The Devil's Elixir

vertheless true, that though this idea had so long been cherished, and had been familiar to myself, yet now, when I for the first time hea

of evil they may have in store, cannot have resolved on this! I endeavoured to combat these

ed to kneel before the altar, making a mockery of sacred vows, then, of necessity, the figure of that spectral omnipresent painter, not with a demeanour mi

iny which hangs over her and thee?" Scarcely were these words uttered, when another voice rose within me-"Down-down! throw thyself into the dust, thou bli

ible. Past and gone was now that happier mood, in which I had looked upon my whole former life, and especially on my adventures at the Baron's castle, as a frightful dream! On the contrary, I saw in myself only a base criminal, and hypocritical dece

s overtaken by one of the Prince's carriages, which immediately stopped. I heard my own name pronounced aloud, a

ed out of her senses, and has been attacked by serious indisposition-Well, well," (continued he, perceiving a change in my countenance,) "I must not frighten you. Her illness has not lasted long. She has again been out walking, and will return to-morrow wit

e Prince's views for my advancement in rank, and marriage with Aurelia. Hereupon reverting to her late fit of nervous irritability, he gave, wickedly enough, such a caricature (for he was an excellent mimic) of her conduct and expressions, when he had arrived express at the summer-house, co

events would, in so short a time, have taken place: First, the absurd misunderstanding which brought you as a criminal before the

ness. As to the advances that I have lately made in his good graces, I ascribe this to his recol

haps is not owing so much to this, as to anothe

ot," an

you assumed on your first arrival. Every one knows, however, that you are by birth noble, a

on my reception at court, since, at my first introduction there, I declared that I had no pretensions to a

ngaging my attention, and putting to flight the gloomy thoughts by which I had been overwhelmed. I could not but feel also a kind of triumph at the manner in which I had again seemed to rule over my own destiny, as by accidentally choo

dless and capricious agitation, to which she had given way on my last visit, gave a new tone to her voice and manner, and new expression to her eyes, so that her timidity be

ints, tell me what horrible phantom was it that then appeared to you?" At this question she gazed at me with obvious astonishment-her looks became always more and more fixed, as

"my beloved friend, were I to confess to you the whole truth, would you not look on me as an insane visionary? A horrible phantom accompanies me through life, and mars, by its irresistible influence, every enjoyment, even at the times when I shoul

manner in which you entered my apartments, though at a later hour of the night, an accursed monk of the Capuchin order once surprised me. Spare me the repetition of what then occurred. Suffice it, that he beca

s-all doubts and fears vanished from my mind-with a fiendlike scorn and contempt, I said in a low voice-"Thou unhappy fated girl! Thou bought and sold of Satan! Thou, forsooth, believest that thou hast escaped from thine old enemy-fr

present interview, however, was not suffered to be of long duration, for Aurelia was summoned to attend the Princess, and I was left alone. Her expressions in apologizing for her conduct at the Princess's chateau, had convinced me t

urelia's waiting-maid came with a large packet, and placed it among others which were already on the table. A fleeting glance confirmed me that the hand-writing was that of the Baroness, and I perceived that the superscription was to the Abbess of the Cistertian Nunne