Brought up as she had been, uneducated, deprived of all society, even that of her stepmother, Beatrice knew not good from evil:  her ruin was comparatively easy to compass; yet Francesco, to accomplish his diabolical purpose, employed all the means at his command.  Every night she was awakened by a concert of music which seemed to come from Paradise.  When she mentioned this to her father, he left her in this belief, adding that if she proved gentle and obedient she would be rewarded by heavenly sights, as well as heavenly sounds.

One night it came to pass that as the young girl was reposing, her head supported on her elbow, and listening to a delightful harmony, the chamber door suddenly opened, and from the darkness of her own room she beheld a suite of apartments brilliantly illuminated, and sensuous with perfumes; beautiful youths and girls, half clad, such as she had seen in the pictures of Guido and Raffaelle, moved to and fro in these apartments, seeming full of joy and happiness:  these were the ministers to the pleasures of Francesco, who, rich as a king, every night revelled in the orgies of Alexander, the wedding revels of Lucrezia, and the excesses of Tiberius at Capri.  After an hour, the door closed, and the seductive vision vanished, leaving Beatrice full of trouble and amazement.

The night following, the same apparition again presented itself, only, on this occasion, Francesco Cenci, undressed, entered his daughter’s room and invited her to join the fete.  Hardly knowing what she did, Beatrice yet perceived the impropriety of yielding to her father’s wishes:  she replied that, not seeing her stepmother, Lucrezia Petroni, among all these women, she dared not leave her bed to mix with persons who were unknown to her.  Francesco threatened and prayed, but threats and prayers were of no avail.  Beatrice wrapped herself up in the bedclothes, and obstinately refused to obey.

The next night she threw herself on her bed without undressing.  At the accustomed hour the door opened, and the nocturnal spectacle reappeared.  This time, Lucrezia Petroni was among the women who passed before Beatrice’s door; violence had compelled her to undergo this humiliation.  Beatrice was too far off to see her blushes and her tears.  Francesco pointed out her stepmother, whom she had looked for in vain the previous evening; and as she could no longer make any opposition, he led her, covered with blushes and confusion, into the middle of this orgy.

Beatrice there saw incredible and infamous things....

Nevertheless, she resisted a long time:  an inward voice told her that this was horrible; but Francesco had the slow persistence of a demon.  To these sights, calculated to stimulate her passions, he added heresies designed to warp her mind; he told her that the greatest saints venerated by the Church were the issue of fathers and daughters, and in the end Beatrice committed a crime without even knowing it to be a sin.