And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open
The breast of heaven, I did present myself
Even in the aim and very flash of it,"
in anxious hope that it might strike a guilty fratricide dead!——Now, now, you must say, and swear too, upon this blood-stained poniard!—swear never—no, never! to reveal what this sad and eventful night has developed; save it be upon your death-bed alone that you may divulge it. Come, I demand thy oath; I must have thy solemn oath—thy sanctified oath of secrecy! But I will not place that horrid instrument to thy lips, to swear by! No, no! I could not do it—I would not. Oh, no—if even past joys and hopes again were to return—no! But there—there, place thy hand upon that horrible instrument of my deep damnation! Swear upon it!—solemnly swear upon that blood-besprent dagger. Swear!—I charge thee, swear!——Oh, yet weep not, my poor Adelaide! Oh, no!—weep not thus, my Adelaide, or I forego my purpose; and soon, then, this dagger shall be plunged into mine own guilty bosom!——Thou hast heard me——my love! Oh, yes, yes, my love; for still, oh, still art thou dear to me—dearer than life—ay, or even the blessed hopes of ******!—although we never may meet again!——There, I beseech thee! yet there place thy hand upon that instrument of my torture—of my unspeakable woe—and of my deep and deadly crime.—Swear!
Adelaide firmly clasped the fatal instrument, and then exclaimed: "I swear, I solemnly swear, to observe to the very letter all thou hast now enjoined!"
"Oh," replied he, dejected and overcome, "how cold, how deadly cold, is thy hand, my poor, poor Adelaide!—frozen as are all my hopes, and chilled, chilled—deadly chilled as is my own wretched heart's blood. Oh, I shall lose my reason! Oh God, what an hour is this? But pardon me, thou Almighty power. It was I, the impassioned wretch, that flew forth in thy defiance, like another branded criminal—the blood-besprinkled Cain, whose mark, I fear, is stamped upon my forehead and in my heart. But, oh, great and dread Omnipotent, thou art truly just—and I am guilty. Most justly do I confess that I am punished as I ought to be, by thy retributive justice, even upon earth—the irreparable loss of her whom no earthly power upon this habitable spot of earth can ever alleviate or redeem!—never, never, never!"
While Sir David Bruce impassionately and woefully said this, he fell prostrate, and cold, and lifeless, upon the floor of the bridal chamber.
To describe the emotions of Adelaide, would be to attempt indeed an impracticable task. It was so truly horrifying and affecting, that it must wholly be left to the imagination of the feeling reader. It was some time before Sir David recovered from this overpowering blow of affliction. When he did recover, he said mournfully:—
"Sorrow has paralyzed me; and I who often have cleft in twain the helmet of the foeman, now shrink and bend before thee, my much-injured love. A guilty conscience hath unmanned me quite. But oh, my poor Adelaide, time presses onward; the night wears apace, and I must now conclude the few words which I have to say to thee. You must tell the duke and duchess—boldly, as it is true, to account for the rapidity of my departure—that the import of the despatches received, which are from the Elector Palatine of Brandenburgh, in whose service I fought at the battle of the Boyne, bear with them life or death, and I must instantly depart. Thus summoned so suddenly, say to them, and kindly say, that I could not await their arising for the slow ceremony of leave-taking, but that I was forced to hasten forthwith, even amidst the cold and darkness of midnight, with all the expedition I might. And ... when hence I am gone, and thou shalt silently sit in judgment on my passion, and upon my crime, and shalt pronounce condemnation on the destroyer of a brother's life, and of a wife's happiness—oh, even then still think how fervently, how affectionately, how devotedly, I loved thee;—yea, and in my very heart's core!... And now a long farewell—for ever farewell. Mayst thou obtain that peace that is to me denied and lost in this world for ever!"