A Sicilian Romance

The first chapter provides exposition about events that occurred prior to the start of the novel's main plot and establishes the setting as a castle in Sicily owned by Ferdinand, the fifth Marquis de Mazzini, near the end of the 16th century. The marquis was once married to Louisa Bernini, known for her sweet nature, and they had three children together: Ferdinand, Julia, and Emilia. However, the marquis's “unkindness and neglect put a period to” his wife's life (3). The marquis then married the beautiful and manipulative Maria de Vellorno, and the couple moved to Naples, bringing only the marquis's son and leaving his two daughters behind in Mazzini. Julia and Emilia have been raised and educated by Madame de Menon. Emilia has a talent for art and drawing, while Julia is a skilled musician and avid reader. The jealous marchioness has convinced the marquis to keep his beautiful and charming daughters confined to his property in Mazzini even though they have grown to adulthood.

One summer evening while returning late from an outdoor dinner with Madame, Julia and Emilia see a light shining from a window of the south wing of the castle, which has been closed for many years. Madame questions Vincent, a Mazzini servant, about the light, and he assures her that it was only an illusion. Unconvinced, Madame demands Vincent's keys and goes to explore this section of the castle, but she is stymied when they reach a door which none of the keys will unlock.

The feelings of apprehension caused by the mysterious light are renewed some months later when Julia stays awake reading late into the night and sees a light flash in the uninhabited part of the castle. Terrified, she reports this to Madame, who seeks the castle staff and finds Vincent missing. He appears moments later, and the servants stay awake through the night, but they do not see the light again. Soon thereafter, Vincent is overcome by illness and makes a mysterious deathbed confession about complicity in a secret crime connected with the southern apartments of the castle, but he loses the power of speech before he can reveal more.

Meanwhile in Naples, the marchioness is secretly and repeatedly unfaithful to the marquis. She has also become obsessed with a friend of her stepson Ferdinand, the young Count Hippolitus de Vereza, who ignores her attentions. Shortly thereafter, the marquis, marchioness, and Ferdinand return to Mazzini, where the marquis is disturbed by the news of Vincent's death and his deathbed declaration as well as the superstitions that are growing among his staff. A party is planned to celebrate Ferdinand reaching his majority (adulthood). Julia and Emilia, starved for company, eagerly prepare themselves.

At the ball, Emilia and Julia are much noted and complimented by the wealthy guests from Naples and Sicily. Julia attracts the attention of Hippolitus, the Count de Vereza, and a party guest comments to the marchioness that the two make a good pair, sparking within her a deep sense of jealousy and embarrassment. The ball continues with a spectacle of fireworks, and Julia falls passionately in love with Hippolitus but worries that he does not return her feelings.

The following evening, Ferdinand, Hippolitus, and Julia perform a concert together. Julia's performance is so beautiful that Hippolitus forgets to play and his admiration for her becomes clear. Later that evening, Hippolitus serenades and reads a sonnet to Julia from outside her bedroom window, and she becomes fully convinced of his love. However, her hopes are crushed when he does not appear at breakfast, and she learns that he has returned to Naples. Her disappointment causes her to withdraw from the society of the castle's other guests.

Madame de Menon and the two girls have shared a large suite of rooms, which the marchioness declares that she will take for herself, forcing the three women to relocate to rooms nearer to the abandoned part of the castle. In their new rooms, Julia finds a miniature portrait of her mother, who looks deeply sorrowful, prompting Madame to share some backstory about herself and the former marchioness, Louisa de Bernini:

After her mother and brother were killed during an eruption of Mount Aetna, Louisa was raised by her father, Count Bernini. Having also lost their father, Madame and her brother, Orlando, were taken in by the count and raised with Louisa. Louisa and Orlando fell in love, but the Count wanted Louisa to marry for money and Orlando to enlist in the army. He did so, and returned with a Frenchman, de Menon, whom his sister then married. Orlando was later killed by de Menon in a meaningless argument, and in her devastation, Louisa married the Marquis de Mazzini. This was a deeply unhappy marriage which apparently led to her death. After years of guilt and regret, de Menon charged recklessly into battle with the intention of being killed, and Madame was left a widow. Hearing at the same time that the marquis was to remarry and leave his daughters at Mazzini, Madame went there to care for and educate Julia and Emilia.

