- All right, Shmoopers. Here's the chapter where we get filled in on some of the fuzzier details from earlier in the book.
- Remember when Montoni made a hasty exit from Venice? Yeah, Morano showed up shortly after and was pretty upset about his missing bride.
- So Morano headed right out in pursuit of Em—all the way across the Appenines. That's what we call love, folks.
- Before Morano put his kidnap-Emily plan into action, good old Carlo the castle servant overheard a couple of servants gossiping.
- Carlo filled Montoni in, and voila! Montoni lay in wait for Morano to arrive.
- Back to the present: Montoni knows that someone betrayed him by letting Morano into the castle, but he doesn't know who. Could it be the sketchy-looking porter, Barnardine?
- But the guy denies it and seems convincing enough. Montoni lets it go.
- Oh yeah, and remember how Madame Montoni was fighting with her beloved hubby? Turns out he wants her to sign over all her property to him. That's not suspicious at all.
- Em tries to counsel her aunt to hand over the property. Hey, she's worried that Montoni won't hesitate to hurt her if he needs to.
- While Emily takes her nightly walk around the castle, let's return to Montoni for a sec. He's about to tell Bertolini and Verezzi about the former lady of the castle, Signora Laurentini.
- Short version of the Laurentini story: Montoni wanted to marry her for her wealth, but she rejected him for another person. He has reason to think she committed suicide afterward, but he won't repeat the circumstances of that event.
- "Repeat them!" a spooky voice echoes. Woo-woo!
- Montoni is kind of creeped out, but he keeps on telling the story. Signora Laurentini disappeared from Udolpho after showing symptoms of madness, and has never been seen since.
- Again, a voice echoes Montoni's words.
- No one is found in the chamber, but Montoni is still shaken up.