Her servants, who were hired for the
journey, were strangers to Julia: from them, therefore, she had
nothing to apprehend. She reached the cottage before sunrise, having
left her people at some little distance. Her heart foreboded evil,
when, on knocking at the door, no answer was returned. She knocked
again, and still all was silent. Through the casement she could
discover no object, amidst the grey obscurity of the dawn. She now
opened the door, and, to her inexpressible surprise and distress,
found the cottage empty. She proceeded to a small inner room, where
lay a part of Julia's apparel. The bed had no appearance of having
being slept in, and every moment served to heighten and confirm her
apprehensions. While she pursued the search, she suddenly heard the
trampling of feet at the cottage door, and presently after some people
entered. Her fears for Julia now yielded to those for her own safety,
and she was undetermined whether to discover herself, or remain in her
present situation, when she was relieved from her irresolution by the
appearance of Julia.
On the return of the good woman, who had accompanied madame to the
village on the preceding night, Julia went to the cottage at Farrini.
Her grateful heart would not suffer her to depart without taking leave
of her faithful friends, thanking them for their kindness, and
informing them of her future prospects. They had prevailed upon her to
spend the few intervening hours at this cot, whence she had just risen
to meet madame.
They now hastened to the spot where the horses were stationed, and
commenced their journey. For some leagues they travelled in silence
and thought, over a wild and picturesque country. The landscape was
tinted with rich and variegated hues; and the autumnal lights, which
streamed upon the hills, produced a spirited and beautiful effect upon
the scenery. All the glories of the vintage rose to their view: the
purple grapes flushed through the dark green of the surrounding
foliage, and the prospect glowed with luxuriance.
They now descended into a deep valley, which appeared more like a
scene of airy enchantment than reality. Along the bottom flowed a
clear majestic stream, whose banks were adorned with thick groves of
orange and citron trees. Julia surveyed the scene in silent
complacency, but her eye quickly caught an object which changed with
instantaneous shock the tone of her feelings. She observed a party of
horsemen winding down the side of a hill behind her. Their uncommon
speed alarmed her, and she pushed her horse into a gallop. On looking
back Madame de Menon clearly perceived they were in pursuit. Soon
after the men suddenly appeared from behind a dark grove within a
small distance of them; and, upon their nearer approach, Julia,
overcome with fatigue and fear, sunk breathless from her horse. She
was saved from the ground by one of the pursuers, who caught her in
his arms. Madame, with the rest of the party, were quickly overtaken;
and as soon as Julia revived, they were bound, and reconducted to the
hill from whence they had descended. Imagination only can paint the
anguish of Julia's mind, when she saw herself thus delivered up to the
power of her enemy. Madame, in the surrounding troop, discovered none
of the marquis's people, and they were therefore evidently in the
hands of the duke.