The Monk: A Romance
and Marguerite goaded on hers with the poignard, which had already
rendered us such good service. We flew like lightning, and gained the
open plains. Already was Strasbourg’s Steeple in sight, when we heard
the Robbers pursuing us. Marguerite looked back, and distinguished our
followers descending a small Hill at no great distance. It was in vain
that we urged on our Horses; The noise approached nearer with every
moment.
“We are lost!” She exclaimed; “The Villains gain upon us!”
“On! On!” replied I; “I hear the trampling of Horses coming from the
Town.”
We redoubled our exertions, and were soon aware of a numerous band of
Cavaliers, who came towards us at full speed. They were on the point of
passing us.
“Stay! Stay!” shrieked Marguerite; “Save us! For God’s sake, save us!”
The Foremost, who seemed to act as Guide, immediately reined in his
Steed.
“’Tis She! ’Tis She!” exclaimed He, springing upon the ground; “Stop,
my Lord, stop! They are safe! ’Tis my Mother!”
At the same moment Marguerite threw herself from her Horse, clasped him
in her arms, and covered him with Kisses. The other Cavaliers stopped
at the exclamation.
“The Baroness Lindenberg?” cried another of the Strangers eagerly;
“Where is She? Is She not with you?”
He stopped on beholding her lying senseless in my arms. Hastily He
caught her from me. The profound sleep in which She was plunged made
him at first tremble for her life; but the beating of her heart soon
reassured him.
“God be thanked!” said He; “She has escaped unhurt.”
I interrupted his joy by pointing out the Brigands, who continued to
approach. No sooner had I mentioned them than the greatest part of the
Company, which appeared to be chiefly composed of soldiers, hastened
forward to meet them. The Villains stayed not to receive their attack:
Perceiving their danger they turned the heads of their Horses, and fled
into the wood, whither they were followed by our Preservers. In the
mean while the Stranger, whom I guessed to be the Baron Lindenberg,
after thanking me for my care of his Lady, proposed our returning with
all speed to the Town. The Baroness, on whom the effects of the opiate
had not ceased to operate, was placed before him; Marguerite and her
Son remounted their Horses; the Baron’s Domestics followed, and we soon
arrived at the Inn, where He had taken his apartments.
This was at the Austrian Eagle, where my Banker, whom before my
quitting Paris I had apprised of my intention to visit Strasbourg, had
prepared Lodgings for me. I rejoiced at this circumstance. It gave me
an opportunity of cultivating the Baron’s acquaintance, which I foresaw
would be of use to me in Germany. Immediately upon our arrival the Lady
was conveyed to bed; A Physician was sent for, who prescribed a
medicine likely to counteract the effects of the sleepy potion, and
after it had been poured down her throat, She was committed to the care
of the Hostess. The Baron then addressed himself to me, and entreated
me to recount the particulars of this adventure. I complied with his
request instantaneously; for in pain respecting Stephano’s fate, whom I
had been compelled to abandon to the cruelty of the Banditti, I found
it impossible for me to repose, till I had some news of him. I received
but too soon the intelligence, that my trusty Servant had perished. The
Soldiers who had pursued the Brigands returned while I was employed in
relating my adventure to the Baron. By their account I found that the
Robbers had been overtaken: Guilt and true courage are incompatible;
They had thrown themselves at the feet of their Pursuers, had
surrendered themselves without striking a blow, had discovered their
secret retreat, made known their signals by which the rest of the Gang
might be seized, and in short had betrayed ever mark of cowardice and
baseness. By this means the whole of the Band, consisting of near sixty
persons, had been made Prisoners, bound, and conducted to Strasbourg.
Some of the Soldiers hastened to the Cottage, One of the Banditti
serving them as Guide. Their first visit was to the fatal Barn, where
they were fortunate enough to find two of the Baron’s Servants still
alive, though desperately wounded. The rest had expired beneath the
swords of the Robbers, and of these my unhappy Stephano was one.
Alarmed at our escape, the Robbers in their haste to overtake us, had
neglected to visit the Cottage. In consequence, the Soldiers found the
two Waiting-women unhurt, and buried in the same death-like slumber
which had overpowered their Mistress. There was nobody else found in
the Cottage, except a child not above four years old, which the
Soldiers brought away with them. We were busying ourselves with
conjectures respecting the birth of this little unfortunate, when
Marguerite rushed into the room with the Baby in her arms. She fell at
the feet of the Officer who was making us this report, and blessed him
a thousand times for the preservation of her Child.
When the first burst of maternal tenderness was over, I besought her to
declare, by what means She had been united to a Man whose principles
seemed so totally discordant with her own. She bent her eyes downwards,
and wiped a few tears from her cheek.
“Gentlemen,” said She after a silence of some minutes, “I would request
a favour of you: You have a right to know on whom you confer an
obligation. I will not therefore stifle a confession which covers me
with shame; But permit me to comprise it in as few words as possible.
