The nuptial morn, so justly dreaded by Julia, and so impatiently
awaited by the marquis, now arrived. The marriage was to be celebrated
with a magnificence which demonstrated the joy it occasioned to the
marquis. The castle was fitted up in a style of grandeur superior to
any thing that had been before seen in it. The neighbouring nobility
were invited to an entertainment which was to conclude with a splendid
ball and supper, and the gates were to be thrown open to all who chose
to partake of the bounty of the marquis. At an early hour the duke,
attended by a numerous retinue, entered the castle. Ferdinand heard
from his dungeon, where the rigour and the policy of the marquis still
confined him, the loud clattering of hoofs in the courtyard above, the
rolling of the carriage wheels, and all the tumultuous bustle which
the entrance of the duke occasioned.

He too well understood the cause
of this uproar, and it awakened in him sensations resembling those
which the condemned criminal feels, when his ears are assailed by the
dreadful sounds that precede his execution. When he was able to think
of himself, he wondered by what means the marquis would reconcile his
absence to the guests. He, however, knew too well the dissipated
character of the Sicilian nobility, to doubt that whatever story
should be invented would be very readily believed by them; who, even
if they knew the truth, would not suffer a discovery of their
knowledge to interrupt the festivity which was offered them.