The Italian, Volume 1 (of 3)

OR THE CONFESSIONAL of the BLACK PENITENTS. A ROMANCE.
BY ANN RADCLIFFE,
AUTHOR OF THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO, &c. &c.
He, wrapt in clouds of mystery and silence, Broods o'er his passions, bodies them in deeds, And sends them forth on wings of Fate to others: Like the invisible Will, that guides us, Unheard, unknown, unsearchable!
IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies (successors to Mr. Cadell) in the Strand. 1797.
OR THE CONFESSIONAL of the BLACK PENITENTS.
About the year 1764, some English travellers in Italy, during one of their excursions in the environs of Naples, happened to stop before the portico of the Santa Maria del Pianto , a church belonging to a very ancient convent of the order of the Black Penitents . The magnificence of this portico, though impaired by time, excited so much admiration, that the travellers were curious to survey the structure to which it belonged, and with this intention they ascended the marble steps that led to it.
Within the shade of the portico, a person with folded arms, and eyes directed towards the ground, was pacing behind the pillars the whole extent of the pavement, and was apparently so engaged by his own thoughts, as not to observe that strangers were approaching. He turned, however, suddenly, as if startled by the sound of steps, and then, without further pausing, glided to a door that opened into the church and disappeared.
There was something too extraordinary in the figure of this man, and too singular in his conduct, to pass unnoticed by the visitors. He was of a tall thin figure, bending forward from the shoulders; of a sallow complexion, and harsh features, and had an eye, which, as it looked up from the cloke that muffled the lower part of his countenance, seemed expressive of uncommon ferocity.
The travellers, on entering the church, looked round for the stranger, who had passed thither before them, but he was no where to be seen, and, through all the shade of the long aisles, only one other person appeared. This was a friar of the adjoining convent, who sometimes pointed out to strangers the objects in the church, which were most worthy of attention, and who now, with this design, approached the party that had just entered.