Chapter XXV: How She Was Saved

In a former chapter I described the mysterious disappearance of Dorina at the ball given in the caves at Hohenstein, on the eve of her bridal-day, as it was told by my mother. Soon after that fatal night her father died--he never recovered the shock; and his only brother (Cunigunda’s father) was killed from a fall while out hunting, not long after he had succeeded to the family titles and estates.

Cunigunda’s grief at the loss of her father and uncle was apparently so great that she became almost mad, and was said to have attempted suicide, from which she was only saved by the cleverness and promptitude of her old nurse. She then declared that she could never live at Hohenstein, but that she would go and take the veil in the Convent of Udine, where she had been brought up with Dorina. She went first to Venice, to take leave of some of her relations; and among others she expressed a wish to see her cousin, Count Rossi. He had remained at Hohenstein till the death of his betrothed’s father, as he felt that his presence was some consolation to the broken-hearted Graf. Cunigunda remained there apparently for the same reason, so that they had been thrown much together during that time of suspense and suffering.

Probably the fascinating Cunigunda may have been still more charming in her apparent sorrow, and in her efforts to cheer the bereaved father and bridegroom. Certain it is that when Count Rossi heard that, after her own father’s death, Cunigunda attempted to kill herself from temporary madness, and after that, of her determination to take the veil, he was deeply moved; and when, on her arrival at Venice, she expressed a wish to see him, ere she quitted the world for ever, he most readily acceded to her request. She was staying at her aunt’s palace, and the old lady was in the room with her when Count Rossi was announced, but she soon withdrew, and the Count had a long interview with his beautiful cousin.

Whether she appealed to his feelings of compassion for her misery, or what other spells she made use of, can never be known; but the result was that, instead of becoming a nun, she soon afterwards became Countess Rossi. They had of course long before given up all idea that Dorina could have survived; and even when the English gentleman who disappeared with her in the cave--even when he proved to be alive many months afterwards, it only confirmed their belief that she must have died, otherwise he would have been able to give some account of her; but this gentleman felt convinced that the lovely Gräfinn must have been drowned in the stream into which he fancied they both must have fallen.

However, it appeared afterwards that she did not fall into the water, but between the rocks near it.

The account Dorina afterwards gave was that she supposed she was stunned for some time by the fall, but, on recovering consciousness, she groped a long way in the dark through the passages and caves. Sometimes they were quite narrow, and again, in other parts, she seemed to pass through large spaces where the ground was very uneven. She thought that she must have walked many miles, but in what direction she could, of course, give no idea. At length her strength was beginning to fail, and she was on the point of sinking down in despair, when she fancied a streak of light was visible in the far distance. With renewed hope she again dragged on her weary limbs, though almost fainting with exhaustion.

On--on she walked, but the ground was so uneven that she several times lost sight of the cheering though still far distant ray of light. It was certainly the light of day, therefore she was made aware how many hours she had been in the cave, and that light could not be anywhere near Hohenstein, for she knew that even there she was far below the level, and, moreover, that there was no other approach to them than the spot where the ball had taken place.

She was able to proceed but very slowly, and her progress was still more retarded by her efforts to keep that bit of light in sight, for if she walked straight on she lost sight of it, and it was only by keeping on the higher portions of the ground that she could see it at all. At last it seemed to become somewhat larger, and she made a still greater effort to proceed.

But the ground became very wet and slippery, and, in her haste, she fell. After that she remembered nothing, but she afterwards heard that a young girl, the daughter of a smuggler, who lived at the outside of the caverns, discovered her lying among the rocks, apparently dead. Then she carried her home, and her mother made great efforts to restore animation. They found that she had received a deep wound on the side of her head.

Dorina supposed that they treated her with as much skill and kindness as was compatible with their own safety. It seemed that she had not been able to speak or move for several months; that the blow had affected her mind, for she had no recollection of where she had been, or what had taken place, till she seemed to wake suddenly, and found her own old nurse sitting by her bedside.

This nurse was the grand-daughter of the English attendant who had gone to Germany with the Lady Alice Roland, when she married Graf von Hohenstein; and it so happened that this woman’s brother-in-law, Müller, had turned out badly, and joined the band of these robbers or smugglers who infested a part of the country near Adelsberg, and made use of the least-known portions of the caverns for purposes of concealment.

But four months had passed before Frau Müller had any tidings of her loved young lady, and it was by the merest chance that the lost bride was still alive, although her reason appeared to be completely gone. It was after the death of Cunigunda’s father, and the young heiress had gone, as we have already stated, to Venice, to take the veil in its neighbourhood.