When they were at such a
distance from the city as to preclude the chance of assistance, several
men, masked and disguised, rushed out of an inclosure, seized their
fainting prey, and bore her from her shrieking companion to a carriage
which waited to receive her. The horses set off at full speed, and
Isabel, in an agony of despair, ran after it till it was out of sight,
invoking the interposition of Heaven, and casting many a vain look
around to see if any human succour was at hand. Tired and exhausted, she
at last recollected, that to return to the city and relate the event,
describing to the municipal officers the road the fugitives had taken,
would afford the most probable means of rescue; and, though it would be
unspeakable agony to meet her bereaved uncle and aunt, she yet
considered that her being with them would afford them some consolation,
beside the advantage of her testimony for the recovery of her dear
companion.
When Constantia revived from the state of insensibility into which the
suddenness of the assault had hurried her weak spirits, she found
herself in a chaise with Monthault, who watched the return of her senses
to pour out some passionate encomiums on her beauty, and protestations
of his insurmountable, though hopeless love.
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