The Shame of Motley

of mine, it may be well that I but touch with a fugitive pen up

to hiding. Madonna Paola and her brother, Filippo di Santafior, remained in Pesaro, where they now appeared to have taken up their permanent abode. Madonna Paola-following her inclinations-withdrew

that family's attention, and of whose import we guessed something when we heard that Cesare Borgia had flung

ngs were echoed by every jester throughout Italy. My shame that for a brief season had risen up in arms seemed to be laid to rest once more, and I was content with the burden that was mine. Money I had in plenty, for when I pleased him the Lord Giov

, she being then come to the age of eighteen, and as divinely beautiful a lady as you could find in Italy, she allowed herself to be persuaded by her brother-who, I make no doubt had been,

There was endless lute-thrumming and recitation of verses by a score of parasite poets whom the Lord Giovanni encouraged, posing now as a patron of letters; there were balls and masq

or whose delectation they were set afoot, seemed listless and dispirited in that boisterous crowd. This was

ther. A strange thing may it have seemed, this confidence between the Fool and the noble Lady of Santafior-my Holy Flower of the Quince, as in my thoughts I grew to name her. Perhaps it may hav

become her wont to call me Lazzaro, leaving that other name that they had given me for use when others were at hand. Yet never did she refer to my condition, or wound me by seeking to spur me to the ambition to become myself again. Haply sh

ss that must earn me less. And so, I was content to let things be, and keep my heart in check, thanking God for the mercy of her company at times, and for the precious confidences she made me, and praying Heaven-for of my love was I grown devout-that her life might run a smooth and happy course, and ready, in the further

id, upon a matter of gravest moment. There, under the sky of deepest blue, crimsoning to saffron where the sun had set, we paced awhile in silence, my own senses held in thrall by the beauty of the eventide, the ambient perfumes of the air and the strains of music

she, "they would

might be content, indeed, to love her from a distance, as the cloistered monk may love and worship some particula

esently, "did you hear me?

g myself at last; "and they say that it is the Lo

," she acknowledged. "T

lence, and again it

she asked. "Have

nna? If this wedding accords with

ro! you know th

d I know i

ve affection for? Grateful to him am I for the shelter he has afforded us here; but my love-that is a thing I keep, or fain would keep, for

st of a husband, Madonna mia. But where in th

, then, no

ose other poets whom you have r

pirited craven, as witnesses the manner in which he permitted the Borgias to mishandle him; a cruel and unjust tyrant, as witnesses his dealing with you, to seek no further instances; a weak

falsehood. I think, Madonna, that if we were to have you write for us such an appreciation of the High

I need. That is the reason why I am come to you with

cried. "Would th

resist th

with a ready laugh, "do

s telling of a spirit wounded by

you at once to enter into this union that I counsel you to offer no resistance. Beg for a

deceit," sh

ith which to comba

"Such a state of things cannot end

d down upon her a smile that

less the Lord Giovanni's impa

ce in her eyes, a bewildered exp

r meaning, my frie

fallen into habits of voluptuousness and luxury, was so enslaved by them as to feast and make merry whilst a certain Darius, King of the Medes, was marching in arms against h

nd with inquiry, and a faint s

t your elucidation

iovanni Sforza for Belshazzar, Cesare Borgia for

oes danger threaten Pes

d masques and burle and banquets, wholly unprepared, wholly unconscious of his peril. There may be no hand to write a warning on his walls-or else, as in the case of Babylon,

hink then-

force into this union. But if you temporise with half-promises, with suggestions

comes and finds us st

ely event, for they say he uses great precautions. Saving the miracle, and providin

re confronting each other

ty, "I was wise to take counsel with you. You have

retrace our steps, for she might be i

me, bearing with me her promise that she would act as I had advised her. No doubt I ha

ed their insistence, and they could but respect her wishes to let the betrothal be delayed yet a little while. And during the weeks that foll

vine what manner of man would be Madonna Paola's ideal, and strove to pass himself off as possessed of the attributes of that ideal, with an ardour that was pitiably comical. He became an actor by the side of whom those come

y meads of prosody. Fortunately he lacked the supreme vanity that is the attribute of most poetasters, and he was able to see that such things as after hours of

he asked me was I skilled in writing verse. There were not wanting others to whom he might have gone, for there was

upon it. He pressed gold upon me, and bade me there and then set about fashioning an ode to Madonna Pa

he had the ode-not perhaps such a poem as might stand comparison with the verses of Messer Petrarca, yet a very passable effusion, chaste of conceit and pal

these requests of the Lord Giovanni's assumed an almost daily regularity, until it came to seem that did affairs continue in this manner for yet a little while, I should have earned me enough to have repurchased Biancomonte, and, so, ended m

So touched, indeed, was she as to believe the Lord Giovanni's love to be the pure and holy thing those lines presented it, and to conclude that his love had

eld him to be a shallow, unlettered clown, devoid of any finer feelings. Yet his verses have a merit that is far above the common

f, and so being flung into the outer darkness where there was no such radiant presence as Madonna Paola's. For had I told her it was I had penned those poems that were the marvel of the Court, she must of necessity have guessed

ame it did not come to stimulate, but to palsy. Terror-stricken at the conquering advance of Valentino-which was the name they now gave Cesare Borgia; a name derived from his Duchy of Valentinois-Giovanni Sforza abruptly ceased his revelling, and made a hurried appeal for help to F

ere, and how unprepared was their tyrant to defend them, wisely resolved that they would run no ri

e Filippo Sforza of Santafior and Madonna Paola, besides courtiers and attendants, amounting in all to perhaps a score of gallant cavaliers and ladies. The cavalcade was drawn up in the q

reading his effeminate face, as, doubtless, the

Albanian Giacomo, who was now virtually the provost of the Castle, appeared suddenly at the gates with half a score of men. He raised a warning hand, which compelled the Lord Gio

inous news which one of his riders had brou

hesitation, had butchered the guard and thrown wide the gates, inviting the enemy to enter the town and seize the Castle. And to the end that this might be the better achieved, a hundred o

re fine opportunities for some brave acting under the eyes of his

once the first shock o

ike a blow to punish these dastards who have betrayed me, and to crush the presumption of thi

ourtiers who were knights to put on their armour that they might support him. Last

ed that in the matter of Giovanni's valour her opinions were undergoing the sam

anni I seemed never to have known, and I was e