hted apartment, to which we have already
introduced our readers, the Countess Giulia receives her lover, the
dissipated but handsome Marquis of Orsini; the bandit-captain is
concealed behind the richly-worked tapestry; and at the door--not the
little private one--of that room, an old man is listening; an old man
whose ashy pale countenance, clinched hands, quivering white lips, and
wildly rolling eyes indicate how terrible are the feelings which agitate
within his breast.

This old man was the Count of Arestino, one of the mightiest nobles of
the republic. Naturally his heart was good, and his disposition kind and
generous--but, then, he was an Italian--and he was jealous! Need we say
more to account for the change which had now taken place in his usually
calm, tranquil, yet dignified, demeanor? Or shall we inform our readers
that at the banquet to which he had been invited at a friend's villa
that evening, he had overheard two young nobles, in a conversation which
the generous wine they had been too freely imbibing rendered
indiscreetly loud, couple the names of Giulia Arestino, his own
much-loved wife, and Manuel d'Orsini, in a manner which suddenly excited
a fearful, a blasting suspicion in his mind? Stealing away unperceived
from the scene of revelry, the count had returned unattended to the
immediate vicinity of his mansion; and from the shade of a detached
building he had observed the Marquis of Orsini traverse the gardens and
enter a portico leading to the private staircase communicating with that
wing of the palace which contained the suit of apartments occupied by
Giulia.

This was enough to strengthen the suspicion already excited in the old
nobleman's mind; but not quite sufficient to confirm it. The countess
had several beautiful girls attached to her person; and the marquis
might have stooped to an intrigue with one of them. The Lord of Arestino
was therefore resolved to act with the caution of a prudent man: but he
was also prepared to avenge, in case of the worst, with the spirit of an
Italian.

He hurried round to the principal entrance of his palace, and gave some
brief but energetic instructions to a faithful valet, who instantly
departed to execute them. The count then ascended the marble staircase,
traversed the corridors leading toward his lady's apartments, and placed
himself against the door of that one wherein Giulia had already received
her lover.

Thus, while silence, and calmness, and moo