I came hither first to seek my wife!--Lead the
way; thou shalt be witness to our meeting--wife, children, all. Our
bliss will to thee be misery that the most refined tortures could not
inflict. On--on."
Hildebrand, with imbecile agony, grasped at the very stones for succour.
He then rushed towards the bridge, and, ere his purpose could be
anticipated, with one wild yell, precipitated himself into the waters!
A few lines will suffice by way of explanation to this unlooked-for
termination of their sufferings.
When Lady Fairfax fled from the castle, in order to elude his
search,--for Hildebrand had the audacity to threaten by force to make
her his wife,--she threw off her cloak and head-dress, laying them on
the river's brink that it might appear as though she had accomplished
her own destruction. To the care of the faithful Alice she had committed
her children, and likewise the secret of her concealment. Alice was in
continual correspondence with her unfortunate mistress; and great was
the joy and exultation with which she communicated the arrival of a
messenger from her lord, whom she had long mourned as dead.
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