“As he passed slowly by them, they observed two others whose attention
was apparently fixed on the same singular object, for they stood
pointing after him, and speaking to each other with gestures of strong
and obvious emotion. The curiosity of the groupe for once overcame the
restraint of Spanish reserve, and approaching the two cavaliers, they
inquired if the singular personage who had passed was not the subject of
their conversation, and the cause of the emotion which appeared to
accompany it. The others replied in the affirmative, and hinted at their
knowledge of circumstances in the character and history of that
extraordinary being that might justify even stronger marks of emotion at
his presence. This hint operated still more strongly on their
curiosity--the circle of listeners began to deepen. Some of them, it
appeared, had, or pretended to have, some information relative to this
extraordinary subject. And that kind of desultory conversation
commenced, whose principal ingredients are a plentiful proportion of
ignorance, curiosity, and fear, mingled with some small allowance of
information and truth;--that conversation, vague, unsatisfactory, but
not uninteresting, to which every speaker is welcome to contribute his
share of baseless report,--wild conjecture,--anecdote the more
incredible the better credited,--and conclusion the more falsely drawn
the more likely to carry home conviction. “The conversation passed very much in language incoherent as this:--“But
why, if he be what he is described, what he is known to be,--why is he
not seized by order of government?--why is he not immured in the
Inquisition?”--“He has been often in the prison of the holy
office--oftener, perhaps, than the holy fathers wished,” said another. “But it is a well-known fact, that whatever transpired on his
examination, he was liberated almost immediately.” Another added, “That
the stranger had been in almost every prison in Europe, but had always
contrived either to defeat or defy the power in whose grasp he appeared
to be inclosed,--and to be active in his purposes of mischief in the
remotest parts of Europe at the moment he was supposed to be expiating
them in others.” Another demanded, “If it was known to what country he
belonged?” and was answered, “He is said to be a native of Ireland--(a
country that no one knows, and which the natives are particularly
reluctant to dwell in from various causes)--and his name is Melmoth.”
The Spaniard had great difficulty in expressing the _theta_,
unpronounceable by continental lips. “Another, who had an appearance of
more intelligence than the rest, added the extraordinary fact of the
stranger’s being seen in various and distant parts of the earth within a
time in which no power merely human could be supposed to traverse
them--that his marked and fearful habit was every where to seek out the
most wretched, or the most profligate, of the community among which he
flung himself--what was his object in seeking them was unknown.”--“It is
well known,” said a deep-toned voice, falling on the ears of the
startled listeners like the toll of a strong but muffled bell,--“it is
well known both to him and them.”

“It was now twilight, but the eyes of all could distinguish the figure
of the stranger as he passed; and some even averred they could see the
ominous lustre of those eyes which never rose on human destiny but as
planets of woe. The groupe paused for some time to watch the retreat of
the figure that had produced on them the effect of the torpedo. It
departed slowly,--no one offered it molestation. “I have heard,” said one of the company, “that a delicious music
precedes the approach of this person when his destined victim,--the
being whom he is permitted to tempt or to torture,--is about to appear
or to approach him. I have heard a strange tale of such music being
heard; and--Holy Mary be our guide! did you ever hear such
sounds?”--“Where--what?--” and the astonished listeners took off their
hats, unclasped their mantles, “opened their lips, and drew in their
breath,” in delicious ecstasy at the sounds that floated round them. “No
wonder,” said a young gallant of the party, “no wonder that such sounds
harbinger the approach of a being so heavenly. She deals with the good
spirits; and the blessed saints alone could send such music from above
to welcome her.” As he spoke, all eyes were turned to a figure, which,
though moving among a groupe of brilliant and attractive females,
appeared the only one among them on whom the eye could rest with pure
and undivided light and love. She did not catch observation--observation
caught her, and was proud of its prize. “At the approach of a large party of females, there was all that anxious
and flattering preparation among the cavaliers,--all that eager
arrangement of capas, and hats, and plumes,--that characterized the
manners of a nation still half-feudal, and always gallant and
chivalrous. These preliminary movements were answered by corresponding
ones on the part of the fair and fatal host approaching. The creaking of
their large fans--the tremulous and purposely-delayed adjustment of
their floating veils, whose partial concealment flattered the
imagination beyond the most full and ostentatious disclosure of the
charms they seemed jealous of--the folds of the mantilla, of whose
graceful falls, and complicated manœuvres, and coquettish undulations,
the Spanish women know how to avail themselves so well--all these
announced an attack, which the cavaliers, according to the modes of
gallantry in that day (1683), were well prepared to meet and parry. “But, amid the bright host that advanced against them, there was one
whose arms were not artificial, and the effect of whose singular and
simple attractions made a strong contrast to the studied arrangements of
her associates. If her fan moved, it was only to collect air--if she
arranged her veil, it was only to hide her face--if she adjusted her
mantilla, it was but to hide that form, whose exquisite symmetry defied
the voluminous drapery of even that day to conceal it. Men of the
loosest gallantry fell back as she approached, with involuntary awe--the
libertine who looked on her was half-converted--the susceptible beheld
her as one who realized that vision of imagination that must never be
embodied here--and the unfortunate as one whose sight alone was
consolation--the old, as they gazed on her, dreamt of their youth--and
the young for the first time dreamt of love--the only love which
deserves the name--that which purity alone can inspire, and perfect
purity alone can reward.