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the intended victim. She heard the name of her own maid mentioned;--"No,
no," replied her mother, "she does not go with us; Lady Idris must forget
England, and all belonging to it." And again she heard, "She will not wake
till late to-morrow, and we shall then be at sea."----"All is ready," at
length the woman announced. The Countess again came to her daughter's
bedside: "In Austria at least," she said, "you will obey. In Austria, where
obedience can be enforced, and no choice left but between an honourable
prison and a fitting marriage."
Both then withdrew; though, as she went, the Countess said, "Softly; all
sleep; though all have not been prepared for sleep, like her. I would not
have any one suspect, or she might be roused to resistance, and perhaps
escape. Come with me to my room; we will remain there till the hour agreed
upon." They went. Idris, panic-struck, but animated and strengthened even
by her excessive fear, dressed herself hurriedly, and going down a flight
of back-stairs, avoiding the vicinity of her mother's apartment, she
contrived to escape from the castle by a low window, and came through snow,
wind, and obscurity to my cottage; nor lost her courage, until she arrived,
and, depositing her fate in my hands, gave herself up to the desperation
and weariness that overwhelmed her.
I comforted her as well as I might. Joy and exultation, were mine, to
possess, and to save her. Yet not to excite fresh agitation in her, "per
non turbar quel bel viso sereno," I curbed my delight. I strove to quiet
the eager dancing of my heart; I turned from her my eyes, beaming with too
much tenderness, and proudly, to dark night, and the inclement atmosphere,
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