The soot, which had not been disturbed for centuries,
showered down the huge tunnelled chimneys; lime and dust flew in clouds
from the wall; and, whether the lightning had actually struck the castle
or whether through the violent concussion of the air, several heavy
stones were hurled from the mouldering battlements into the roaring
sea beneath. It might seem as if the ancient founder of the castle were
bestriding the thunderstorm, and proclaiming his displeasure at the
reconciliation of his descendant with the enemy of his house.
The consternation was general, and it required the efforts of both the
Lord Keeper and Ravenswood to keep Lucy from fainting. Thus was the
Master a second time engaged in the most delicate and dangerous of
all tasks, that of affording support and assistance to a beautiful and
helpless being, who, as seen before in a similar situation, had
already become a favourite of his imagination, both when awake and when
slumbering. If the genius of the house really condemned a union betwixt
the Master and his fair guest, the means by which he expressed his
sentiments were as unhappily chosen as if he had been a mere mortal.
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