conjecture was now and in full confirmed. Heavens! how I loved that
man! how, from my youngest years, had my soul's fondest affections
interlaced themselves with him! with what anguish had I wept his
imagined death! and now to know that he lay within those walls, smitten
from brain to heart with so fearful and mysterious a curse,--to know,
too, that he dreaded the sight of me,--of me who would have laid down my
life for his! the grave, which I imagined his home, had been a mercy to
a doom like this.

"He fears," I murmured, and I wept as I said it, "to look on one who
would watch over, and soothe, and bear with him, with more than a
woman's love! By what awful fate has this calamity fallen on one so
holy and so pure? or by what preordered destiny did I come to these
solitudes, to find at the same time a new charm for the earth and a
spell to change it again into a desert and a place of woe?"

All night I kept vigil by the cave, and listened if I could catch moan
or sound; but everything was silent: the thick walls of the rock kept
even the voice of despair from my ear. The day dawned, and I retired
among the trees, lest the Hermit might come out unawares and see me. At
sunrise I saw him appear for a few moments and again retire, and I then
hastened home, exhausted and wearied by the internal conflicts of the
night, to gather coolness and composure for the ensuing interview, which
I contemplated at once with eagerness and dread.

At the appointed hour I repaired to the cavern: the door was partially
closed; I opened it, hearing no answer to my knock, and walked gently
along the passage; but I now heard shrieks and groans and wild laughter
as I neared the rude chamber. I paused for a moment, and then in terror
and dismay entered the apartment. It was empty, but I saw near the