“I was born in Strasbourg of respectable Parents; Their names I must at
present conceal: My Father still lives, and deserves not to be involved
in my infamy; If you grant my request, you shall be informed of my
family name. A Villain made himself Master of my affections, and to
follow him I quitted my Father’s House. Yet though my passions
overpowered my virtue, I sank not into that degeneracy of vice, but too
commonly the lot of Women who make the first false step. I loved my
Seducer; dearly loved him! I was true to his Bed; this Baby, and the
Youth who warned you, my Lord Baron, of your Lady’s danger, are the
pledges of our affection. Even at this moment I lament his loss, though
’tis to him that I owe all the miseries of my existence.
“He was of noble birth, but He had squandered away his paternal
inheritance. His Relations considered him as a disgrace to their name,
and utterly discarded him. His excesses drew upon him the indignation
of the Police. He was obliged to fly from Strasbourg, and saw no other
resource from beggary than an union with the Banditti who infested the
neighbouring Forest, and whose Troop was chiefly composed of Young Men
of family in the same predicament with himself. I was determined not to
forsake him. I followed him to the Cavern of the Brigands, and shared
with him the misery inseparable from a life of pillage. But though I
was aware that our existence was supported by plunder, I knew not all
the horrible circumstances attached to my Lover’s profession. These He
concealed from me with the utmost care; He was conscious that my
sentiments were not sufficiently depraved to look without horror upon
assassination: He supposed, and with justice, that I should fly with
detestation from the embraces of a Murderer. Eight years of possession
had not abated his love for me; and He cautiously removed from my
knowledge every circumstance, which might lead me to suspect the crimes
in which He but too often participated. He succeeded perfectly: It was
not till after my Seducer’s death, that I discovered his hands to have
been stained with the blood of innocence.
“One fatal night He was brought back to the Cavern covered with wounds:
He received them in attacking an English Traveller, whom his Companions
immediately sacrificed to their resentment. He had only time to entreat
my pardon for all the sorrows which He had caused me: He pressed my
hand to his lips, and expired. My grief was inexpressible. As soon as
its violence abated, I resolved to return to Strasbourg, to throw
myself with my two Children at my Father’s feet, and implore his
forgiveness, though I little hoped to obtain it. What was my
consternation when informed that no one entrusted with the secret of
their retreat was ever permitted to quit the troop of the Banditti;
That I must give up all hopes of ever rejoining society, and consent
instantly to accepting one of their Band for my Husband! My prayers and
remonstrances were vain. They cast lots to decide to whose possession I
should fall; I became the property of the infamous Baptiste. A Robber,
who had once been a Monk, pronounced over us a burlesque rather than a
religious Ceremony: I and my Children were delivered into the hands of
my new Husband, and He conveyed us immediately to his home.
“He assured me that He had long entertained for me the most ardent
regard; But that Friendship for my deceased Lover had obliged him to
stifle his desires. He endeavoured to reconcile me to my fate, and for
some time treated me with respect and gentleness: At length finding
that my aversion rather increased than diminished, He obtained those
favours by violence, which I persisted to refuse him. No resource
remained for me but to bear my sorrows with patience; I was conscious
that I deserved them but too well. Flight was forbidden: My Children
were in the power of Baptiste, and He had sworn that if I attempted to
escape, their lives should pay for it. I had had too many opportunities
of witnessing the barbarity of his nature to doubt his fulfilling his
oath to the very letter. Sad experience had convinced me of the horrors
of my situation: My first Lover had carefully concealed them from me;
Baptiste rather rejoiced in opening my eyes to the cruelties of his
profession, and strove to familiarise me with blood and slaughter.
“My nature was licentious and warm, but not cruel: My conduct had been
imprudent, but my heart was not unprincipled. Judge then what I must
have felt at being a continual witness of crimes the most horrible and
revolting! Judge how I must have grieved at being united to a Man who
received the unsuspecting Guest with an air of openness and
hospitality, at the very moment that He meditated his destruction.
Chagrin and discontent preyed upon my constitution: The few charms
bestowed on me by nature withered away, and the dejection of my
countenance denoted the sufferings of my heart. I was tempted a
thousand times to put an end to my existence; But the remembrance of my
Children held my hand. I trembled to leave my dear Boys in my Tyrant’s
power, and trembled yet more for their virtue than their lives. The
Second was still too young to benefit by my instructions; But in the
heart of my Eldest I laboured unceasingly to plant those principles,
which might enable him to avoid the crimes of his Parents. He listened
to me with docility, or rather with eagerness. Even at his early age,
He showed that He was not calculated for the society of Villains; and
the only comfort which I enjoyed among my sorrows, was to witness the
dawning virtues of my Theodore.
“Such was my situation, when the perfidy of Don Alphonso’s postillion
conducted him to the Cottage. His youth, air, and manners interested me
most forcibly in his behalf. The absence of my Husband’s Sons gave me
an opportunity which I had long wished to find, and I resolved to
risque every thing to preserve the Stranger. The vigilance of Baptiste
prevented me from warning Don Alphonso of his danger: I knew that my
betraying the secret would be immediately punished with death; and
however embittered was my life by calamities, I wanted courage to
sacrifice it for the sake of preserving that of another Person. My only
hope rested upon procuring succour from Strasbourg: At this I resolved