palazzo was in flames, and the clashing of
swords and the groans of the wounded sounded horribly in my ears. And
this was my doing. I had been the means of introducing into Count
Rudolpho's grounds a band of desperadoes, to whom bloodshed was
familiar; and I doubted not that they were at their work of blood and
rapine. I repented of the deed, but it was too late.

"The murdered Violetta lay on the ground at a short distance from me;
the moonbeams played full upon her ghastly and distorted features; and
her robes, her bridal robes, were deeply stained with blood. Her pulse
had long since ceased to beat, and she felt cold to the touch. Resolved
that no profane hand should consign to the earth her blessed remains, I
threw the body across my shoulder, and fled with it from the garden. I
felt not the weight of the burden, for excitement made me 'hardy as the
Nemean lion's nerve.' I soon reached the canal, leaped into my gondola
with my precious burden, and, shortly afterwards, gained my father's
palace. Ere the moon set, I had dug a deep grave in his garden, in which
I buried her on whom I had doated, bedewing the earth with my tears as I
proceeded in my work.

"It was at length completed; and, with the morning's dawn, I fled from
Venice. Despair added wings to my flight, and the land of France
received me in her fostering arms. I have, since that time, wandered in
many a clime, to wear away my grief, but in vain. I have fought under
the banner of your king; and, though my arm was never palsied in the day
of battle, death has been denied me. I now lie here, aged and forlorn.
The hand of death is heavy on me, and chilly tremors are creeping over
my exhausted frame. The just decrees of God have denied me even a friend
to close my weary eyes; and my dust must mingle with the dust of
strangers, far, far from the sepulchre of my fathers, and the home of my
childhood."

After a short pause, the Recluse continued--

"Here, sir," said he, "take this sword--it has been the constant
companion of my travels--its blade is unsullied by ignoble blood; and
when you look upon it, after the grave receives the wretched Alphonso,
it may convey a lesson that volumes could not inculcate."

I received the sword from his hand, which was trembling and cold. He
turned his face from me; and before I had time to speak, a deep groan
announced his departure to the mansions of another world. I called the
inmates of the adjoining cottage, who took ch