enough, that the poor girl, owing to terror
or ill-treatment, had become deranged; and
he half suspected, by the suddenness of
her appearance, and the unseasonableness
of the hour, and, above all, from the
wildness and terror of her manner, that she
had made her escape from some place of
confinement for lunatics, and was in
immediate fear of pursuit. He resolved to
summon medical advice as soon as the
mind of his niece had been in some
measure set at rest by the offices of the
clergyman whose attendance she had so
earnestly desired; and until this object had
been attained, he did not venture to put
any questions to her, which might
possibly, by reviving painful or horrible
recollections, increase her agitation.

The clergyman soon arrived--a man of
ascetic countenance and venerable age--
one whom Gerard Douw respected much,
forasmuch as he was a veteran polemic,
though one, perhaps, more dreaded as a
combatant than beloved as a Christian--of
pure morality, subtle brain, and frozen
heart. He entered the chamber which
communicated with that in which Rose
reclined, and immediately on his arrival she
requested him to pray for her, as for one who