The count had been ill for some weeks at the time when this chapter opens; but on the night which marks that commencement, Dr. Duras had deemed it his duty to warn the nobleman that he had not many hours to live.

The dying man had accordingly desired that his children might be summoned; and when they entered the apartment, the physician and the priest were requested to withdraw.

Francisco now stood on one side of the bed, and Nisida on the other; while the count collected his remaining strength to address his last injunctions to his son.

"Francisco," he said, in a cold tone, "I have little inclination to speak at any great length; but the words I am about to utter are solemnly important. I believe you entertain the most sincere and earnest faith in that symbol which now lies beneath your hand."

"The crucifix!" ejaculated the young man. "Oh, yes, my dear father!--it is the emblem of that faith which teaches us how to live and die!"

"Then take it up--press it to your lips--and swear to obey the instructions which I am about to give you," said the count.

Francisco did as he was desired; and, although tears were streaming from his eyes, he exclaimed, in an emphatic manner, "I swear most solemnly to fulfill your commands, my dear father, so confident am I that you will enjoin nothing that involves aught dishonorable!"

"Spare your qualifications," cried the count, sternly; "and swear without reserve--or expect my dying curse, rather than my blessing."

"Oh! my dear father," ejaculated the youth, with intense anguish of soul; "talk not of so dreadful a thing as bequeathing me your dying curse! I swear to fulfill your injunctions--without reserve."

And he kissed the holy symbol.

"You act wisely," said the count, fixing his glaring eyes upon the handsome countenance of the young man, who now awaited, in breathless suspense, a communication thus solemnly prefaced. "This key," continued the nobleman, taking one from beneath his pillow as he spoke, "belongs to the door in yonder corner of the apartment."

"That door which is never opened!" exclaimed Francisco, casting an anxious glance in the direction indicated.

"Who told you that the door was never opened," demanded the count, sternly.

"I have heard the servants remark----" began the youth in a timid, but still frank and candid manner.

"Then, when I am no more, see that you put an end to such impertinent gossiping," said the nobleman, impatiently; "and you will be the better convinced of the propriety of thus acting, as soon as you have learned the nature of my injunctions. That door," he continued, "communicates with a small closet, which is accessible by no other means. Now my wish--my command is this:--Upon the day of your marriage, whenever such an event may occur--and I suppose you do not intend to remain unwedded all your life--I enjoin you to open the door of that closet. You must be accompanied by your bride--and by no other living soul. I also desire that this may be done with the least possible delay--the very morning--within the very hour after you quit the church. That closet contains the means of elucidating a mystery profoundly connected with me--with you--with the family--a mystery, the developments of which may prove of incalculable service alike to yourself and to her who may share your title and your wealth. But should you never marry, then must the closet remain unvisited by _you_; nor need you trouble yourself concerning the eventual discovery of the secret which it contains, by any person into whose hands the mansion may fall at your death. It is also my wish that your sister should remain in complete ignorance of the instructions which I am now giving you. Alas! poor girl--she cannot hear the words which fall from my lips! neither shall you communicate their import to her by writing, nor by the language of the fingers. And remember that while I bestow upon you my blessing--my dying blessing--may that blessing become a withering curse--the curse of hell upon you--if in any way you violate one tittle of the injunctions which I have now given you."

"My dearest father," replied the weeping youth, who had listened with the most profound attention, to these extraordinary commands; "I would not for worlds act contrary to your wishes. Singular as they appear to me, they shall be fulfilled to the very letter."

He received from his father's hand the mysterious key, which he had secured about his person.

"You will find," resumed the count after a brief pause, "that I have left the whole of my property to you. At the same time my will specifies certain conditions relative to your sister Nisida, for whom I have made due provision only in the case--which is, alas! almost in defiance of every hope!--of her recovery from that dreadful affliction which renders her so completely dependent upon your kindness."

"Dearest father, you know how sincerely I am attached to my sister--how devoted she is to me----"

"Enough, enough!" cried the count; and overcome by the effort he had made to deliver his last injunction, he fell back insensible on his pillow.

Nisida, who had retained her face buried in her hands during the whole time occupied in the above conversation, happened to look up at that moment; and, perceiving the condition of her father, she made a hasty sign to Francisco to summon the physician and the priest from the room to which they had retired.

This commission was speedily executed, and in a few minutes the physician and the priest were once more by the side of the dying noble.

But the instant that Dr. Duras--who was a venerable looking man of about sixty years of age--approached the bed, he darted, unseen by Francisco, a glance of earnest inquiry toward Nisida, who responded by one of profound meaning, shaking her head gently, but in a manner expressive of deep melancholy, at the same time.

