t by the
character of those from whom it is threatened. This count is a man of
singular audacity, of no mean natural talents,--talents practised in
every art of duplicity and intrigue; one of those men whose boast it is
that they succeed in whatever they undertake; and he is, here, urged on
the one hand by all that can whet the avarice, and on the other, by all
that can give invention to despair. Therefore, though I cannot guess
what plan he may possibly adopt, I never doubt that some plan, formed
with cunning and pursued with daring, will be embraced the moment he
discovers Violante's retreat,--unless, indeed, we can forestall all
peril by the restoration of her father, and the detection of the fraud
and falsehood to which Peschiera owes the fortune he appropriates. Thus,
while we must prosecute to the utmost our inquiries for the missing
documents, so it should be our care to possess ourselves, if possible,
of such knowledge of the count's machinations as may enable us to defeat
them. Now, it was with satisfaction that I learned in Germany that
Peschiera's sister was in London. I knew enough both of his disposition
and of the intimacy between himself and this lady, to make me think it
probable he will seek to make her his instrument and accomplice, should
he require one. Peschiera (as you may suppose by his audacious wager) is
not one of those secret villains who would cut off their right hand if
it could betray the knowledge of what was done by the left,--rather
one of those self-confident vaunting knaves of high animal spirits, and
conscience so obtuse that it clouds their intellect, who must have
some one to whom they can boast of their abilities and confide their
projects. And Peschiera has done all he can to render this poor woman
so wholly dependent on him as to be his slave and his tool. But I
have learned certain traits in her character that show it to be
impressionable to good, and with tendencies to honour. Peschiera had
taken advantage of the admiration she excited, some years ago, in a rich
young Englishman, to entice this admirer into gambling, and sought
to make his sister both a decoy and an instrument in his designs of
plunder. She did not encourage the addresses of our countryman, but she
warned him of the snare laid for him, and entreated him to leave the
place lest her brother should discover and punish her honesty. The
Englishman told me this himself. In fine, my hope of detaching this
lady from Pes