trice knelt beside her victim, communicating more
and more the terrors that she felt, as the hours rolled on, and the room
darkened, till it was only by the dull lamp which gleamed through the
grimy windows from the yard without, that each saw the face of the
other.

Night came on; they heard a clock from some distant church strike
the hours. The dim fire had long since burned out, and the air became
intensely cold. No one broke upon their solitude,--not a voice was heard
in the house. They felt neither cold nor hunger,--they felt but the
solitude, and the silence, and the dread of something that was to come.

At length, about midnight, a bell rang at the street door; then there
was the quick sound of steps, of sullen bolts withdrawn, of low,
murmured voices. Light streamed through the chinks of the door to the
apartment, the door itself opened. Two Italians bearing tapers entered,
and the Count di Peschiera followed.

Beatrice sprang up, and rushed towards her brother. He laid his hand
gently on her lips, and motioned to the Italians to withdraw. They
placed the lights on the table, and vanished without a word.

Peschiera then, putting aside his sister, approached Violante.

"Fair kinswoman," said he, with an air of easy but resolute assurance,
"there are things which no man can excuse, and no woman can pardon,
unless that love, which is beyond all laws, suggests excuse for the one,
and obtains pardon for the other. In a word, I have sworn to win you,
and I have had no opportunities to woo. Fear not; the worst that can
befall you is to be my bride! Stand aside, my sister, stand aside."

"Giulio Franzini, I stand between you and her; you shall strike me to
the earth before you can touch even the hem of her robe!"

"What, my sister! you turn against me?"

"And unless you instantly retire and leave her free, I will unmask you
to the emperor."

"Too late, mon enfant! You will sail with us. The effects you may
need for the voyage are already on board. You will be witness to our
marriage, and by a holy son of the Church. Then tell the emperor what
you will."

With a light and sudden exertion of his strength, the count put away
Beatrice, and fell on his knee before Violante, who, drawn to her full
height, death-like pale, but untrembling, regarded him with unutterable
disdain.

"You scorn me now," said he, throwing into his features an expression
of humility and admiration, "and I cannot wonder at it. But, believ