The six sisters of the valleys : an historical romance - University Library

THE PEISONEE. £25
no clue to dwell upon a subject which was
involuntarily ever present with his heart.
He leaned his head against the damp wall,
and closing his eyes saw in imagination
that maiden's face ;
he heard the accents of
her voice, he caught the winning expression
of her smile, he repeated her words, and
dwelt on the thousand nameless nothings
which the memory of the lover retains and
exaggerates. In his reverie a gleam of
pleasure lightens his soul : it is but for a
moment ; he opens his eyes ; the present
is forced on him ; he is alone—disowned
—
a captive in a dungeon—death his probable
fate. At the first thought of Ardoine a
blush had dyed his cheek in that dark
prison ; but even she was another source
of bitterness to him in this hour of misery.
Did she love him ? He had heard from that
victim on the rack that Baynald loved her.
But she might not return it. He thought
that she had said, when last they met, that
she loved him as a brother. Alas !
VOL. II. Q
he
was