Silence The
Most Profound Pervades The Whole Castle; Every Light Is Extinguished;
The Pale Rays Of The Moon Slumber Softly On The Oak Floor, Reflected
As They Are Through The Gothic Windows; Every Inmate Is Wrapped In
Sleep, Even Fair Rosamond Who Has Just Retired.
Suddenly her door is
violently thrust open; a masked person, with one bound rushes to her
bed-side, and without saying a word, plunges a dagger to the hilt in
her breast.
Uttering a piercing shriek, the victim springs in the air
and falls heavily on the floor. The Intendant, hearing the noise,
hurries up stairs, raises the unhappy girl who has just time to point
to the fatal weapon, still in the wound, and then falls back in his
arms a lifeless corpse. The whole household are soon on foot; search
is made for the murderer, but no clue is discovered. Some of the
inmates fancied they had seen the figure of a woman rush down the
secret stair and disappear in the woods about the time the murder took
place. A variety of stories were circulated, some pretended to trace
the crime to the Intendant's wife, whilst others alleged that the
avenging mother of the creole was the assassin; some again urged that
Caroline's father had attempted to wipe off the stain on the honour of
his tribe, by himself despatching his erring child. A profound mystery
to this day surrounds the whole transaction. Caroline was buried in
the cellar of the castle, and the letter 'C' engraved on her
tombstone, which, my son, you have just seen."
Half a century has now elapsed since the period mentioned in this
narrative.
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