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1"Do not let this letter disturb you; do not answer tomorrow, or the next day, or even until you come, if it will give
2you pain. My uncle will send me news of your health, and if I see but one smile on your lips when we meet, occasioned by
3this or any other exertion of mine, I shall need no other happiness. "Elizabeth Lavenza. "Geneva, May 18th, 17--" This
4letter revived in my memory what I had before forgotten, the threat of the fiend--"I will be with you on your
5wedding-night!" Such was my sentence, and on that night would the dæmon employ every art to destroy me and tear me from
6the glimpse of happiness which promised partly to console my sufferings. On that night he had determined to consummate
7his crimes by my death. Well, be it so; a deadly struggle would then assuredly take place, in which if he were
8victorious I should be at peace and his power over me be at an end. If he were vanquished, I should be a free man. Alas!
9What freedom? Such as the peasant enjoys when his family have been massacred before his eyes, his cottage burnt, his
10lands laid waste, and he is turned adrift, homeless, penniless, and alone, but free. Such would be my liberty except
11that in my Elizabeth I possessed a treasure, alas, balanced by those horrors of remorse and guilt which would pursue me
12until death. Sweet and beloved Elizabeth! I read and reread her letter, and some softened feelings stole into my heart
13and dared to whisper paradisiacal dreams of love and joy; but the apple was already eaten, and the angel's arm bared to
14drive me from all hope. Yet I would die to make her happy. If the monster executed his threat, death was inevitable;
15yet, again, I considered whether my marriage would hasten my fate. My destruction might indeed arrive a few months
16sooner, but if my torturer should suspect that I postponed it, influenced by his menaces, he would surely find other and
17perhaps more dreadful means of revenge. He had vowed to be with me on my wedding-night, yet he did not consider that
18threat as binding him to peace in the meantime, for as if to show me that he was not yet satiated with blood, he had
19murdered Clerval immediately after the enunciation of his threats. I resolved, therefore, that if my immediate union
20with my cousin would conduce either to hers or my father's happiness, my adversary's designs against my life should not
21retard it a single hour. In this state of mind I wrote to Elizabeth. My letter was calm and affectionate. "I fear, my
22beloved girl," I said, "little happiness remains for us on earth; yet all that I may one day enjoy is centred in you.
23Chase away your idle fears; to you alone do I consecrate my life and my endeavours for contentment. I have one secret,
24Elizabeth, a dreadful one; when revealed to you, it will chill your frame with horror, and then, far from being
25surprised at my misery, you will only wonder that I survive what I have endured. I will confide this tale of misery and
26terror to you the day after our marriage shall take place, for, my sweet cousin, there must be perfect confidence
27between us. But until then, I conjure you, do not mention or allude to it. This I most earnestly entreat, and I know you
28will comply." In about a week after the arrival of Elizabeth's letter we returned to Geneva. The sweet girl welcomed me
29with warm affection, yet tears were in her eyes as she beheld my emaciated frame and feverish cheeks. I saw a change in
30her also. She was thinner and had lost much of that heavenly vivacity that had before charmed me; but her gentleness and
31soft looks of compassion made her a more fit companion for one blasted and miserable as I was. The tranquillity which I
32now enjoyed did not endure. Memory brought madness with it, and when I thought of what had passed, a real insanity
33possessed me; sometimes I was furious and burnt with rage, sometimes low and despondent. I neither spoke nor looked at
34anyone, but sat motionless, bewildered by the multitude of miseries that overcame me. Elizabeth alone had the power to
35draw me from these fits; her gentle voice would soothe me when transported by passion and inspire me with human feelings
36when sunk in torpor. She wept with me and for me. When reason returned, she would remonstrate and endeavour to inspire
37me with resignation. Ah! It is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace. The
38agonies of remorse poison the luxury there is otherwise sometimes found in indulging the excess of grief. Soon after my
39arrival my father spoke of my immediate marriage with Elizabeth. I remained silent. "Have you, then, some other
40attachment?" "None on earth. I love Elizabeth and look forward to our union with delight. Let the day therefore be
41fixed; and on it I will consecrate myself, in life or death, to the happiness of my cousin." "My dear Victor, do not
42speak thus. Heavy misfortunes have befallen us, but let us only cling closer to what remains and transfer our love for
43those whom we have lost to those who yet live. Our circle will be small but bound close by the ties of affection and
44mutual misfortune. And when time shall have softened your despair, new and dear objects of care will be born to replace
45those of whom we have been so cruelly deprived." Such were the lessons of my father. But to me the remembrance of the
46threat returned; nor can you wonder that, omnipotent as the fiend had yet been in his deeds of blood, I should almost
47regard him as invincible, and that when he had pronounced the words "I shall be with you on your wedding-night," I
48should regard the threatened fate as unavoidable. But death was no evil to me if the loss of Elizabeth were balanced
49with it, and I therefore, with a contented and even cheerful countenance, agreed with my father that if my cousin would
50consent, the ceremony should take place in ten days, and thus put, as I imagined, the seal to my fate. Great God! If for
51one instant I had thought what might be the hellish intention of my fiendish adversary, I would rather have banished
52myself for ever from my native country and wandered a friendless outcast over the earth than have consented to this
53miserable marriage. But, as if possessed of magic powers, the monster had blinded me to his real intentions; and when I
54thought that I had prepared only my own death, I hastened that of a far dearer victim. As the period fixed for our
55marriage drew nearer, whether from cowardice or a prophetic feeling, I felt my heart sink within me. But I concealed my
56feelings by an appearance of hilarity that brought smiles and joy to the countenance of my father, but hardly deceived
57the ever-watchful and nicer eye of Elizabeth. She looked forward to our union with placid contentment, not unmingled
58with a little fear, which past misfortunes had impressed, that what now appeared certain and tangible happiness might
59soon dissipate into an airy dream and leave no trace but deep and everlasting regret. Preparations were made for the
60event, congratulatory visits were received, and all wore a smiling appearance. I shut up, as well as I could, in my own
61heart the anxiety that preyed there and entered with seeming earnestness into the plans of my father, although they
62might only serve as the decorations of my tragedy. Through my father's exertions a part of the inheritance of Elizabeth
63had been restored to her by the Austrian government. A small possession on the shores of Como belonged to her. It was
64agreed that, immediately after our union, we should proceed to Villa Lavenza and spend our first days of happiness
65beside the beautiful lake near which it stood. In the meantime I took every precaution to defend my person in case the
66fiend should openly attack me. I carried pistols and a dagger constantly about me and was ever on the watch to prevent
67artifice, and by these means gained a greater degree of tranquillity. Indeed, as the period approached, the threat
68appeared more as a delusion, not to be regarded as worthy to disturb my peace, while the happiness I hoped for in my
69marriage wore a greater appearance of certainty as the day fixed for its solemnisation drew nearer and I heard it
70continually spoken of as an occurrence which no accident could possibly prevent.
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