"
"Hath Sir Henry sent no written message, that we may know his will in
this matter?" inquired Hildebrand.
"It is strictly forbidden to a prisoner," replied the other, "to use
tablets; but my knowledge of the secret is a sufficient safeguard
against imposture."
"Retire: I will begin the search with all speed. But hold thyself in
readiness for immediate departure. Thou wilt not have the worse thrift
for a hasty dismissal."
The stranger withdrew, accompanied by Hardpiece. Hildebrand listened to
their retreating footsteps; when, like unto one possessed, he stamped,
and tore his thin grey locks, and cursed--audibly and bitterly
cursed--his destiny.
"Hast thou escaped?--when the draught danced and bubbled over my parched
lips. Fate--fortune, whatever thou art, I would curse thee!"
As he spoke, he lifted up one clenched hand towards heaven, laden with
imprecation. And why did not that power, whose vengeance he visibly
defied, launch a bolt against the impious?--Why not reader him, in that
very act, a monument of just and righteous retribution?--"_Shall not the
Judge of the whole earth do right?_" is a master-key that unlocks the
mysteries and ministrations of Divine Providence, however complicated
in their nature and obscure in their design.
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