Zofloya, or The Moor Trivia Quiz

Answer: Count Ardolph

Beginning in Venice, the story follows the residents of the Pallazzo Loredani, the Marchese, his wife Laurina, and son and daughter Leonardo and Victoria. The tragedy that is outlined in the novel begins with the arrival of Count Ardolph, who enters the Pallazzo for a visit and attempts to woo Laurina. Inevitably, he's successful, and she flees the castle with him. This seduction pursues Leonardo to flee the city and leaves Loredani and his daughter crushed. With the family now disgraced, Loredani plans to leave the Pallazzo to his daughter and never speak his wife's name again.
One night as he walks around Venice, Loredani runs into Count Ardolph and the two fight with stilettos. Loredani is soon stabbed in the chest, causing a mortal wound, and he is rushed back home to a surgeon. Laurina rushes home to be by her husband's side and she and Victoria both vow (in front of the dying patriarch) to trust in each other to make themselves better people, Laurina to set a good example and Victoria to become a stronger person.
Things get worse though.

Answer: Treviso

One year later, Victoria is living in the care of her mother who is still with her seducer, Count Ardolph. Not much has changed between them; they are now living in Monte Bello, just outside Venice, to avoid the incriminating public. When Ardolph and Laurina discover that Victoria plans to accept a marriage proposal from Il Conte Berenza, they plan to stop it at all costs. To do this, Ardolph composes a letter (signing as Victoria) suggesting that Berenza wait outside Monte Bello for the purpose of assisting her mother, who has taken the news poorly. Berenza obliges, feeling that it is the best course of action and that she will eventually write back.

It is at this time that Ardolph and Laurina plan to take Victoria to Il Bosco in Treviso to be placed under the care of a family member, Signora di Modena.

Here, she will be far away from Berenza should he wander back. Victoria, now angry with the living conditions in which she has been placed, soon realizes that the Count and her mother planned to leave her at Il Bosco all along.

They depart the next morning and Victoria is left in the care of Signora di Modena, who finds delight in locking her up with minimal food. Victoria realizes that she is being kept prisoner, but knows that Berenza did not depart because of her, but because of her mother and the Count.

Answer: Catua

Victoria soon develops a friendship with Signora di Modena's servant, Catua, and the two go on long walks in the garden of Il Bosco. One day, when they discover a wooden door set along the garden wall, Victoria asks to where it leads, to which Catua replies the forest adjacent. Victoria persuades the servant to retrieve the keys to unlock the door numerous times until they wander so far on one occasion that she says that she is fleeing to Venice to be free. Though Catau is shocked at this betrayal, she agrees and goes on her way.

A day later, luckily, Victoria comes across a river at the exact moment that a gondola operator is riding downstream. Though she has no money, he offers her a ride and she returns to Venice. Inevitably, she finds Berenza, who is shocked to find that she is okay, and the two of them sort out the ordeal, realizing that the note sent to Berenza was written by Count Ardolph. Berenza, nonetheless, attempts to find true love in Victoria despite her faults and he tells her the story of a previous girl he once courted. Upon discovering that Victoria's feelings for him may be more than he expected, they vow to love each other.

Answer: Megalina

One night, Victoria pretends to sleep on a sofa in the parlor as Berenza walks in. As he sits down next to her, she whispers that she loves Berenza and pretends to reach out for him. Convinced that this 'subconscious' doing is a reflection of her true emotions, he decides that he must love Victoria despite her mother's past and her other feelings. On a later night, Victoria walks in to Berenza's chamber to find an assassin leaning over his bed. Before this person can kill Berenza, she stops them and a dagger is plunged into her shoulder. Before Berenza can wake up and catch the person responsible, Victoria realizes it's her brother, Leonardo, behind the attempted murder. Berenza receives a letter the following day from his former love, Megalina, and she explains that it was she who sent the assassin because she witnessed Berenza and Victoria on a gondola earlier. Leonardo, who fled from the Loredani household many months before, had fallen into the hands of Signor Zappi who granted him shelter for nearly a year.

After discovering that Zappi's wife wanted to court with him, Leonardo was forced to leave this refuge and find shelter elsewhere. He came upon a mourning mother named Nina and tended to her for a short time before she passed away, and when all seemed lost he came upon Megalina Strozzi. Angry with Berenza from a few days earlier, she had retreated to a villa outside Venice to spite him, but upon finding Leonardo, she paid her attention to him instead. Little did she know that Victoria would soon return.

