"
And Alexis Orloff spoke long and zealously to her, affording her a
glance into his most secret intrigues, into his finely-matured plans,
while Corilla followed him with intense expectation and warmly-glowing
cheeks.
"I comprehend it all, all!" said she, when Alexis had finally ended;
"it is a deep and at the same time an infernal plan--a plan which must
excite the envy and respect of Satan himself!"
"And yourself?" laughingly asked Alexis.
"Oh, I," said she--"I belong, perhaps, to the family of devils, and
therefore take pleasure in aiding you! You need a negotiator who has a
wide conscience and an eloquent tongue! I can furnish you with such
a one. Ah, that will make a droll story. Said you not that the singer
Carlo watched this golden treasure like a dragon? Well, it shall be his
brother who shall contend with this dragon. His own brother--will not
that be pleasant, count?"
"And are you sure of him?" asked Count Orloff. "How if his brother
should win him from us?"
"Have no anxiety; this Carlo Ribas is so virtuous that he hates no one
so much as his brother Joseph, merely because he passed some years in
the galleys for forgery. He is now free, and has secretly come here.
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