 Andrea Zoppo, a well-educated commoner, masquerades as a member of the noble Orsini family and wins favor with the ambitious and Machiavellian Cesare Borgia, who, with his equally corrupt sister Lucrezia, hopes to become the most powerful force in Renaissance Italy. Orsini, along with Belli, another erstwhile nobleman and assassin, ingratiate themselves with seventy year-old Count Verano, the ruler of the fortified town of Citta del Monte. Over the next few months as the fatherless Orsini becomes more and more impressed by the Count s honor, nobility, and wisdom, he also becomes enamored with Camilla, Verano s twenty year-old wife. Although she reciprocates his feelings, the younger woman remains faithful to her husband, and their love remains consummated. When Borgia demands Varano cede troops to his service, the aging ruler puts the question to his subjects, who urge him to resist the tyrant. Orsini has a change of heart and aborts Belli s planned assassination of the old count. Orsini then renounces his service to the Borgias and pledges himself to the cause of defending Citta del Monte against them.