of life, to expiate his past idleness, including the
hours he had wasted on his flowers and music, to expiate all past
softness, all past weaknesses, including the weakness for dainty dishes
and fine wines. He added that he had asked God's forgiveness for this
past life, and that he felt he must ask her forgiveness also. In fact
the Paduan, with whom Franco had become very intimate, and to whom he
read this passage in his letter as a sort of confirmation of previous
confessions, exclaimed: "That bit sounds for all the world like the
oration of Manasseh, king of Judaea!"

Luisa wrote most affectionately, but with less effusion. Franco's
silence on the painful subject displeased her, and she felt it would be
unwise on her part to allude to it in the face of a silence so
obstinate.

His good intentions concerning labour and self-sacrifice moved her
deeply; when she read that confession of great wickedness, followed by
the prayer for pardon to God and to herself, she smiled and kissed the
letter, feeling that this was an act of submission, and a humble
acceptance of the censure which had at first only irritated him. Poor
Franco! These were the impulses of his noble, generous nature! But would
they last? She answered at once, and if her emotion was apparent in her
answer, so also was her smile, which displeased Franco. At the end he
found these words: "When I read your many self-accusations I thought,
with remorse, of the accusations I brought against you, one sad night,
and I felt that you also had been thinking of them as you wrote,
although neither in this letter nor in any other are they alluded to. I
deeply regret those accusations, my own Franco, but how I wish we could
speak together as true friends, concerning those other questions of
which I think so much here in my solitude!"

Luisa's wish remained ungratified. In answering Franco did not even
touch on this point; indeed his next letter was somewhat cool, so Luisa
did not again revert to the subject. Only once, when speaking of Maria,
did she write: "If you could only see how Maria recites her 'Our Father'
every night and morning, and how well she behaves at Mass, on Sundays,
you would be satisfied."

He replied: "As to what you tell me concerning Maria's religious
exercises, I am satisfied, and I thank you!"

Both Luisa and Franco wrote almost every day, and sent their letters
once a week. Ismaele went to the post at Lugano every Tuesday, taking
the wife's