Answer: Henriquez

Over the coming months, Megalina and Leonardo become more intimately bound. When a Venetian named Theresa appears, Megalina persuades Leonardo that he loves her enough to kill this beautiful woman, which he does. When Megalina travels to Venice, she witnesses Conte Berenza and Victoria crossing the waters in a gondola and realizes that the man she intentionally tried to spite had gone on not noticing the events which had transpired. Returning to the villa, Megalina tells Leonardo that Berenza had insulted her and that he must be killed. Leonardo agrees out of love and ends up taking a stiletto to the Conte's house, but instead stabs his sister in the shoulder. Realizing this, he tells Megalina what she has done.

Initially, she is enraged by his failure, but she soon remembers that he forgot the weapon at the scene of the crime and her name had been engraved on the hilt of the blade.

The two gather their belongings and leave. Five years later, Berenza and Victoria have wed. Berenza and his brother, Henriquez, reunite and Victoria welcomes him into their abode. Lilla is also introduced as Henriquez' future wife. Because of a strict vow of obedience to her now-deceased father, she is unable to wed at the tender age of thirteen.

Henriquez asks Berenza for help and he agrees to do so, but Victoria harbors a dislike for the orphan girl.

Answer: Berenza's brother's

As his stay at the castle continues, Henriquez becomes an object of fascination with Victoria and she soon finds herself needing to be with him instead of her husband. One night as she goes to sleep, she dreams of Henriquez and Lilla in a garden. As she watches from a distance, a Moor appears and frightens her out of the dream. When she falls back to sleep she instead dreams of a wedding between Henriquez and Lilla. The Moor beckons her forward, saying that he can prevent them from marrying. As she takes Henriquez's hands, Berenza is killed at her feet, Lilla's spirit flee across the chapel, and Henriquez transforms into a skeleton. Waking up, she realizes that the Moor is Henriquez's servant, Zofloya, but she can't find the meaning behind this.
In the following weeks, a series of events begin. One servant who does not like Zofloya ends up on his death bed and he reveals that he killed the Moor, dumping his body into the canals. Everyone is shocked by this, but ten days later, Zofloya returns claiming that the wounds were not mortal and that he has recovered for the most part in his absence. While everyone is glad, Victoria continues to have odd hallucinations of Zofloya in her room, phasing through doors and bringing forth specters of the people around her.
On one day, Zofloya finds Victoria sitting in the garden and she professes her love for Henriquez. Zofloya offers her help, and the following day he offers her a slow-acting poison. She thanks him gratefully for it and plans her husband's demise.

Answer: Wine

Victoria goes through with her plan and begins to administer the poisons. Every time she runs out (after about ten days), Zofloya gives her stronger potions. While no one around notices the Conte's depreciating health, Victoria can tell that her husband's days are coming to an end. Zofloya suggests that they depart from Venice for the time being and Victoria decides to tell Berenza that they should head to another of his properties, Castella di Torre Alto, to get a change of scenery. Time progresses and Victoria tells Zofloya that she feels that the poisons aren't working well enough. Zofloya assures her that everything will need to take time and that in order to procure her courtship with Henriquez, she will need to dispose of Lilla's relative.

They plan well and Victoria leads the Signora into the woods where Zofloya provides her with two glasses of lemonade. The Signora is killed and Victoria is not suspected whatsoever. Lilla is shocked, but Henriquez asks her to confide in him as her lover. In the following days, Zofloya and Victoria meet in the forest at which point he tells her that he can judge her thoughts in his own mind.

She pleads with him to make death hasten and he agrees to do so in the forest. Victoria, Henriquez, and Lilla take Berenza on a walk through the woods until he gets too thirsty to continue. Lilla races back to get a drink and Zofloya returns with the poisoned wine that has been asked for. Victoria takes this and hands it to her husband and a moment later, he grips his chest in pain. Zofloya carries him back to the castle. When a Monk arrives from the nearby monastery, it's too late to save the Conte. He passes away on the sofa. While Victoria feels little remorse for what she has done, a hint of guilt shows in her. Henriquez, angry with his brother's death, attributes the event to Victoria and looks down upon her.

