Rosabella.—I saw him once; never again shall I forget the monster.
Andreas.—And my interview with him is too well known to make it needful for me to relate it.
Memmo.—I have heard a thousand stories about this miscreant, the one more wonderful than the other; and for my own part I verily believe that he is Satan himself in a human form. I must say that I think it would be wiser not to let him be brought in among us, for he is capable of strangling us all as we stand here, one after another, without mercy.
“Gracious Heaven!” screamed several of the ladies, “you don’t say so? What, strangle us in this very chamber?”
Contarino.—The principal point is, whether Flodoardo will get the better of him, or he of Flodoardo. Now I would lay a heavy wager that the Florentine will return without having finished the business.
A Senator.—And I would engage, on the contrary, that there is but one man in Venice who is capable of seizing Abellino, and that that man is Flodoardo of Florence. The moment that I became acquainted with him, I prophesied that one day or other he would play a brilliant part in the annals of history.
Another Senator.—I think with you, signor. Never was I so struck with a man at first sight as I was with Flodoardo.
Contarino.—A thousand sequins on Abellino’s not being taken, unless death should have taken him first.
The First Senator.—A thousand sequins on Flodoardo seizing him—
Andreas.—And delivering him up to me, either alive or dead.