"Are
you now satisfied?"
"I am, that you have deceived me, false spirit!" cried the earl. "I would
not believe the Fair Geraldine inconstant, though all hell told me so."
A terrible laugh broke from the demon, and the vision faded away. All
became perfect darkness, and for a few moments the earl remained
silent. He then called to the demon, but receiving no answer, put forth
his hand towards the spot where he had stood. He was gone.
Confounded, Surrey returned to the table, and searched for the relic,
but, with a feeling of indescribable anguish and self-reproach, found
that it had likewise disappeared.
V. What befell Sir Thomas Wyat in the Sandstone Cave--And how he
drank a maddening Potion.
THE cave in which Sir Thomas Wyat found himself, on the removal of
the bandage from his eyes, was apparently--for it was only lighted by a
single torch--of considerable width and extent, and hewn out of a bed of
soft sandstone. The roof, which might be about ten feet high, was
supported by the trunks of three large trees rudely fashioned into
pillars. There were several narrow lateral passages within it,
apparently communicating with other caverns; and at the farther end,
which was almost buried in obscurity, there was a gleam seemingly
occasioned by the reflection of the torchlight upon water.
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