palace
in which Giacomo resided, and which was tenanted entirely by students, the
great majority of whom were his zealous partisans, and all of whom were
prepared, in any quarrel whatever, to take part against the townsmen, they
found the enterprise they had undertaken to be one of no little
difficulty. The huge gates were closed and barred, while the windows above
were occupied by a spirited garrison who had already supplied themselves
with missiles of every description to annoy their assailants. These latter
began, with true Italian energy, to pull up the posts out of the street,
to form battering-rams with which to force the gates. They thundered at
them with dreadful din, shaking the whole edifice; and in spite of the
missiles despatched in quick succession from above, seemed to be on the
point of effecting an entrance.

When Constantia heard this horrible din she turned pale with
affright--Giacomo pale with rage. He could make no impression on the cold
beauty before him--his suppressed passion was suffocating him. Against
_these_ assailants all his impetuosity could burst forth--_them_ he knew
at least how to defy;--here was an enemy he could vanquish, or, at worst,
a defeat he knew how to sustain. When, therefore, several of his friends
rushed breathless into the room to tell him that the great gates began to
creak upon their hinges, and were likely to be beaten in, he almost
welcomed this new species of contest. Conducting Constantia into a
side-room, where she would be out of reach of the ensuing tumult and
disorder, and where an aged matron waited to attend upon her, he went with
his friends to meet the rest of his companions in arms, who were anxious
to consult him on the next measures which in their present emergency
should be taken.

The house, or palazzo, was built on a plan very customary in such
structures. In the centre were the tall gates, now undergoing the battery
of the citizens, which opened upon a square, lofty, paved court or hall,
supported by columns, and forming a carriage-way up to the foot of the
staircase. Originally you passed through the hall into a garden beyond,
but when the building had been converted into a residence for students,
and made a part, in fact, of the university, a wall had been erected,
separating the garden from the house. This wall, though lofty, did not,
however, rise to the level of the roof of the hall; both light and air
were admitted from above it, and you still sa