Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents. A Romance

London

Cadell and Davies

1797

"The stillness was not less effectual than the gloom, for no sounds were heard, except such as seemed to characterize solitude, and impress its awful power more deeply on the heart--the hollow dashing of torrents descending distantly, and the deep sighings of the wind, as it passed among trees which threw their broad arms over the cliffs, and crowned the highest summits."

The same thoughtful silence, that had wrapt him at the beginning of the journey, he still preserved, except when occasionally he asked a question of the guide concerning the way, and received answers too loquacious for his humour. This loquacity, however, was not easily repressed, and the peasant had already begun to relate some terrible stories of murder committed in these forests, upon people who had been hardy enough to venture into them without a guide, before the again abstracted Schedoni even noticed that he spoke. Though Ellena did not give much credit to these narratives, they had some effect upon her fears, when soon after she entered the deep shades of a part of the forest, that lay along a narrow defile, whence every glimpse of cheerful landscape was again excluded by precipices, which towered on either side. The stillness was not less effectual than the gloom, for no sounds were heard, except such as seemed to characterize solitude, and impress its awful power more deeply on the heart--the hollow dashing of torrents descending distantly, and the deep sighings of the wind, as it passed among trees which threw their broad arms over the cliffs, and crowned the highest summits. Onward, through the narrowing windings of the defile, no living object appeared; but, as Ellena looked fearfully back, she thought she distinguished a human figure advancing beneath the dusky umbrage that closed the view. She communicated her suspicion to Schedoni, though not her fears, and they stopped for a moment, to observe further. The object advanced slowly, and they perceived the stature of a man, who, having continued to approach, suddenly paused, and then glided away behind the foliage that crossed the perspective, but not before Ellena fancied she discriminated the figure of Spalatro. None but a purpose the most desperate, she believed, could have urged him to follow into this pass, instead of returning, as he had pretended, to his home. Yet it appeared improbable, that he alone should be willing to attack two armed persons, for both Schedoni and the guide had weapons of defence. This consideration afforded her only a momentary respite from apprehension, since it was possible that he might not be alone, though only one person had yet been seen among the shrouding branches of the woods. 'Did you not think he resembled Spalatro?' said Ellena to the Confessor, 'was he not of the same stature and air? You are well armed, or I should fear for you as well as for myself.'
(II.x, pp. 294-5)

Impressions

Reading

At least 7 entries in the ESTC (1797)

Radcliffe, Ann. The Italian, ed. Robert Miles (New York: Penguin, 2000). <Google Books: vol. I, vol. II, vol. III>

06/04/2013