The physician appeared to be astonished at the negative thus conveyed by the beautiful mute; and he even manifested a sign of angry impatience.

But Nisida threw upon him a look of so imploring a nature, that his temporary vexation yielded to a feeling of immense commiseration for that afflicted creature: and he gave her to understand, by another rapid glance, that her prayer was accorded.

This interchange of signs of such deep mystery scarcely occupied a moment, and was altogether unobserved by Francisco.

Dr. Duras proceeded to administer restoratives to the dying nobleman--but in vain!

The count had fallen into a lethargic stupor, which lasted until four in the morning, when his spirit passed gently away.

The moment Francisco and Nisida became aware that they were orphans, they threw themselves into each other's arms, and renewed by that tacit compact of sincere affection which had ever existed between them.

Francisco's tears flowed freely; but Nisida did not weep!

A strange--an almost portentous light shone in her brilliant black eyes; and though that wild gleaming denoted powerful emotions, yet it shed no luster upon the depths of her soul--afforded no clew to the real nature of these agitated feelings.

Suddenly withdrawing himself from his sister's arms, Francisco conveyed to her by the language of the fingers the following tender sentiment:--"You have lost a father, beloved Nisida, but you have a devoted and affectionate brother left to you!"

And Nisida replied through the same medium, "Your happiness, dearest brother, has ever been my only study, and shall continue so."

The physician and Father Marco, the priest, now advanced, and taking the brother and sister by the hands, led them from the chamber of death.

"Kind friends," said Francisco, now Count of Riverola, "I understand you. You would withdraw my sister and myself from a scene too mournful to contemplate. Alas! it is hard to lose a father; but especially so at my age, inexperienced as I am in the ways of the world!"

"The world is indeed made up of thorny paths and devious ways, my dear young friend," returned the physician; "but a stout heart and integrity of purpose will ever be found faithful guides. The more exalted and the wealthier the individual, the greater the temptations he will have to encounter. Reflect upon this, Francisco: it is advice which I, as an old--indeed, the oldest friend of your family--take the liberty to offer."

With these words, the venerable physician wrung the hands of the brother and sister, and hurried from the house, followed by the priest.

The orphans embraced each other, and retired to their respective apartments.

CHAPTER II.

NISIDA--THE MYSTERIOUS CLOSET.

The room to which Nisida withdrew, between four and five o'clock on that mournful winter's morning, was one of a suit entirely appropriated to her own use.

This suit consisted of three apartments, communicating with each other, and all furnished in the elegant and tasteful manner of that age.

The innermost of the three rooms was used as her bed-chamber, and when she now entered it, a young girl of seventeen, beautiful as an angel, but dressed in the attire of a dependent, instantly arose from a seat near the fire that blazed on the hearth, and cast a respectful but inquiring glance toward her mistress.

Nisida gave her to understand, by a sign, that all was over.

The girl started, as if surprised that her lady indicated so little grief; but the latter motioned her, with an impatient gesture, to leave the room.

When Flora--such was the name of the dependent--had retired Nisida threw herself into a large arm-chair near the fire, and immediately became buried in a deep reverie. With her splendid hair flowing upon her white shoulders--her proud forehead supported on her delicate hand--her lips apart, and revealing the pearly teeth--her lids with their long black fringes half-closed over the brilliant eyes--and her fine form cast in voluptuous abandonment upon the soft cushions of the chair--she indeed seemed a magnificent creature!

But when, suddenly awaking from that profound meditation, she started from her seat with flashing eyes--heaving bosom--and an expression of countenance denoting a fixed determination to accomplish some deed from which her better feelings vainly bade her to abstain:--when she drew her tall--her even majestic form up to its full height, the drapery shadowing forth every contour of undulating bust and exquisitely modeled limb--while her haughty lip curled in contempt of any consideration save her own indomitable will--she appeared rather a heroine capable of leading an Amazonian army, than a woman to whom the sighing swain might venture to offer up the incense of love.

There was something awful in the aspect of this mysterious being--something ineffably grand and imposing in her demeanor--as she thus suddenly rose from her almost recumbent posture, and burst into the attitude of a resolute and energetic woman.

Drawing the wrapper around her form, she lighted a lamp, and was about to quit the chamber, when her eyes suddenly encountered the mild and benignant glance which the portrait of a lady appeared to cast upon her.

This portrait, which hung against the wall precisely opposite to the bed, represented a woman of about thirty years of age--a woman of a beauty much in the same style as that of Nisida, but not marred by anything approaching to a sternness of expression. On the contrary, if an angel had looked through those mild black eyes, their glances could not have been endowed with a holier kindness; the smiles of good spirits could not be more plaintively sweet than those which the artist had made to play upon the lips of that portrait.