consulted about the disposal of the ornaments, and the decorations of the apartments, — her resolution failed, and while she uttered a few incoherent words, her eye was glazed with horror.

‘The entertainment was to be a masked ball; and Isidora, who imagined that this might suggest to Melmoth some auspicious expedient for her escape, watched in vain for some hint of hope, — some allusion to the probability of this event facilitating her extrication from those snares of death that seemed compassing her about. He never uttered a word, and her dependence on him was at one moment confirmed, at another shaken to its foundation, by this terrible silence. In one of these latter moments, the anguish of which was increased beyond expression by a conviction that her hour of danger was not far distant, she exclaimed to Melmoth — ‘Take me — take me from this place! My existence is nothing — it is a vapour that soon must be exhaled — but my reason is threatened every moment! I cannot sustain the horrors to which I am exposed! All this day I have been dragged through rooms decorated for my impossible nuptials! — Oh, Melmoth, if you no longer love me, at least commiserate me! Save me from a situation of horror unspeakable! — have mercy on your child, if not on me! I have hung on your looks, — I have watched for a word of hope — you have not uttered a sound — you have not cast a glance of hope on me! I am wild! — I am reckless of all but the imminent and present horrors of tomorrow — you have talked of your power to approach, to enter these walls without suspicion or discovery — you boasted of that cloud of mystery in which you could envelope yourself. Oh! in this last moment of my extremity, wrap me in its tremendous folds, and let me escape in them, though they prove my shroud! — Think of the terrible night of our marriage! I followed you then in fear and confidence — your touch dissolved every earthly barrier — your steps trod an unknown path, yet I followed you! — Oh! If you really possess that mysterious and inscrutable power, which I dare not either question or believe, exert it for me in this terrible emergency — aid my escape — and though I feel I shall never live to thank you, the silent suppliant will remind you by its smiles of the tears that I now shed; and if they are shed in vain, its smile will have a bitter eloquence as it plays with the flowers on its mother’s grave!’

‘Melmoth, as she spoke, was profoundly silent, and deeply attentive. He said at last, ‘Do you then resign yourself to me?’ — ‘Alas! have I not?’ — ‘A question is not an answer. Will you, renouncing all other engagements, all other hopes, depend on me solely for your extrication from this fearful emergency?’ — ‘I will — I do!’ — ‘Will you promise, that if I render you the service you require, if I employ the power you say I have alluded to, you will be mine?’ — ‘Yours! — Alas! am I not yours already?’ — ‘You embrace my protection, then? You voluntarily seek the shelter of that power which I can promise? You yourself will me to employ that power in effecting your escape? — Speak — do I interpret your sentiments aright? — I am unable to exercise those powers you invest me with, unless you............