The Mysteries of Udolpho
set of dissipated young men, with whom his profession had partly
obliged him to associate, rather than by an inclination to vice; and,
charmed by the humanity, and noble, though rash generosity, which his
conduct towards Mons. Bonnac exhibited, he forgave him the transient
errors, that had stained his youth, and restored him to the high degree
of esteem, with which he had regarded him, during their early
acquaintance. But, as the least reparation he could now make Valancourt
was to afford him an opportunity of explaining to Emily his former
conduct, he immediately wrote, to request his forgiveness of the
unintentional injury he had done him, and to invite him to
Château-le-Blanc. Motives of delicacy withheld the Count from informing
Emily of this letter, and of kindness from acquainting her with the
discovery respecting Valancourt, till his arrival should save her from
the possibility of anxiety, as to its event; and this precaution spared
her even severer inquietude, than the Count had foreseen, since he was
ignorant of the symptoms of despair, which Valancourt’s late conduct
had betrayed.
CHAPTER XVII
But in these cases,
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: thus even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice
To our own lips.
MACBETH
Some circumstances of an extraordinary nature now withdrew Emily from
her own sorrows, and excited emotions, which partook of both surprise
and horror.
A few days followed that, on which Signora Laurentini died, her will
was opened at the monastery, in the presence of the superiors and Mons.
Bonnac, when it was found, that one third of her personal property was
bequeathed to the nearest surviving relative of the late Marchioness de
Villeroi, and that Emily was the person.
With the secret of Emily’s family the abbess had long been acquainted,
and it was in observance of the earnest request of St. Aubert, who was
known to the friar, that attended him on his death-bed, that his
daughter had remained in ignorance of her relationship to the
Marchioness. But some hints, which had fallen from Signora Laurentini,
during her last interview with Emily, and a confession of a very
extraordinary nature, given in her dying hours, had made the abbess
think it necessary to converse with her young friend, on the topic she
had not before ventured to introduce; and it was for this purpose, that
she had requested to see her on the morning that followed her interview
with the nun. Emily’s indisposition had then prevented the intended
conversation; but now, after the will had been examined, she received a
summons, which she immediately obeyed, and became informed of
circumstances, that powerfully affected her. As the narrative of the
abbess was, however, deficient in many particulars, of which the reader
may wish to be informed, and the history of the nun is materially
connected with the fate of the Marchioness de Villeroi, we shall omit
the conversation, that passed in the parlour of the convent, and mingle
with our relation a brief history of
LAURENTINI DI UDOLPHO,
who was the only child of her parents, and heiress of the ancient house
of Udolpho, in the territory of Venice. It was the first misfortune of
her life, and that which led to all her succeeding misery, that the
friends, who ought to have restrained her strong passions, and mildly
instructed her in the art of governing them, nurtured them by early
indulgence. But they cherished their own failings in her; for their
conduct was not the result of rational kindness, and, when they either
indulged, or opposed the passions of their child, they gratified their
own. Thus they indulged her with weakness, and reprehended her with
violence; her spirit was exasperated by their vehemence, instead of
being corrected by their wisdom; and their oppositions became contest
for victory, in which the due tenderness of the parents, and the
affectionate duties of the child, were equally forgotten; but, as
returning fondness disarmed the parents’ resentment soonest, Laurentini
was suffered to believe that she had conquered, and her passions became
stronger by every effort, that had been employed to subdue them.
The death of her father and mother in the same year left her to her own
discretion, under the dangerous circumstances attendant on youth and
beauty. She was fond of company, delighted with admiration, yet
disdainful of the opinion of the world, when it happened to contradict
her inclinations; had a gay and brilliant wit, and was mistress of all
the arts of fascination. Her conduct was such as might have been
expected, from the weakness of her principles and the strength of her
passions.
Among her numerous admirers was the late Marquis de Villeroi, who, on
his tour through Italy, saw Laurentini at Venice, where she usually
resided, and became her passionate adorer. Equally captivated by the
figure and accomplishments of the Marquis, who was at that period one
of the most distinguished noblemen of the French court, she had the art
so effectually to conceal from him the dangerous traits of her
character and the blemishes of her late conduct, that he solicited her
hand in marriage.
Before the nuptials were concluded, she retired to the castle of
Udolpho, whither the Marquis followed, and, where her conduct, relaxing
from the propriety, which she had lately assumed, discovered to him the
precipice, on which he stood. A minuter enquiry than he had before
thought it necessary to make, convinced him, that he had been deceived
in her character, and she, whom he had designed for his wife,
afterwards became his mistress.
Having passed some weeks at Udolpho, he was called abruptly to France,
whither he returned with extreme reluctance, for his heart was still
fascinated by the arts of Laurentini, with whom, however, he had on
various pretences delayed his marriage; but, to reconcile her to this
separation, he now gave repeated promises of returning to conclude the
nuptials, as soon as the affair, which thus suddenly called him to
France, should permit.
