midnight
The motive of the story is the Marchesa di Vivaldi 's opposition to her son 's marriage on account of Ellena 's obscure birth . The Marchesa 's far reaching designs are forwarded by the ambitious monk , Schedoni , who , for his own ends , undertakes to murder Ellena . _ The Italian _ abounds in dramatic , haunting scenes . The strangely effective overture , which describes the Confessional of the Black Penitents , the midnight watch of Vivaldi and his lively , impulsive servant , Paulo , amid the ruins of Paluzzi , the melodramatic interruption of the wedding ceremony , the meeting of Ellena and Schedoni on the lonely shore , the trial in the halls of the Inquisition , are all remarkably vivid . The climax of the story when Schedoni , about to slay Ellena , is arrested in the very act by her beauty and innocence , and then by the glimpse of the portrait which leads him to believe she is his daughter , is finely conceived and finely executed . Afterwards , Ellena proves only to be his niece , but we have had our thrill and nothing can rob us of it . _ The Italian _ depends for its effect on natural terror , rather than on supernatural suggestions .