She always seemed to part from him with reluctance; but it was because
she had no longer any one with whom she could visit her favourite
haunts, whilst her guardian was occupied in sketching or uncovering
some fragment which had yet escaped the destructive hand of time. She
had appealed to her parents on the subject of Vampyres, and they both,
with several present, affirmed their existence, pale with horror at
the very name. Soon after, Aubrey determined to proceed upon one of
his excursions, which was to detain him for a few hours; when they
heard the name of the place, they all at once begged of him not to
return at night, as he must necessarily pass through a wood, where no
Greek would ever remain, after the day had closed, upon any
consideration. They described it as the resort of the vampyres in
their nocturnal orgies, and denounced the most heavy evils as
impending upon him who dared to cross their path. Aubrey made light of
their representations, and tried to laugh them out of the idea; but
when he saw them shudder at his daring thus to mock a superior,
infernal power, the very name of which apparently made their blood
freeze, he was silent. Next morning Aubrey set off upon his excursion unattended; he was
surprised to observe the melancholy face of his host, and was
concerned to find that his words, mocking the belief of those horrible
fiends, had inspired them with such terror. When he was about to
depart, Ianthe came to the side of his horse, and earnestly begged of
him to return, ere night allowed the power of these beings to be put
in action;--he promised. He was, however, so occupied in his
research, that he did not perceive that day-light would soon end, and
that in the horizon there was one of those specks which, in the warmer
climates, so rapidly gather into a tremendous mass, and pour all their
rage upon the devoted country.--He at last, however, mounted his
horse, determined to make up by speed for his delay: but it was too
late. Twilight, in these southern climates, is almost unknown;
immediately the sun sets, night begins: and ere he had advanced far,
the power of the storm was above--its echoing thunders had scarcely
an interval of rest--its thick heavy rain forced its way through the
canopying foliage, whilst the blue forked lightning seemed to fall and
radiate at his very feet. Suddenly his horse took fright, and he was
carried with dreadful rapidity through the entangled forest. The
animal at last, through fatigue, stopped, and he found, by the glare
of lightning, that he was in the neighbourhood of a hovel that hardly
lifted itself up from the masses of dead leaves and brushwood which
surrounded it. Dismounting, he approached, hoping to find some one to
guide him to the town, or at least trusting to obtain shelter from the
pelting of the storm. As he approached, the thunders, for a moment
silent, allowed him to hear the dreadful shrieks of a woman mingling
with the stifled, exultant mockery of a laugh, continued in one almost
unbroken sound;--he was startled: but, roused by the thunder which
again rolled over his head, he, with a sudden effort, forced open the
door of the hut. He found himself in utter darkness: the sound,
however, guided him. He was apparently unperceived; for, though he
called, still the sounds continued, and no notice was taken of him. He
found himself in contact with some one, whom he immediately seized;
when a voice cried, "Again baffled!" to which a loud laugh succeeded;
and he felt himself grappled by one whose strength seemed superhuman:
determined to sell his life as dearly as he could, he struggled; but
it was in vain: he was lifted from his feet and hurled with enormous
force against the ground:--his enemy threw himself upon him, and
kneeling upon his breast, had placed his hands upon his throat--when
the glare of many torches penetrating through the hole that gave
light in the day, disturbed him;--he instantly rose, and, leaving his
prey, rushed through the door, and in a moment the crashing of the
branches, as he broke through the wood, was no longer heard. The storm
was now still; and Aubrey, incapable of moving, was soon heard by
those without. They entered; the light of their torches fell upon the
mud walls, and the thatch loaded on every individual straw with heavy
flakes of soot. At the desire of Aubrey they searched for her who had
attracted him by her cries; he was again left in darkness; but what
was his horror, when the light of the torches once more burst upon
him, to perceive the airy form of his fair conductress brought in a
lifeless corse. He shut his eyes, hoping that it was but a vision
arising from his disturbed imagination; but he again saw the same
form, when he unclosed them, stretched by his side. There was no
colour upon her cheek, not even upon her lip; yet there was a
stillness about her face that seemed almost as attaching as the life
that once dwelt there:--upon her neck and breast was blood, and upon
her throat were the marks of teeth having opened the vein:--to this
the men pointed, crying, simultaneously struck with horror, "A
Vampyre! a Vampyre!" A litter was quickly formed, and Aubrey was laid
by the side of her who had lately been to him the object of so many
bright and fairy visions, now fallen with the flower of life that had
died within her. He knew not what his thoughts were--his mind was
benumbed and seemed to shun reflection, and take refuge in
vacancy--he held almost unconsciously in his hand a naked dagger of a
particular construction, which had been found in the hut. They were
soon met by different parties who had been engaged in the search of
her whom a mother had missed. Their lamentable cries, as they
approached the city, forewarned the parents of some dreadful
catastrophe. --To describe their grief would be impossible; but when
they ascertained the cause of their child's death, they looked at
Aubrey, and pointed to the corse. They were inconsolable; both died
broken-hearted. Aubrey being put to bed was seized with a most violent fever, and was
often delirious; in these intervals he would call upon Lord Ruthven
and upon Ianthe--by some unaccountable combination he seemed to beg
of his former companion to spare the being he loved. At other times he
would imprecate maledictions upon his head, and curse him as her
destroyer. Lord Ruthven, chanced at this time to arrive at Athens,
and, from whatever motive, upon hearing of the state of Aubrey,
immediately placed himself in the same house, and became his constant
attendant. When the latter recovered from his delirium, he was
horrified and startled at the sight of him whose image he had now
combined with that of a Vampyre; but Lord Ruthven, by his kind words,
implying almost repentance for the fault that had caused their
separation, and still more by the attention, anxiety, and care which
he showed, soon reconciled him to his presence.