beneath these, some parts of his body were incased in an ancient coat of mail." The lips of Eleonora quivered with agitation-a dress which in description exactly resembled that of the murdered man, had been worn by the unknown. Whilst they were yet at breakfast, Cyprian entered the apartment, "You commanded us, Sir," he said, addressing Latimer; "to bring to you any trinket which we might discover upon the unfortunate stranger, in order that you might preserve it, as a clue to the future discovery of his name and history:—your orders have been obeyed; in the pocket of his vest we have found this portrait." Latimer received it at the hand of Cyprian, and found it to be the miniature of a young and beautiful female, set round with diamonds of a very large size. It appeared extremely enigmatical by what means a man of the inferior appearance of the deceased should have become possessed of a trinket of this extraordinary value; but equally strange was every cir cumstance cumstance relating to him; and distant appeared the developement of the mystery. The lady represented by the portrait seemed to be at most eighteen years of age; of a complexion peculiarly fair and delicate, and a countenance of extreme beauty; and the ornaments of lace and jewels with which the painter had decorated her, bespoke her of superior rank. Having permitted the picture to the inspection of his family, Latimer took it into his own possession, and deposited it in a place of security; considering that its production might at some future period prove of the most immediate consequence. CHAP I know thy hurried step, thy haggard eye! Like thee I start, like thee I fly; For lo! what monsters in thy train appear!" COLLINS. "Oh how this spring of love resembleth SHAKESPEARE. EVERY inquiry relative to the deceased stranger which was set on foot by those commissioned by Latimer for that purpose, both in the neighbourhood of the castle, and likewise for many miles around the country, proved fruitless; and an arrangement was accordingly made for his interment, on the fourth morning after his death. Eleonora could not divest her mind of the idea, that the murdered man was the mysterious VOL. 1. G mysterious being whose life had once been preserved by her bounty; already had one of those prepossessions of the heart, which can only be accounted for by the omnipotence of that power which directs the passions, fixed upon him her tenderest esteem; and now she believed him no more, her interest in his fate increased in proportion as she considered it faultless in her to cherish such a feeling; and she resolved to find the means of beholding the stranger who now lay dead in the hitherto interdicted gallery, previously to his interment, in order that she might ascertain whether or not he were the being for whom her keenest anxieties were awakened. The afternoon preceding the morning appointed for the funeral arrived, without Eleonora having been able to find an opportunity of visiting the chamber of the deceased; the superstitious fears and weak mind of her maid Gillian, rendered her unwilling to trust her with her inclination; and although utterly untainted with those supernatural fears which were entertained by the majority of her father's household relative relative to the Northern Gallery, still she did not wish to visit it entirely alone: whilst she was debating with her own mind whom she should select as her companion, she recollected having heard, that on the night of the stranger's being found in those apartments, her father had appointed a certain number of his domestics to keep watch in the chamber where his body had been placed; if this order had not been repealed, and there were still constant guardians of the mysterious apartments, she considered that she should feel extremely averse to being observed by them in her visit to the corpse; as her emotion would beyond all doubt be apparent to them, if she discovered in it the stranger whose image haunted her imagination. With her mind in this state of irresolution, Eleonora was wandering in a garden which communicated with the outer court of the castle; thither Gillian followed her unperceived; and having for some time observed the despondency and agitation which were visible in her mistress, she said, "My dear Lady, what can be the G 2 matter |