Of the several persons who had appeared in the hall, here was Cavigni alone: but Emily's alarm was soon after heightened by the steps of some one in the corridor, who, she apprehended, brought a message from the Count.In the next moment, Annette appeared.
'Ah! ma'amselle,' said she, 'here is the Signor Cavigni arrived! Iam sure I rejoiced to see a christian person in this place; and then he is so good natured too, he always takes so much notice of me!--And here is also Signor Verezzi, and who do you think besides, ma'amselle?'
'I cannot guess, Annette; tell me quickly.'
'Nay, ma'am, do guess once.'
'Well, then,' said Emily, with assumed composure, 'it is--Count Morano, I suppose.'
'Holy Virgin!' cried Annette, 'are you ill, ma'amselle? you are going to faint! let me get some water.'
Emily sunk into a chair.'Stay, Annette,' said she, feebly, 'do not leave me--I shall soon be better; open the casement.--The Count, you say--he is come, then?'
'Who, I!--the Count! No, ma'amselle, I did not say so.' 'He is NOTcome then?' said Emily eagerly.'No, ma'amselle.'
'You are sure of it?'
'Lord bless me!' said Annette, 'you recover very suddenly, ma'am!
why, I thought you was dying, just now.'
'But the Count--you are sure, is not come?'
'O yes, quite sure of that, ma'amselle.Why, I was looking out through the grate in the north turret, when the carriages drove into the court-yard, and I never expected to see such a goodly sight in this dismal old castle! but here are masters and servants, too, enough to make the place ring again.O! I was ready to leap through the rusty old bars for joy!--O! who would ever have thought of seeing a christian face in this huge dreary house? I could have kissed the very horses that brought them.'
'Well, Annette, well, I am better now.'
'Yes, ma'amselle, I see you are.O! all the servants will lead merry lives here, now; we shall have singing and dancing in the little hall, for the Signor cannot hear us there--and droll stories--Ludovico's come, ma'am; yes, there is Ludovico come with them! You remember Ludovico, ma'am--a tall, handsome young man--Signor Cavigni's lacquey--who always wears his cloak with such a grace, thrown round his left arm, and his hat set on so smartly, all on one side, and--'
'No,' said Emily, who was wearied by her loquacity.
'What, ma'amselle, don't you remember Ludovico--who rowed the Cavaliero's gondola, at the last regatta, and won the prize? And who used to sing such sweet verses about Orlandos and about the Black-a-moors, too; and Charly--Charly--magne, yes, that was the name, all under my lattice, in the west portico, on the moon-light nights at Venice? O! I have listened to him!'---'I fear, to thy peril, my good Annette,' said Emily; 'for it seems his verses have stolen thy heart.But let me advise you; if it is so, keep the secret; never let him know it.'
'Ah--ma'amselle!--how can one keep such a secret as that?'
'Well, Annette, I am now so much better, that you may leave me.'
'O, but, ma'amselle, I forgot to ask--how did you sleep in this dreary old chamber last night?'--'As well as usual.'--'Did you hear no noises?'--'None.'--'Nor see anything?'--'Nothing.'--'Well, that is surprising!'--'Not in the least: and now tell me, why you ask these questions.'
'O, ma'amselle! I would not tell you for the world, nor all I have heard about this chamber, either; it would frighten you so.'
'If that is all, you have frightened me already, and may therefore tell me what you know, without hurting your conscience.'
'O Lord! they say the room is haunted, and has been so these many years.'
'It is by a ghost, then, who can draw bolts,' said Emily, endeavouring to laugh away her apprehensions; 'for I left the door open, last night, and found it fastened this morning.'
Annette turned pale, and said not a word.
'Do you know whether any of the servants fastened this door in the morning, before I rose?'
'No, ma'am, that I will be bound they did not; but I don't know:
shall I go and ask, ma'amselle?' said Annette, moving hastily towards the corridor.
'Stay, Annette, I have another question to ask; tell me what you have heard concerning this room, and whither that stair-case leads.'
'I will go and ask it all directly, ma'am; besides, I am sure my lady wants me.I cannot stay now, indeed, ma'am.'
She hurried from the room, without waiting Emily's reply, whose heart, lightened by the certainty, that Morano was not arrived, allowed her to smile at the superstitious terror, which had seized on Annette; for, though she sometimes felt its influence herself, she could smile at it, when apparent in other persons.
Montoni having refused Emily another chamber, she determined to bear with patience the evil she could not remove, and, in order to make the room as comfortable as possible, unpacked her books, her sweet delight in happier days, and her soothing resource in the hours of moderate sorrow: but there were hours when even these failed of their effect; when the genius, the taste, the enthusiasm of the sublimest writers were felt no longer.
Her little library being arranged on a high chest, part of the furniture of the room, she took out her drawing utensils, and was tranquil enough to be pleased with the thought of sketching the sublime scenes, beheld from her windows; but she suddenly checked this pleasure, remembering how often she had soothed herself by the intention of obtaining amusement of this kind, and had been prevented by some new circumstance of misfortune.
'How can I suffer myself to be deluded by hope,' said she, 'and, because Count Morano is not yet arrived, feel a momentary happiness?
Alas! what is it to me, whether he is here to-day, or to-morrow, if he comes at all?--and that he will come--it were weakness to doubt.'