We rearranged our position, and the marchioness sitting close to me called me her dear husband, while I called her my dear wife.

The new bond between us was confirmed by affectionate kisses.  We were absorbed and silent, and Lucrezia was delighted to find us so calm when she returned.

We had no need to warn each other to observe secrecy.  Donna Lucrezia was devoid of prejudice, but there was no need to give her a piece of useless information.

We felt certain that she had left us alone, so as not to be a witness of what we were going to do.

After some further conversation we went back to the palace with Anastasia, whom we found in the alley by herself.

The marquis received his wife with joy, congratulating her on the success of her negotiations.  He thanked me for my compliance, and assured me I should have a comfortable apartment in his country house.

“I suppose you will not mind having our friend for a neighbor?” he said to Lucrezia.

“No,” said she; “but we will be discreet, for the flower of our lives has withered.”

“I shall believe as much of that as I please.”

The worthy man dearly loved a joke.

The long table was laid for five, and as soon as dinner was served an old priest came in and sat down.  He spoke to nobody, and nobody spoke to him.

The pretty page stood behind the marchioness, and we were waited on by ten or twelve servants.

I had only a little soup at dinner, so I ate like an ogre, for I was very hungry, and the marquis’s French cook was a thorough artist.

The marquis exclaimed with delight as I devoured one dish after another.  He told me that the only fault in his wife that she was a very poor eater like her mother.  At dessert the wine began to take effect, and our conversation, which was conducted in French, became somewhat free.  The old priest took no notice, as he only understood Italian, and he finally left us after saying the ‘agimus’.

The marquis told me that this ecclesiastic had been a confessor to the palace for the last twenty years, but had never confessed anybody.  He warned me to take care what I said before him if I spoke Italian, but he did not know a word of French.

Mirth was the order of the day, and I kept the company at table till an hour after midnight.

Before we parted for the night the marquis told me that we would start in the afternoon, and that he should arrive an hour before us.  He assured his wife that he was quite well, and that he hoped to convince her that I had made him ten years younger.  Leonilda embraced him tenderly, begging him to be careful of his health.

“Yes, yes,” said he, “but get ready to receive me.”

I wished them a good night, and a little marquis at nine months from date.

“Draw the bill,” said he to me, “and to-morrow I will accept it.”

“I promise you,” said Lucrezia, “to do my best to ensure your meeting your obligations.”