In their new rooms at the castle, Madame, Julia, and Emilia are conversing when they hear “a low hollow sound, which arose from beneath the apartment, and seemed like the closing of a door” (31). Madame tries to calm the girls, and they embark on a conversation about whether “unembodied spirits” may exist. Madame suggests that anything is possible, but if God has allowed spirits to return, they cannot cause harm for innocent people like Julia and Emilia. The women tell Ferdinand about what they have heard and the possibility of an unembodied spirit, and he spends the succeeding nights with them, listening for more sounds. Ferdinand becomes determined to explore the uninhabited part of the castle, but they cannot access it without the marquis's keys. It then occurs to Ferdinand that there might be a hidden door leading from Julia's rooms to the other part of the castle.

Ferdinand returns to Julia's rooms after the household has gone to sleep, and together they find a secret door behind the wall tapestry. When they hear noise on the other side, Ferdinand returns the next night with tools to break the lock, and they walk through a decaying section of the house. When they hear another noise, the women retreat while Ferdinand ventures on, and he becomes trapped in darkness when the staircase he is descending begins to crumble and he drops his lamp. He is later rescued by the women, who have overcome their fear to find him.

Julia continues to think of Hippolitus often and with melancholy. One evening, while playing her lute by the seashore, she catches a glimpse of Hippolitus watching her. He begins to make a declaration of love but is interrupted by the arrival of the marchioness. Flustered and shy, Julia flees, and the marchioness is thrown into jealous misery by the scene. Julia grows ecstatic about the possibility of love but conceals her feelings until she can speak with Hippolitus about his previous departure for Naples.

That night, Ferdinand continues to explore the abandoned passages of the castle and thinks he sees a faint light and a human form. The crumbling state of the staircase convinces him that no human could pass there, but he spies a partially concealed door, again locked. He returns to the main hall, observing that it is made of black marble with high Gothic arches. Beyond the arches he finds another locked door and flees in terror when he hears a groan. The women are terrified by these experiences, and Madame de Menon pleads with the marchioness to allow them to return to their original rooms. The request is mocked and denied, so the women ask Ferdinand to appeal to the marquis instead.

When the marquis disdains the women for being weak-minded, Ferdinand explains that he has observed the strange lights and sounds, and his senses are the only evidence he has trusted. After swearing him to secrecy, the marquis tells Ferdinand a story that suggests that the abandoned passages are indeed haunted: during a feud between the Mazzini and neighboring della Campo family, the marquis's grandfather kidnapped a member of the family, who then “expired; by what means I shall forbear to mention” (46), within that part of the castle. The marquis says that he shut up that part of the castle after hearing the sounds of the murdered soul himself. Julia and Emilia are given back their rooms.

Hippolitus confesses his love of Julia to Ferdinand, who assures him that Julia returns his feelings. Julia overhears their conversation from the next room, where the two men discover her. Both Julia and Hippolitus are embarrassed but declare their love for one another. Their joy is short-lived, however, because the marquis has meanwhile granted the wealthy and twice-widowed Duke de Luovo permission to marry Julia. When Julia protests that she does not love the duke, the marquis tells her that she can marry the duke in three days or leave his castle forever.

Hippolitus and Julia plan to flee together with Ferdinand's help. Julia bids Emilia and Madame de Menon goodnight, thinking that it will be the last time she sees them. Ferdinand and Hippolitus arrive after midnight with the keys to the castle, and they descend back staircases and wind through abandoned passageways, noting a mysterious light as they do so. When they exit the final door into what they believe is their freedom, the marquis is waiting for them and stabs Hippolitus with his sword. Hippolitus is quickly borne away by his servants, who put him on a boat to Italy. Julia, having fainted, is locked in her room to await her wedding, and Ferdinand is thrown in the castle dungeon for his part in their escape. Hippolitus is presumed dead from his injuries, a fact for which the marchioness blames Julia only.