the hand of the Marquis, by the command of her
father. Ill-fated, unhappy woman!'

Emily, remembering the extreme emotion which St. Aubert had betrayed on
the mention of the Marchioness, would now have suffered something more
than surprise, had her confidence in his integrity been less; as it
was, she could not, for a moment, believe what the words of Laurentini
insinuated; yet she still felt strongly interested, concerning them, and
begged, that she would explain them further.

'Do not urge me on that subject,' said the nun, 'it is to me a terrible
one! Would that I could blot it from my memory!' She sighed deeply,
and, after the pause of a moment, asked Emily, by what means she had
discovered her name?

'By your portrait in the castle of Udolpho, to which this miniature
bears a striking resemblance,' replied Emily.

'You have been at Udolpho then!' said the nun, with great emotion.
'Alas! what scenes does the mention of it revive in my fancy--scenes of
happiness--of suffering--and of horror!'

At this moment, the terrible spectacle, which Emily had witnessed in a
chamber of that castle, occurred to her, and she shuddered, while she
looked upon the nun--and recollected her late words--that 'years of
prayer and penitence could not wash out the foulness of murder.' She
was now compelled to attribute these to another cause, than that of
delirium. With a degree of horror, that almost deprived her of sense,
she now believed she looked upon a murderer; all the recollected
behaviour of Laurentini seemed to confirm the supposition, yet Emily was
still lost in a labyrinth of perplexities, and, not knowing how to ask
the questions, which might lead to truth, she could only hint them in
broken sentences.

'Your sudden departure from Udolpho'--said she.

Laurentini groaned.

'The reports that followed it,' continued Emily--'The west chamber--the
mournful veil--the object it conceals!--when murders are committed--'

The nun shrieked. 'What! there again!' said she, endeavouring to raise
herself, while her starting eyes seemed to follow some object round
the room--'Come from the grave! What! Blood--blood too!--There was
no blood--thou canst not say it!--Nay, do not smile,--do not smile so
piteously!'

Laurentini fell into convulsions, as she uttered the last words; and
Emily, unable any longer to endure the horror of the scene, hurried from
the room, and sent some nuns to the assistance of the abbess.

The Lady Blanche,