Page:Clermont - Roche (1798, volume 2).djvu/92

 intimation of danger, to retreat to the walls of the monastery. But she received no such intimation, and when she came within sight of the garden, her courage revived; her strength returned with her courage, and, like an affrighted lapwing, she then almost flew to the house, and, scarcely touching the ground, rushed into the servants' hall. A figure as terrific as the one she now exhibited, they had never, either in reality or imagination, seen; her face was pale as death, her hair dishevelled, and her clothes torn and stained with blood. She attempted to speak, but her voice died away inarticulate; in about a minute she made another effort, and, in a voice so hollow, that it seemed issuing from the very recesses of her heart, exclaimed, "Fly!—your lady—there's murder in the chapel!"

Struck with terror, the servants eagerly crowded round her to know what she meant. "Ask no explanation! (she cried, in almost breathless agitation) a moment's delay may be fatal." The men no longer hesitated to