Answer: In a cave

Victoria's dreams are plagued by the sight of her dead husband, discoloured and disfigured by the poison that killed him. To put her mind at ease, Victoria enters the chamber in which his body is held, but to her surprise she finds it as it was in her dream. She comes across Zofloya who reminds her that everything will be taken care of. She returns to bed and is awakened the next morning by numerous servants who tell her that the body has disappeared.
As the days progress, Victoria decides to speed up the process by openly offering herself for marriage to her brother-in-law. Henriquez is shocked by Victoria's offer so soon after his brother has passed on and he professes that he only loves Lilla. Victoria breaks down and apologizes to Henriquez. Shocked by this, he accepts and gives Victoria benefit of the doubt.
Zofloya soon contacts Victoria and tells her that he will do anything to assist her in capturing Henriquez' heart. He tells her that simply killing Lilla, her rival, will cause more harm to her, so he offers a solution. The next day, Victoria climbs a rock precipice to find Zofloya with an unconscious Lilla in tow. Placing her in a hidden cave and chaining her wrist to the rocks, he says that she will not be found. As they depart, Lilla awakens and screams. Nonetheless, the two depart and leave the orphan girl in the cave while Victoria considers how to sway Henriquez' mind.

Answer: In a chest

Upon discovering that regardless of the fact that Lilla is missing, Henriquez still despises her with a passion, Victoria once more speaks with Zofloya on a method to become his lover. He informs her that he has one method, a love potion which deludes the consumer into hallucinating that he is always with his lover. Victoria quickly gives this to Henriquez and he drinks it and she soon finds him infatuated with her as he thinks that she is Lilla. The two of them spend the night together.
When Henriquez awakens, he is no longer under the spell of the potion and in frustration, he kills himself, shoving a sword into his chest. Victoria is unable to stop him as he does this and in her rage, she runs into the forest to kill Lilla. She finds her chained in the cave and drags her out by the arm. Inevitably, Victoria does kill her with her own stiletto, stabbing her and then throwing her off the cliff to her grave. As Victoria hastens back to the castle, she is met by Zofloya who tells her that she was too impatient in her doings and she will pay the consequences if she returns to the castle. Nonetheless, she returns.
That night, Victoria dreams of the Conte Berenza's body being found in a chest in an untouched part of the castle. When she awakens, Zofloya appears and warns her that the dream is true. The Conte's favourite servant will awaken from a prophetic dream and find the body and there will be nothing to stop this turn of fate. Victoria, scared, pledges that she fully trusts Zofloya to help her despite her recent ordeal and he warns her that she will soon need to leave and go far away from Venice. Placing her under a spell, she falls asleep.

Answer: The Alps

Victoria wakes up a day later and finds Zofloya seated next to her. He informs her that they are in the Alps and that they are nearly safe from their crimes. As they climb the mountains, a group of bandetti encircle them and they ask to speak to their leader. Zofloya is able to secure a spot in their caves for the two of them to stay and they take their time to rest. As time goes by, Victoria is unsure about her relationship with Zofloya and she is curious about the others within the caves (including the leader of the bandetti who wears a mask). Zofloya tells Victoria that she will soon be his for eternity and she is frightened by this.
In the coming days, Victoria takes the time to look along the cliffs of the mountain and it is here that she sees the vision of an angel who warns her that she will meet her end if she does not flee from Zofloya. The Moor soon realizes her intentions and stops her, saying that they will return to Venice now that their time is nearly at an end in the Alps. Before they can depart, the chief of the bandetti has his men bring in two prisoners, a man and a woman, and he reveals that he is Victoria's brother, Leonardo. Taking a stiletto, he stabs the male captive who is revealed to be Count Ardolph. The female prisoner, Laurina, their mother, is shocked by this event. Leonardo, now satisfied that he has avenged his father, gives his mother a place to rest in the caves. After giving her a night's sleep, Laurina's condition diminishes and Leonardo tells her that he forgives her. Despite this, Victoria continues to blame her for the events that have unfolded in the past five years, saying that she would not be pitied. When Laurina passes away, Leonardo is angry with his sister for what she has done. Zofloya later tells her that she will be protected as long as he trusts her once more.
The next day, everyone is shocked as an army overtakes the bandetti encampment in the Alps. Megalina is revealed to Victoria and before her foe can stab her, Victoria is protected by the Moor. Instead, Megalina takes her own life. Shocked by the loss of his lover, Leonardo also takes his life by the hand of his own blade. Zofloya commands the army to leave for their own safety as the walls of the cave come crashing down. Seeking protection, Victoria hides herself with Zofloya and they emerge on the top of a mountain. She finally professes that she can no longer run and that his power is preventing her from saying no to loving him. As she turns around, the Moor reveals himself to be Satan himself. Picking her up, Zofloya throws her off the mountainside and into the abyss below.