Here she would have it the
confession was signed by the Countess.
Another point in reference to this scheme must not be passed unnoticed.
We have mentioned the heavy hangings at the lower end of the room.
According to the plotter, it was behind these that Sarah Swarton--the
intended witness of the imaginary scene--was concealed. The principal
subjects represented on the arras were the Judgment of Solomon, and the
Temptation of our first Parents in the Garden by the Serpent. The
hangings had evidently not been removed for years, and did not reach
within two feet of the ground--a circumstance that had escaped the
attention of Lady Lake--proving the truth of her husband's observation,
that in the best contrived plot some imperfection will exist certain to
operate in its detection.
To return to the unhappy Countess. So lost was she in reflection, that
she did not remark Lord Roos's return till made aware of it by a slight
touch on the shoulder. When she raised her eyes, they fell upon an
object that inspired her with the dread and aversion that a noxious
reptile might have produced. She had never seen Luke Hatton before; and
if she had figured him to her mind at all, it was not as anything
agreeable; but she was not prepared for so hideous and revolting a
personage as he appeared to be. His face was like an ugly mask, on which
a sardonic grin was stamped. His features were large and gaunt, and he
had the long, hooked nose, and the sharp-pointed bestial ears of a
satyr, with leering eyes--betokening at once sensuality and cunning.
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