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- 12741
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- 2026-01-30T20:48:26.988Z
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- start_line
- 12682
- text
- of my guide, who, standing at the entrance of the arched way I have been
endeavouring to describe, was making the most extravagant gesture of
impatience at my delay. Reminded at once of the situation, which put me
for a time under the control of this capricious mortal, I replied to her
summons by immediately throwing myself forward, and we soon entered the
Atlantian arbour, in whose umbrageous shades we were completely hid.
Lost in conjecture, during the whole of this eccentric ramble, as to its
probable termination, the sombre gloom of these ancestral trees gave a
darkening hue to my imaginings, and I began to repent the inconsiderate
haste which had hurried me on in an expedition so peculiar and
suspicious. In spite of all my efforts to exclude them, the fictions of
the nursery poured in upon my recollections, and I felt with Bob Acres
in the _Rivals_, that ‘my valour was certainly going.’ Once, I am almost
ashamed to own it to thee, gentle reader, my mind was so haunted with
ghostly images, that in an agony of apprehension I was about to turn and
flee, and had actually made some preliminary movements to that effect,
when my hand, accidentally straying into my bosom, gripped the billet,
whose romantic summons had caused this nocturnal adventure. I felt my
soul regain her fortitude, and smiling at the absurd conceits which
infested my brain, I once more stalked proudly forward, under the
overhanging branches of these ancient trees.
Emergent from the shades of this romantic region, we soon beheld an
edifice, which seated on a gentle eminence, and embowered amidst
surrounding trees, bore the appearance of a country villa; although its
plain exterior showed none of those fantastic devices which usually
adorn the elegant châteaux. My conductress, as we neared this
unpretending mansion, seemed to redouble her precautions, and although
she evinced no positive alarm, yet her quick and startled glances
bespoke no small degree of apprehension. Motioning me to conceal myself
behind an adjacent tree, she approached the house with rapid but
cautious steps; my eyes followed her until she disappeared behind the
shadow of the garden wall, and I remained waiting her reappearance with
the utmost anxiety. An interval of several moments had elapsed, when I
descried her, swinging open a small postern, and beckoning me to
advance. I obeyed the summons, and was soon by her side, not a little
amazed at the complacency which, after what had transpired, brooked my
immediate vicinity. Dissembling my astonishment, however, and rallying
all my powers, I followed with noiseless strides the footsteps of my
guide, fully persuaded that this mysterious affair was now about to be
brought to an _éclaircissement_.
The appearance of this spacious habitation was anything but inviting; it
seemed to have been built with a jealous eye to concealment; and its
few, but well-defended windows were sufficiently high from the ground,
as effectually to baffle the prying curiosity of the inquisitive
stranger. Not a single light shone from the narrow casement; but all was
harsh, gloomy, and forbidding. As my imagination, ever alert on such an
occasion, was busily occupied in assigning some fearful motive for such
unusual precautions, my leader suddenly halted beneath a lofty window,
and making a low call, I perceived slowly descending therefrom, a thick
silken cord, attached to an ample basket, which was silently deposited
at our feet. Amazed at this apparition, I was about soliciting an
explanation: when laying her fingers impressively upon her lips, and
placing herself in the basket, my guide motioned me to seat myself
beside her. I obeyed, but not without considerable trepidation; and, in
obedience to the same low call which had procured its descent, our
curious vehicle, with sundry creakings, rose in the air.
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