“You are _not_ Hannah Stubbs!” he exclaimed vehemently, as he sprang towards her, “I see it all now! You are a devil in human form, who has been traducing by your actions, one of the most simple and humble of God’s creatures! You are not _Hannah Stubbs_--it is but her carcase that you inhabit! You are Leonora d’Asissi! the false wife of the Marchese di Sorrento!” The face of the Marchesa seemed to change to that of a fiend as he thus accused her--she drew herself up to her full height--her eyes blazed fury--her arm was raised as if to strike. But she braved the accusation out, returning it in full force upon herself. “Go on! go on!” she cried, “you cannot say too much, nor yet enough to harm me! I am all you say, Leonora d’Asissi, the false wife of your dear friend--false to him, not with Centi only, but with everyone who caught my wandering fancy. He believed every word I chose to tell him, poor craven fool! who had the courage to avenge his wrongs, but not to rest satisfied with his victory. “Yes! I am Leonora d’Asissi, in the ugly, uncouth form of Hannah Stubbs, but I have made her mine, and I will use her to the end--until it pleases me to give her up of my own free will! You may claim this rough body if you choose, but you must take my spirit with it. I will possess it and animate it with my words and graces, and make it copy my faults, and hate as I hated and love as I loved, until it ceases to exist. Have I not shown my power over it already? Who but _I_ prompted her to poison Sorrento? to coquette with Gueglielmo? to defy you? to trick? to lie? to deceive? Who but I--I--I? and I will continue to make her follow my will, until she ceases to breathe!” “You shall not! I defy you in my turn,” exclaimed Von Steinberg, “this country girl, uncouth and plain as she may be, is worth a thousand such as you, with all your wit and beauty, and devilish fascinations. She is my wife--I have promised to defend and protect her, and I will drive your hateful spirit from her body, if I have to set hers free, in order to accomplish it? By what right do you cling to a creature, who is so much your superior? In the name of the Holy Trinity, I command you to depart!” Leonora laughed scornfully. “And who gave me possession but yourself--you, and your dear friend Ricardo? How could I have obtained such powerful hold of her if you had not used this girl as an instrument to satisfy your curiosity concerning the mysteries of Spiritualism?--if you had not made her sit, night after night, to minister to your pleasure, until her brain and body were both so wearied, that it was an easy matter for me, or any other who had chosen, to oust her spirit and take its place. I obtained first possession and have kept it ever since.”