Gliding like a shadow, came in the
wife of Lord William,--pale, and her tresses dishevelled, she seemed the
victim either of disease or insanity.
Under a tottering and blasted pine sat their chief, in a human form;
his stature lofty and commanding, he appeared as a ruler even in this
narrow sphere of his dominion. Yet he looked round with a glance of
mockery and scorn. He was fallen, and he felt degraded; but his aim was
to mar the glorious image of his Maker, and trample it beneath his feet.
A crowd of miserable and deluded beings came at the beck of their chief,
each accompanied by her familiar. But the lady of Bernshaw came alone.
Her act of renouncement had deprived her of this privilege.
The mandate having been proclaimed, and the preliminary rites to this
fearful act of reprobation performed, the assembly waited for the
concluding act--the cruel and appalling trial: one touch of his finger
was to pass upon her brow,--the impress, the mark of the beast,--the
sign that was to snatch her from the reach of mercy! Her spirit
shuddered;--nature shrank from the unholy contact. Once more she looked
towards that heaven she was about to forfeit,--and for ever!
"For ever!"--the words rang in her ears; their sound was like the knell
of her everlasting hope.
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