"Superba!" cried the little barone, laughing and rubbing his hands; but Scarolla’s brows knit closer, and his eyes kindled at my inuendo. The hall was now lighted by several tall candelabra; their lustre was reflected from the gilded columns and pendants of the lofty roof, and the frames of dark, gloomy, and mysterious portraits of the ancient Guelfi; who seemed scowling from their pannels on their degenerate descendant and his unworthy confederate. That ancient apartment, when viewed as I beheld it, one-half bathed in warm light, and the other sunk in cold shadow, seemed the very scene of a romance; to which the graceful figures of the Signora del Castagno and her sister, and the picturesque garb of the tall Scarolla gave additional effect. Now were appropriate sounds wanting; for a storm raged in the valley below, thunder growled in the mountains above, and the rain rushed like hail on the casements; the painted traceries of which were often lit by fitful gleams of the moon or the blue forked lightning, as it shot from hill to hill. Uneasy in the presence of Scarolla, the ladies, after a slight refreshment, withdrew to repose; promising to be up with the lark for our journey to-morrow. When travelling, or on active service, one is compelled to accommodate oneself to every kind of society, place, and circumstance; and upon this philosophical principle, I made myself quite at home, and supped merrily with the barone and bandit: of whom the servants stood in the greatest awe. Supper over, wine was produced: however abstemious the Italians may be, I saw no sign of the national trait that night, at Castelguelfo; where we drank the richest continental wines, emptying the decanters in rapid succession, as if we had been three Germans drinking for a wager. Rendered mellow by his potations, our host became talkative; and, in spite of the nods and contemptuous frowns of the impatient Scarolla, informed me that he was collecting men to make a political demonstration, of which I should soon hear at Palermo—an attack on a powerful feudatory, with whom he had a deadly quarrel, which the presence of our army only smothered for a time.