As She walked with a listless air up and down the chamber, the
Door caught her eye conducting to that which had been her
Mother's. She remembered that Elvira's little Library was
arranged there, and thought that She might possibly find in it
some Book to amuse her till Leonella should arrive. Accordingly
She took her Taper from the table, passed through the little
Closet, and entered the adjoining apartment. As She looked
around her, the sight of this room brought to her recollection a
thousand painful ideas. It was the first time of her entering it
since her Mother's death. The total silence prevailing through
the chamber, the Bed despoiled of its furniture, the cheerless
hearth where stood an extinguished Lamp, and a few dying Plants
in the window which, since Elvira's loss, had been neglected,
inspired Antonia with a melancholy awe. The gloom of night gave
strength to this sensation. She placed her light upon the Table,
and sank into a large chair, in which She had seen her Mother
seated a thousand and a thousand times. She was never to see her
seated there again! Tears unbidden streamed down her cheek, and
She abandoned herself to the sadness which grew deeper with
every moment.
Ashamed of her weakness, She at length rose from her seat: She
proceeded to seek for what had brought her to this melancholy
scene. The small collection of Books was arranged upon several
shelves in order. Antonia examined them without finding any
thing likely to interest her, till She put her hand upon a volume
of old Spanish Ballads.
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