You will know
the spot by a rude pillar--the only one near--to which a broken chain
is attached. There and then, if thou wouldst learn our lore, thou shalt
find the master. Go; I have business here yet. Remember, Viola is still
in the house of the dead man!"

Here Mascari approached, and Zanoni, turning to the Italian, and waving
his hand to Glyndon, drew the former aside. Glyndon slowly departed.

"Mascari," said Zanoni, "your patron is no more; your services will
be valueless to his heir,--a sober man whom poverty has preserved
from vice. For yourself, thank me that I do not give you up to the
executioner; recollect the wine of Cyprus. Well, never tremble, man; it
could not act on me, though it might react on others; in that it is a
common type of crime. I forgive you; and if the wine should kill me,
I promise you that my ghost shall not haunt so worshipful a penitent.
Enough of this; conduct me to the chamber of Viola Pisani. You have
no further need of her. The death of the jailer opens the cell of the
captive. Be quick; I would be gone."

Mascari muttered some inaudible words, bowed low, and led the way to the
chamber in which Viola was confined.

CHAPTER 3.XVIII.

Merc: Tell me, therefore, what thou seekest after, and what thou
wilt have. What dost thou desire to make?

Alch: The Philosopher's Stone.

Sandivogius.

It wanted several minutes of midnight, and Glyndon repaired to the
appointed spot. The mysterious empire which Zanoni had acquired over
him, was still more solemnly confirmed by the events of the last few
hours; the sudden fate of the prince, so deliberately foreshadowed, and
yet so seemingly accidental, brought out by causes the most commonplace,
and yet associated with words the most prophetic, impressed him with
the deepest sentiments of admiration and awe. It was as if this dark and
wondrous being could convert the most ordinary events and the meanest
instruments into the agencies of his inscrutable will; yet, if so, why
have permitted the capture of Viola? Why not have prevented the crime
rather than punish the criminal? And did Zanoni really feel love for
Viola? Love, and yet offer to resign her to himself,--to a rival whom
his arts could not have failed to baffle. He no longer reverted to the
belief that Zanoni or Viola had sought to dupe him into marriage. His
fear and reverence for the former now forbade the notion of so poor an
imposture. Did he any longer