Was Carwin aware of his absence on this night?
Could he be suspected of a design so sordid as pillage? If this
were his view, there were no means in my power to frustrate it. It
behooved me to seize the first opportunity to escape; but, if my
escape were supposed by my enemy to have been already effected, no
asylum was more secure than the present. How could my passage from
the house be accomplished without noises that might incite him to
pursue me?
Utterly at a loss to account for his going into Pleyel's chamber, I
waited in instant expectation of hearing him come forth. All,
however, was profoundly still. I listened in vain for a
considerable period to catch the sound of the door when it should
again be opened. There was no other avenue by which he could
escape, but a door which led into the girl's chamber. Would any
evil from this quarter befall the girl?
Hence arose a new train of apprehensions. They merely added to the
turbulence and agony of my reflections. Whatever evil impended
over her, I had no power to avert it. Seclusion and silence were
the only means of saving myself from the perils of this fatal
night.
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