now wrought up to a frenzied pitch by the awful scene, distinguished
in every moan of the blast the shrieks of a fallen spirit; and the
wind, as if to increase his misery, raised its voice and swept through
the sacred building with tremendous power, howling, and shrieking, and
gibbering as it passed. The demoniac excitement of the moment now became
too great to be endured. Spinello sunk upon the ground, struck his
forehead against an angle of the altar, and fainted away. How long he
remained in this condition, he could never conjecture; but when he
recovered his senses, all around him appeared like the illusion of a
dream. The wind had died away, the darkness had disappeared, the moon
had risen, and was now throwing in its mild and beautiful light through
the long windows upon the checkered pavement; and, rising from the
ground, he crawled out of the church and reached his lodgings.

The next day he was too unwell to leave his bed; and Bernardo, with his
whole family, who loved the young man, and were anxious to discover and
remove the cause of his misery, came to see and console him. Beatrice
was the first who entered; and when Spinello heard the sound of her
footsteps, which he could most accurately distinguish, a beam of joy
visited his heart, a tear of delight trembled in his eye, and he blessed
her fervently. When he lifted his eyes to her countenance, however, the
vision of the preceding night seemed to be renewed, and the hated form
of Lucifer, with all his infernal legions, swept before his fancy.
Ignorant of what was passing through his mind, and with a heart yearning
towards him with more than a sister's love, Beatrice approached his bed;
and, kneeling down beside it, took hold of his hand which was stretched
out languidly towards her. She felt that it was burning with fever, and
that his whole frame was at that moment agitated in a fearful manner. He
spoke not a word; but turned away his face, as if by a desperate effort
to recover his composure, while he held her hand with a convulsive