"after the rest of the party had passed on, i went back to speak to you," she said; "for there seemed to be a trouble on your mind, and i wished to share it with you, if you could permit me.the door of the little courtyard was partly shut; but i pushed it open, and saw you within, and donatello, and a third person, whom i had before noticed in the shadow of a niche.he approached you, miriam.you knelt to him! i saw donatello spring upon him! i would have shrieked, but my throat was dry.i would have rushed forward, but my limbs seemed rooted to the earth.it was like a flash of lightning.a look passed from your eyes to donatello's--a look"--"yes, hilda, yes!" exclaimed miriam, with intense eagerness. "do not pause now!that look?""it revealed all your heart, miriam," continued hilda, covering her eyes as if to shut out the recollection; "a look of hatred, triumph, vengeance, and, as it were, joy at some unhoped-for relief.""ah! donatello was right, then," murmured miriam, who shook throughout all her frame. "my eyes bade him do it!go on, hilda.""it all passed so quickly, all like a glare of lightning," said hilda, "and yet it seemed to me that donatello had paused, while one might draw a breath. but that look!ah, miriam, spare me.need i tell more?""no more; there needs no more, hilda," replied miriam, bowing her head, as if listening to a sentence of condemnation from a supreme tribunal."it is enough! you have satisfied my mind on a point where it was greatly disturbed.henceforward i shall be quiet.thank you, hilda."she was on the point of departing, but turned back again from the threshold.
"this is a terrible secret to be kept in a young girl's bosom," she observed; "what will you do with it, my poor child?""heaven help and guide me," answered hilda, bursting into tears; "for the burden of it crushes me to the earth!it seems a crime to know ofsuch a thing, and to keep it to myself.it knocks within my heart continually, threatening, imploring, insisting to be let out! o my mother!--my mother! were she yet living, i would travel over land and sea to tell her this dark secret, as i told all the little troubles of my infancy.but i am alone--alone! miriam, you were my dearest, only friend.advise me what to do."this was a singular appeal, no doubt, from the stainless maiden to the guilty woman, whom she had just banished from her heart forever.but it bore striking testimony to the impression which miriam's natural uprightness and impulsive generosity had made on the friend who knew her best; and it deeply comforted the poor criminal, by proving to her that the bond between hilda and herself was vital yet.