Soothed, in some degree, by these assurances, she suffered him to
depart; and, soon after, her relative, Montoni, arriving at Udolpho,
renewed the addresses, which she had before refused, and which she now
again rejected. Meanwhile, her thoughts were constantly with the
Marquis de Villeroi, for whom she suffered all the delirium of Italian
love, cherished by the solitude, to which she confined herself; for she
had now lost all taste for the pleasures of society and the gaiety of
amusement. Her only indulgences were to sigh and weep over a miniature
of the Marquis; to visit the scenes, that had witnessed their
happiness, to pour forth her heart to him in writing, and to count the
weeks, the days, which must intervene before the period that he had
mentioned as probable for his return. But this period passed without
bringing him; and week after week followed in heavy and almost
intolerable expectation. During this interval, Laurentini’s fancy,
occupied incessantly by one idea, became disordered; and, her whole
heart being devoted to one object, life became hateful to her, when she
believed that object lost.
Several months passed, during which she heard nothing from the Marquis
de Villeroi, and her days were marked, at intervals, with the frenzy of
passion and the sullenness of despair. She secluded herself from all
visitors, and, sometimes, remained in her apartment, for weeks
together, refusing to speak to every person, except her favourite
female attendant, writing scraps of letters, reading, again and again,
those she had received from the Marquis, weeping over his picture, and
speaking to it, for many hours, upbraiding, reproaching and caressing
it alternately.
At length, a report reached her, that the Marquis had married in
France, and, after suffering all the extremes of love, jealousy and
indignation, she formed the desperate resolution of going secretly to
that country, and, if the report proved true, of attempting a deep
revenge. To her favourite woman only she confided the plan of her
journey, and she engaged her to partake of it. Having collected her
jewels, which, descending to her from many branches of her family, were
of immense value, and all her cash, to a very large amount, they were
packed in a trunk, which was privately conveyed to a neighbouring town,
whither Laurentini, with this only servant, followed, and thence
proceeded secretly to Leghorn, where they embarked for France.
When, on her arrival in Languedoc, she found, that the Marquis de
Villeroi had been married, for some months, her despair almost deprived
her of reason, and she alternately projected and abandoned the horrible
design of murdering the Marquis, his wife and herself. At length she
contrived to throw herself in his way, with an intention of reproaching
him, for his conduct, and of stabbing herself in his presence; but,
when she again saw him, who so long had been the constant object of her
thoughts and affections, resentment yielded to love; her resolution
failed; she trembled with the conflict of emotions, that assailed her
heart, and fainted away.
The Marquis was not proof against her beauty and sensibility; all the
energy, with which he had first loved, returned, for his passion had
been resisted by prudence, rather than overcome by indifference; and,
since the honour of his family would not permit him to marry her, he
had endeavoured to subdue his love, and had so far succeeded, as to
select the then Marchioness for his wife, whom he loved at first with a
tempered and rational affection. But the mild virtues of that amiable
lady did not recompense him for her indifference, which appeared,
notwithstanding her efforts to conceal it; and he had, for some time,
suspected that her affections were engaged by another person, when
Laurentini arrived in Languedoc. This artful Italian soon perceived,
that she had regained her influence over him, and, soothed by the
discovery, she determined to live, and to employ all her enchantments
to win his consent to the diabolical deed, which she believed was
necessary to the security of her happiness. She conducted her scheme
with deep dissimulation and patient perseverance, and, having
completely estranged the affections of the Marquis from his wife, whose
gentle goodness and unimpassioned manners had ceased to please, when
contrasted with the captivations of the Italian, she proceeded to
awaken in his mind the jealousy of pride, for it was no longer that of
love, and even pointed out to him the person, to whom she affirmed the
Marchioness had sacrificed her honour; but Laurentini had first
extorted from him a solemn promise to forbear avenging himself upon his
rival. This was an important part of her plan, for she knew, that, if
his desire of vengeance was restrained towards one party, it would burn
more fiercely towards the other, and he might then, perhaps, be
prevailed on to assist in the horrible act, which would release him
from the only barrier, that withheld him from making her his wife.
The innocent Marchioness, meanwhile, observed, with extreme grief, the
alteration in her husband’s manners. He became reserved and thoughtful
in her presence; his conduct was austere, and sometimes even rude; and
he left her, for many hours together, to weep for his unkindness, and
to form plans for the recovery of his affection. His conduct afflicted
her the more, because, in obedience to the command of her father, she
had accepted his hand, though her affections were engaged to another,
whose amiable disposition, she had reason to believe, would have
ensured her happiness. This circumstance Laurentini had discovered,