Chapter 23 - Page 2

subordinate character, and has been rejected with
disdain."

We are bound to tell the tale as we have received it; and, considering
the distance of the time, and propensity of those through whose mouths
it has passed to the marvellous, this could not be called a Scottish
story unless it manifested a tinge of Scottish superstition. As
Ravenswood approached the solitary fountain, he is said to have met with
the following singular adventure: His horse, which was moving slowly
forward, suddenly interrupted its steady and composed pace, snorted,
reared, and, though urged by the spur, refused to proceed, as if some
object of terror had suddenly presented itself. On looking to the
fountain, Ravenswood discerned a female figure, dressed in a white, or
rather greyish, mantle, placed on the very spot on which Lucy Ashton
had reclined while listening to the fatal tale of love. His immediate
impression was that she had conjectured by which path he would traverse
the park on his departure, and placed herself at this well-known and
sequestered place of rendezvous, to indulge her own sorrow and his
parting interview. In this belief he jumped from his horse, and,
making its bridle fast to a tree, walked hastily towards the
fountain, pronouncing eagerly, yet under his breath, the words, "Miss
Ashton!--Lucy!"

The figure turned as he addressed it, and displayed to his wondering
eyes the features, not of Lucy Ashton, but of old blind Alice. The
singularity of her dress, which rather resembled a shroud than the
garment of a living woman; the appearance of her person, larger, as
it struck him, than it usually seemed to be; above all, the strange
circumstance of a blind, infirm, and decrepit person being found alone
and at a distance from her habitation (considerable, if her infirmities
be taken into account), combined to impress him with a feeling of wonder
approaching to fear. As he approached, she arose slowly from her seat,
held her shrivelled hand up as if to prevent his coming more near,
and her withered lips moved fast, although no sound issued from them.
Ravenswood stopped; and as, after a moment's pause, he again advanced
towards her, Alice, or her apparition, moved or glided backwards towards
the thicket, still keeping her face turned towards him. The trees soon
hid the form from his sight; and, yielding to the strong and terrific
impression that the being which he had seen was not of this world, the
Master of Ravenswood remained rooted to the ground whereon he had
stood when he caught his last view of her. At length, summoning up his
courage, he advanced to the spot on which the figure had seemed to
be seated; but neither was there pressure of the grass nor any other
circumstance to induce him to