The Heir of Mondolfo Read Online Free PDF

Self-will and scorn were even more apparent. He was
somewhat like what Ludovico had been, and so like what he then was
that Viola did not doubt that his father stood before her. She
tried to collect her courage, but the surprise, his haughty mien,
and, above all, the sound of many horses, and the voices of men who
had remained outside the cottage, so disturbed and distracted her
that her heart for a moment failed her, and she leaned trembling
and ashy white against the wall, straining her child to her heart
with convulsive energy. Fernando spoke:
    "You are Viola Amaldi, and you call yourself, I believe,
the wife of Ludovico Mandolfo?"
    "I am so"--her lips formed themselves to these words,
but the sound died away.
    Fernando continued:
    "I am Prince Mondolfo, father of the rash boy who has
entered into this illegal and foolish contract. When I heard of it
my plan was easily formed, and I am now about to put it into
execution. I could easily have done so without coming to you,
without enduring the scene which, I suppose, I shall endure; but
benevolence has prompted me to the line of conduct I adopt, and I
hope that I shall not repent it."
    Fernando paused; Viola had heard little of what he had said. She
was employed in collecting her scattered spirits, in bidding her
heart be still, and arming herself with the pride and courage of
innocence and helplessness. Every word he spoke was thus of use to
her, as it gave her time to recollect herself. She only bowed her
head as he paused, and he continued:
    "While Ludovico was a younger son, and did not seek to
obtrude his misalliance into notice, I was content that he should
enjoy what he termed happiness unmolested; but circumstances have
changed. He has become the heir of Mondolfo, and must support that
family and title by a suitable marriage. Your dream has passed. I
mean you no ill. You will be conducted hence with your child,
placed on board a vessel, and taken to a town in Spain. You will
receive a yearly stipend, and, as long as you seek no communication
with Ludovico, or endeavor to leave the asylum provided for you,
you are safe; but the slightest movement, the merest yearning for a
station you may never fill, shall draw upon you and that boy the
vengeance of one whose menaces are but the uplifted arm--the blow
quickly follows!"
    The excess of danger that threatened the unprotected Viola gave
her courage. She replied:
    "I am alone and feeble, you are strong, and have ruffians
waiting on you to execute such crimes as your imagination suggests.
I care not for Mondolfo, nor the title, nor the possession, but I
will never, oh! never, never! renounce my Ludovico--never do aught
to derogate from our plighted faith. Torn from him, I will seek
him, though it be barefoot and a-hungered, through the wide world.
He is mine by that love be has been pleased to conceive for me; I
am his by the sentiment of devotion and eternal attachment that now
animates my voice. Tear us asunder, yet we shall meet again, and,
unless you put the grave between us, you cannot separate
us."
    Fernando smiled in scorn.
    "And that boy," he said, pointing to die infant,
"will you lead him, innocent lamb, a sacrifice to the altar of
your love, and plant the knife yourself in the victim's
heart?"
    Again the lips of Viola became pale as she clasped her boy and
exclaimed, in almost inarticulate accents:
    "There is a God in Heaven!".Fernando left the cottage,
and it was soon filled by men, one of whom threw a cloak over Viola
and her boy, and, dragging them from the cottage, placed them in a
kind of litter, and the cavalcade proceeded silently. Viola had
uttered one shriek when she beheld her enemies, but, knowing their
power and her own impotence, she stifled all further cries. When in
the litter she strove in vain to disengage herself from the cloak
that enveloped her, and then tried to hush her child, who,
frightened at his strange situation, uttered piercing cries. At
length he slept; and Viola, darkling and