The image of a wicked, heinous fault
Lives in his eye; that close aspect of his
Does shew the mood of a much-troubled breast.
KING JOHN
Leaving the gay scenes of Paris, we return to those of the gloomy
Apennine, where Emily's thoughts were still faithful to Valancourt.
Looking to him as to her only hope, she recollected, with jealous
exactness, every assurance and every proof she had witnessed of his
affection; read again and again the letters she had received from him;
weighed, with intense anxiety, the force of every word, that spoke of
his attachment; and dried her tears, as she trusted in his truth.
Montoni, meanwhile, had made strict enquiry concerning the strange
circumstance of his alarm, without obtaining information; and was, at
length, obliged to account for it by the reasonable supposition, that
it was a mischievous trick played off by one of his domestics. His
disagreements with Madame Montoni, on the subject of her settlements,
were now more frequent than ever; he even confined her entirely to her
own apartment, and did not scruple to threaten her with much greater
severity, should she persevere in a refusal.
Reason, had she consulted it, would now have perplexed her in the choice
of a conduct to be adopted. It would have pointed out the danger of
irritating by further opposition a man, such as Montoni had proved
himself to be, and to whose power she had so entirely committed herself;
and it would also have told her, of what extreme importance to her
future comfort it was, to reserve for herself those possessions, which
would enable her to live independently of Montoni, should she ever
escape from his immediate controul. But she was directed by a more
decisive guide than reason--the spirit of revenge, which urged her to
oppose violence to violence, and obstinacy to obstinacy.
Wholly confined to the solitude of her apartment, she was now reduced
to solicit the society she had lately rejected; for Emily was the only
person, except Annette, with whom she was permitted to converse.
Generously anxious for her peace, Emily, therefore, tried to persuade,
when she could not convince, and sought by every gentle means to induce
her to forbear that asperity of reply, which so greatly irritated
Montoni. The pride of her aunt did sometimes soften to the soothing
voice of Emily, and there even were moments, when she regarded her
affectionate attentions with goodwill.
The scenes of terrible contention, to which Emily was frequently
compelled to be witness, exhausted her spirits more than any
circumstances, that had occurred since her departure from Tholouse. The
gentleness and goodness of her parents, together with the scenes of her
early happiness, often stole on her mind, like the visions of a higher
world; while the characters and circumstances, now passing beneath her
eye, excited both terror and surprise. She could scarcely have
imagined, that passions so fierce and so various, as those which Montoni
exhibited, could have been concentrated in one individual; yet what
more surprised her, was, that, on great occasions, he could bend these
passions, wild as they were, to the cause of his interest, and generally
could disguise in his countenance their operation on his mind; but she
had seen him too often, when he had thought it unnecessary to conceal
his nature, to be deceived on such occasions.