the evening
before about ten o'clock
Before she left her chamber , a man , with his jaws standing ajar with horror , called upon the governor , and requested to speak with him in private . He then informed his excellency , that as he was rambling through the woods at the foot of the precipice , he had found the dead body of an officer , who had evidently fallen from the cliff above ; that it was so frightfully mangled by the fall , that no vestiges of humanity were recognizable in the countenance , or in the body ; but that , from the peculiar fashion of the regimentals , he was almost sure that it was his excellency 's aid-du-camp , Don Gregorio Nunez . Alarmed by this intelligence , the governor despatched a servant to that officer 's quarters , who soon returned with the intelligence that he had not been there since the morning of the preceding day . Further inquiry among his brother officers informed him that he had left their company the evening before about ten o'clock : that he had been drinking freely , rather more freely than usual ; and that they had not seen him since . Having commanded the attendance of two or three officers and as many soldiers , the commandante proceeded to the spot , guided by his first informant , and was convinced , as soon as he saw the crushed and mutilated mass , that it was no other than his unhappy officer . Having given orders for transporting the body to town , he returned to his family , who , although aware , from his abstracted and pensive manner , that something had happened to discompose him , forbore to ask any questions -- a line of conduct which , by the way , we would most earnestly recommend to all wives and daughters . Isabella 's mind was too much occupied with her own thoughts to notice the silence and melancholy of her uncle ; she ate nothing , but her aunt and cousins attributed her want of appetite to the fright of the preceding evening ; as her eyes met their kind and anxious looks , and she thought of her determination to quit them forever , she could not restrain her tears ; but rising hastily from the table , she took shelter from observation and questioning in her own chamber .