She stepped past the unconscious body Of the girl, and, going to one of the pillars on the right side of the room, apparently touched a spring, for the whole pillar--which, as I have described before, was half built into the wall--revolved slowly with a grating sound and displayed a cavity. I bent forward with a shudder of horror, and saw--nothing!
The cavity was empty!
Signora Morone gazed at it with a look of horror on the wild beauty of her face; then, with a cry of rage, of fear, and of dread, rushed out of the room.
I heard her shriek, "Lost! lost! lost!" three times, then the sound of her retreating footsteps died away in the distance, and I was left alone in the ghastly gloom with the unconscious girl at my feet, and an agony in my heart such as I never hope to feel again in this life.
How I got out of that accursed room I hardly know; but I faintly remember lifting Bianca in my arms, and, guided by instinct, stagger through the dark corridors, down the silent stairs, and out into the courtyard. The fresh air seemed to revive me, and, collecting my scattered senses together with a gigantic effort, I looked round for some means by which to bring Bianca out of her faint, the length of which alarmed me terribly.
In the corner of the courtyard there was a sculptured trough, which the late rains had brimmed over, so, hastening towards this, I filled my cap with water, and, returning to Bianca, threw it in her face.
She revived slowly with a shuddering sigh, and looked round vacantly; then, with a sudden recollection of what she had come through, she flung herself into my arms with an imploring cry,--
"Oh, that voice! that voice! Take me away from that cruel voice!"