THE BLACK MASK. 615 



much honour, \vhen he accepted of his hospitality. And but stop 

 did you not see a horseman cross the glen there, and then enter yonder 

 coppice? There! there he is -again ! I see him now plainly. It is 

 the Austrian courier, coming, perhaps, to refute all I have been telling 

 you. I am sure he brings tidings from Vienna, by taking that path." 



The rider to whom their attention was now directed, was seen ad- 

 vancing at the full speed of his horse, and but a few seconds elapsed 

 ere he emerged from the trees. Although at first his course had been 

 directed to the castle, it was now evident he made for the place where 

 the father and daughter stood in breathless anxiety for his arrival. As 

 he came nearer, they could see that he wore the deeply-slouched hat 

 and long flowing cloak of a courier. .Then was there no doubt of his 

 being one. He drew nearer and nearer, and never slackened his pace, 

 till within a few yards of the place where they awaited him ; then 

 throwing off his hat and cloak, he sprang from his horse, and flew into 

 their arms. It was the Count himself. Exclamations of surprise and 

 delight burst from both, and, amid a thousand welcomes, they took the 

 path back to the castle. Questioning and reproaching for forgetfulness, 

 with an interest which too plainly told how dearly the inquirer felt the 

 implied neglect, Avith many a heartfelt confession of joy at the present 

 meeting, filled up the hours till they retired for the night. 



When the Count found himself alone in his chamber, he walked hur- 

 riedly to and fro, his hands clasped, and his brow* knitted ; his whole 

 air bespeaking the feelings of one labouring under some great mental 

 agitation. At length he threw himself upon his bed ; but when morn- 

 ing broke, he rose weary and unrefreshed, and had to plead fatigue to 

 the Baron, as an excuse for not accompanying him on an intended ex- 

 cursion for that day. Another reason might also have influenced the 

 Count Adela was again his companion for the entire day; and amid 

 many a kind inquiry for his health, and hopes but half expressed, that 

 his present stay would recruit his strength and vigour, she plainly 

 shewed, if forgetfulness had existed on either side, it could not have 

 been laid to her charge. It was also plain that his feeling for her, if 

 not already love, was rapidly ripening into it : and yet there came ever 

 across him some thoughts that at once damped the very praise he spoke 

 to her, and chilled the warm current of affection with which he an- 

 swered her questions. The day passed, however, but too rapidly, and 

 another followed it, like in all things, save that every hour which 

 brought them together, seemed but to render them dearer to each other. 

 They rode, they walked, they sang, they read together ; and it may be 

 conjectured how rapidly the courtly address and polished mind of the 

 Count gained upon one so susceptible, and so unpractised in the world; 

 and in fact, ere the first week of his stay passed over, she loved and 

 more confessed to him her love. 



Had she been at all skilled in worldly knowledge, she would have 

 seen that her lover did not receive her confession of attachment with 

 all the ardour with which he might have heard such an avowal and 

 from one so fair, so young, and so innocent. But, even as it was, she 

 thought him more thoughtful than usual at the moment. He had been 

 standing, leaning upon her harp she had ceased playing and he now 

 held her hand within his own, as he pressed for some acknowledgment 

 of her feelings for him ; but when she gave it, he scarcely pressed the 

 hand which trembled as she spoke; and letting it drop, he walked 



