1831. J a Tale of the Inquisition. , 33 



their marriage without delay, to quit this solitude, and repair immedi- 

 ately to Henrico's estate. During the preparation for the nuptials, 

 Henrico took up his abode in a neighbouring village, in the cabin of the 

 young man, by whose means he had become acquainted with Mira, and 

 who was now a happy husband and a father. The old woman died. 

 Mira shed tears of sorrow over her grave. A few days after, a priest 

 pronounced the marriage rites, which bound tlie two lovers ; and Mira 

 presented the cottage, and all that belonged to it, to the poor, but happy 

 couple, whose hut had afforded a temporary shelter to Henrico. They 

 then left the A'alley, taking with them ^liranda's picture alone. 



Wliile Henrico lived with his young wife in tranquillit}^ and happiness, 

 in a beautiful retirement, and forgot the world around hira in the felicity 

 he enjoyed, peace dawned over Europe. Amongst those who hastened 

 to the friends and homes they so long pined after, was IMiranda d'Aragon. 

 He had been left severely wounded on the field of battle, and had fallen 

 into the hands of the enemy, who, considering him a distinguished 

 officer, had removed him to a very remote place of security. Full of 

 ardent passion for the lovely being he had himself nurtured, he now 

 hastened in joyful expectation to the valley where he had left her. 

 But who can describe his feelings, when he saw strange j^eople come out 

 to meet him from that dwelling to which he had hoped to have been 

 welcomed by a friendly eye ; and when he heard that the eldest of the 

 late inhabitants was dead, and that the youngest was married to Henrico 

 de St. Lorent, and gone with him, no one knew where ! Pale and 

 horror-stricken, IMiranda slunk away like a repulsed beggar, and threw 

 himself down under a tree on the mountain, from whence he could over- 

 look the valley beneath. Here, feeling himself irredeemably lost in 

 wretchedness, he seized his dagger to end at once all further illusions. 

 But the thirst of vengeance quickly arose in his wild and fiery soul, and 

 inspired him with a wish to live. 



" No !" ciied he, " perfidious wretch, thou shalt not carry away, like 

 flimsy booty, the happiness I had amassed with so much pain ; thou 

 shalt not, with impunity, violate the sanctuary of my home, and trample 

 on my best hopes ! I will find thee out, and, like the angel of vengeance, 

 hold judgment upon thee !" He raised himself up, and took the road 

 to a neighbouring town, where he had placed his property in the hands 

 of a commercial house. He there purchased arms, and hastened back 

 to the valley with the determination to get possession of his estranged 

 property, either by money or by force ! He represented himself to the 

 present inhabitants of the cottage as a stranger so enchanted with the 

 solitude and beauty of the spot, as to be extremely anxious to purchase 

 it, and offered a sum so much beyond its real worth, that he found 

 force unnecessary to obtain it. The money was paid down on con- 

 dition the house should be immediately vacated, leaving every thing 

 witliin which formerly belonged to it. 



He walked from room to room in the deserted mansion, and entered 

 the chamber, where once, now no longer, hung his portrait ; here the 

 anguish of his feelings overpowered his mind, and he sank down 

 8ol)bii)g loudly, on the spot where his Mira had bloomed in all the 

 delusion of imiocence. Roused at last, by despair and revenge, he 

 started up quickly, seized a sharp axe, and rushed out to commence 

 the work of destruction. Witii violent rage he levelled every thing 

 to the earth ; the fine fruit-trees fell, the flowers were crushed, the 



M.M. New Series.— Yoi.. Xll. No. 67. F 



