The lady uttered these words with a species of electric enthusiasm, while her eyes brightened, and her cheeks were suffused with the purple glow of animation. The specious arguments and the glowing description of Swiss life, brought forward by Stephens with admirable dexterity, awakened all the ardour of an impassioned soul; and the bosom of that beauteous creature palpitated with hope, with joy, and with excitement, as she gazed upon the future through the mirror presented by Stephens to her view. She was now exactly in a frame of mind suited to his purpose. Without allowing her ardour time to abate, and while she was animated by the delicious aspirations which he had conjured up, as it were by an enchanter's spell, in her breast, he took her by he hand, and led her up to the mantelpiece; then, pointing to the portrait of her brother, he said in a low, hurried, and yet solemn tone,--"The fortune which must be wrested from the grasp of cupidity this day, would have belonged to your brother; and no power on earth could have deprived him of it; for, had he lived, he would yesterday have attained his twenty-first year! His death is unknown to him who holds this money: but, by a miserable legal technicality, you--_you_, his sister, and _in justice_ his heiress--_you_ would be deprived of that fortune by the man who now grasps it, and who would chuckle at any plan which made it his own. Now do you comprehend me? You have but to say that your name is _Walter_, instead of _Eliza_,--and you will recover your just rights, defeat the wretched chicanery of the law, and enter into possession of those resources which belong to you in the eyes of God, but which, if you shrink, will be for ever alienated from you and yours!" "In one word," said the lady, "I am to personate my brother?" "Precisely! Do you hesitate?" demanded Stephens: "will you allow the property of your family to pass into the hands of a stranger, who possesses not the remotest right to its enjoyment? or will you by one bold effort--an effort that cannot fail--direct that fortune into its just, its proper, and its legitimate channel?" "The temptation is great," said the lady, earnestly contemplating the portrait of her brother; "but the danger--the danger?" she added hastily: "what would be the result if we were detected?" "Nothing--nothing, save the total loss of the entire fortune," answered Stephens: "and, therefore, you perceive, that want of nerve--hesitation--awkwardness--blushes--confusion on your part, would ruin all. Be firm--be collected--be calm and resolute--and our plans _must_ be crowned with unequivocal success!"