The Monastery

Chapter 12

Young Halbert Glendinning had scarcely pronounced the mystical rhymes,

than, as we have mentioned in the conclusion of the last chapter, an

appearance, as of a beautiful female, dressed in white, stood within

two yards of him. His terror for the moment overcame his natural

courage, as well as the strong resolution which he had formed, that

the figure which he had now twice seen should not a third time daunt

him. But it would seem there is something thrilling and abhorrent to

flesh and blood, in the consciousness that we stand in presence of a

being in form like to ourselves, but so different in faculties and

nature, that we can neither understand its purposes, nor calculate its

means of pursuing them.

Halbert stood silent and gasped for breath, his hairs erecting

themselves on his head---his mouth open--his eyes fixed, and, as the

sole remaining sign of his late determined purpose, his sword pointed

towards the apparition. At length with a voice of ineffable

sweetness, the White Lady, for by that name we shall distinguish this

being, sung, or rather chanted, the following lines:--

The astonishment of Halbert began once more to give way to his

resolution, and he gained voice enough to say, though with a faltering

accent, "In the name of God, what art thou?" The answer was in melody

of a different tone and measure:--

The White Lady paused, and appeared to await an answer; but, as Halbert

hesitated how to frame his speech, the vision seemed gradually to fade,

and became more and more incorporeal. Justly guessing this to be a

symptom of her disappearance, Halbert compelled himself to say,--"Lady,

when I saw you in the glen, and when you brought back the black book of

Mary Avenel, thou didst say I should one day learn to read it."

The White Lady replied,

"I will do so no longer, fair maiden," said Halbert; "I desire to

learn; and thou didst promise me, that when I did so desire, thou

wouldst be my helper; I am no longer afraid of thy presence, and I am

no longer regardless of instruction." As he uttered these words, the

figure of the White Maiden grew gradually as distinct as it had been

at first; and what had well-nigh faded into an ill-defined and

colourless shadow, again assumed an appearance at least of corporeal

consistency, although the hues were less vivid, and the outline of the

figure less distinct and defined--so at least it seemed to

Halbert--than those of an ordinary inhabitant of earth. "Wilt thou

grant my request," he said, "fair Lady, and give to my keeping the

holy book which Mary of Avenel has so often wept for?"

The White Lady replied:

"Fearest thou to go with me?" she said, as his hand trembled at the soft

and cold touch of her own--

"If what thou sayest be true," said the undaunted boy, "my destinies

are higher than thine own. There shall be neither well nor wood which I

dare not visit. No fear of aught, natural or supernatural, shall bar my

path through my native valley."

He had scarce uttered the words, when they both descended through the

earth with a rapidity which took away Halbert's breath and every other

sensation, saving that of being hurried on with the utmost velocity. At

length they stopped with a shock so sudden, that the mortal journeyer

through this unknown space must have been thrown down with violence,

had he not been upheld by his supernatural companion.

It was more than a minute, ere, looking around him, he beheld a

grotto, or natural cavern, composed of the most splendid spars and

crystals, which returned in a thousand prismatic hues the light of a

brilliant flame that glowed on an altar of alabaster. This altar, with

its fire, formed the central point of the grotto, which was of a round

form, and very high in the roof, resembling in some respects the dome

of a cathedral. Corresponding to the four points of the compass, there

went off four long galleries, or arcades, constructed of the same

brilliant materials with the dome itself, and the termination of which

was lost in darkness.

No human imagination can conceive, or words suffice to describe, the

glorious radiance which, shot fiercely forth by the flame, was

returned from so many hundred thousand points of reflection, afforded

by the sparry pillars and their numerous angular crystals. The fire

itself did not remain steady and unmoved, but rose and fell, sometimes

ascending in a brilliant pyramid of condensed flame half way up the

lofty expanse, and again fading into a softer and more rosy hue, and

hovering, as it were, on the surface of the altar to collect its

strength for another powerful exertion. There was no visible fuel by

which it was fed, nor did it emit either smoke or vapour of any kind.

What was of all the most remarkable, the black volume so often

mentioned lay not only unconsumed, but untouched in the slightest

degree, amid this intensity of fire, which, while it seemed to be of

force sufficient to melt adamant, had no effect whatever on the sacred

book thus subjected to its utmost influence.

The White Lady, having paused long enough to let young Glendinning

take a complete survey of what was around him, now said in her usual

chant,

They stood by the fountain in the Corri-nan-shian when they emerged

from the bowels of the earth; but on casting a bewildered glance

around him, the youth was surprised to observe, that the shadows had

fallen far to the east, and that the day was well-nigh spent. He gazed

on his conductress for explanation, but her figure began to fade

before his eyes--her cheeks grew paler, her features less distinct,

her form became shadowy, and blended itself with the mist which was

ascending the hollow ravine. What had late the symmetry of form, and

the delicate, yet clear hues of feminine beauty, now resembled the

flitting and pale ghost of some maiden who has died for love, as it is

seen indistinctly and by moonlight, by her perjured lover.

"Stay, spirit!" said the youth, imboldened by his success in the

subterranean dome, "thy kindness must not leave me, as one encumbered

with a weapon he knows not how to wield. Thou must teach me the art to

read, and to understand this volume; else what avails it me that I

possess it?"

But the figure of the White Lady still waned before his eye, until it

became an outline as pale and indistinct as that of the moon, when the

winter morning is far advanced, and ere she had ended the following

chant, she was entirely invisible:--

It was at this moment that Halbert felt the extremity of the terror

which he had hitherto so manfully suppressed. The very necessity of

exertion had given him spirit to make it, and the presence of the

mysterious Being, while it was a subject of fear in itself, had

nevertheless given him the sense of protection being near to him. It

was when he could reflect with composure on what had passed, that a

cold tremor shot across his limbs, his hair bristled, and he was

afraid to look around lest he should find at his elbow something more

frightful than the first vision. A breeze arising suddenly, realized

the beautiful and wild idea of the most imaginative of our modern

bards [Footnote: Coleridge.]--

But neither sound nor appearance indicated the presence of the White

Lady, and nothing preternatural beyond what he had already witnessed,

was again audible or visible. Halbert, in the meanwhile, by the very

exertion of again inviting the presence of this mysterious Being, had

recovered his natural audacity. He looked around once more, and

resumed his solitary path down the valley into whose recesses he had

penetrated.

Nothing could be more strongly contrasted than the storm of passion

with which he had bounded over stock and crag, in order to plunge

himself into the Corri-nan-shian, and the sobered mood in which he now

returned homeward, industriously seeking out the most practicable

path, not from a wish to avoid danger, but that he might not by

personal toil distract his attention, deeply fixed on the

extraordinary scene which he had witnessed. In the former case, he had

sought by hazard and bodily exertion to indulge at once the fiery

excitation of passion, and to banish the cause of the excitement from

his recollection; while now he studiously avoided all interruption to

his contemplative walk, lest the difficulty of the way should

interfere with, or disturb, his own deep reflections. Thus slowly

pacing forth his course, with the air of a pilgrim rather than of a

deer-hunter, Halbert about the close of the evening regained his

paternal tower.