The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror)
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The Monks seized the first opportunity of welcoming them home, and a few days afterwards the happiness of the whole party was materially augmented by the presence of the Conte della Croisse, who informed Enrico, soon after his arrival, that he had long secretly formed a resolution of entering into the convent of St Angelo; and having taken leave of his daughter, was come purposely to fulfil his intention.
"The crimes of my youth," resumed the Conte, "stand yet in terrible array before me, and the only atonement I can now make for my offences, is to dedicate the remaining part of my life to prayer and penitence. Hitherto I have been irresistibly withheld from the execution of my intention; for the designations of Providence are uncontrollable. It was the will of Heaven that I should continue in society, to become an instrument of punishment to the guilty, and to rescue innocence from the grasp of oppression, relieving myself by these means from a debt of gratitude, which I should otherwise have found it impossible to have discharged; but the end being accomplished, why should I longer defer the prosecution of my purpose, since I am already bending with years, and, in the common course of nature, cannot reasonably expect to continue much longer an inhabitant of this world?"
Enrico finding that his friend was bent upon this new project, and being secretly gratified on his having fixed upon the convent of St Angelo for his future abode, did not attempt to dissuade him from his design but gained, or rather wrested a promise from him, that he would remain in the family for the space of a month. Often in the society of Laurette and Enrico did the penitent Della Croisse fix his eyes upon them with an expression of earnest tenderness, as he witnessed their mutual affection, whilst busy memory reverted to the scenes of his youth, and presented the image of his Helena, with all its amiable accompaniments, to his mind. When reflecting upon her, his thoughts would frequently glance upon Laurentina, she whose Circean charms had accomplished his overthrow, and dwell with painful regret upon the recollection of his complicated enmesh and misfortunes.
"Learn from my fate, my children," he would sometimes say, addressing himself to the lovely pair, "the danger of venturing on the borders of vice. I was once virtuous as you are; but one fatal error, one unsubdued passion, plunged me into irremediable guilt; yet not aware of my danger, even when on the brink of a precipice, I believed I could return at discretion to the path of rectitude; but when once tempted to deviate from the principles of truth and honour, how soon is every amiable impression obliterated from the heart, how soon does vice by familiarity lose its deformity! Yet what an inexhaustible source of felicity is an untainted conscience, and how eternally connected are guilt and misery!"
Often, as he thus movingly addressed them, did he melt his audience into tears, who endeavoured, with all those gentle assiduities, which sensibility like their's knew so well how to bestow, to delude him into a transient forgetfulness of his past crimes; and sometimes attempted to convince him that the purity of his present conduct, aided by the sorrow he expressed for what could not be recalled, was sufficient to atone for the errors of his youth; and that the irregularities into which he had been precipitated through the artifice of others, were not so much to be attributed to his faults as his misfortunes.
Anselmo, whose faithful attachment to his master had rather increased than diminished, was, in consideration of his former services, exalted to the rank of steward, which the generous Marchese contrived to make both an easy and lucrative post.
Thus restored to joy and tranquillity, the inhabitants of the castle of Elfinbach enjoyed the most uninterrupted felicity.—Enrico, whose dutiful impulses prompted him to the most benevolent exertions, set apart annually a third of his princely income for charitable purposes; and his mother, following his bright example, adopted a similar plan. None that entered the portals of this hospitable mansion departed without calling down blessings from Heaven upon its owners.
Della Croisse, at the appointed time, repaired to the convent of St Angelo, and entered into the severe order of the Carthusians, where he found, in the purified conversation of his early companion, the pious Benedicta, and that of Father Andrea, all the consolation he was capable of receiving.—Whilst blessed with health, virtue, and innocence, the Marchese and Marchesa, in the bosom of their amiable family, experienced the most refined sensations of happiness; and anxious of possessing it themselves, felt a Godlike pleasure in dispensing it to others. They were blessed with a numerous offspring, lovely as themselves, and presented, in the whole of their lives to the reflecting mind of the moralist, a striking instance of the imbecility of vice, and of the triumphant power of virtue.
THE END