Early in the second
volume, Emily, for whom the concealed picture had a fatal
fascination, determined to gaze upon it.
"Emily passed on with faltering steps and, having
paused a moment at the door before she attempted to
open it, she then hastily entered the chamber and went
towards the picture, which appeared to be enclosed in a
frame of uncommon size, that hung in a dark part of the
room. She paused again and then, with a timid hand,
lifted the veil, but instantly let it fall--perceiving
that, what it had concealed was no picture and, before
she could leave the chamber, she dropped senseless on
the floor."
In time Emily recovers, but the horror of the Black Veil preys on
her mind until, near the close of the third volume, Mrs.
Radcliffe mercifully consents to tell us not only what Emily
thought that she beheld, but what was actually there.
"There appeared, instead of the picture she had
expected, within the recess of the wall, a human figure
of ghastly paleness, stretched at its length, and
dressed in the habiliments of the grave. What added to
the horror of the spectacle was that the face appeared
partly decayed and disfigured by worms, which were
visible on the features and hands.
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