That I slept little will be readily conceived. I plagued my mind with this
matter of Cosimo's suit, thinking that I saw the ultimate intent--to bring
Pagliano under the ducal sway by rendering master of it one who was devoted
to Farnese.
And then, too, I would think of that other thing that Cavalcanti had said:
that I had been hasty in my judgment of his daughter's mind. My hopes rose
and tortured me with the suspense they held. Then came to me the awful
thought that here there might be a measure of retribution, and that it
might be intended as my punishment that Cosimo, whom I had unconsciously
bested in my sinful passion, should best me now in this pure and holy love.
I was astir betimes, and out in the gardens before any, hoping, I think,
that Bianca, too, might seek the early morning peace of that place, and
that so we might have speech.
Instead, it was Giuliana who came to me. I had been pacing the terrace
some ten minutes, inhaling the matutinal fragrance, drawing my hands
through the cool dew that glistened upon the boxwood hedges, when I saw her
issue from the loggia that opened to the gardens.
Upon her coming I turned to go within, and I would have passed her without
a word, but that she put forth a hand to detain me.
"I was seeking you, Agostino," she said in greeting.
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