an, as I only saw in him a man
unfortunate by his own fault, whose fate would probably make him end his
days in a prison unless he had the courage to blow his brains out.

I went to Momolo's in the evening, and found the intended husband of my
fair Mariuccia there, but not the lady herself. I heard she had sent word
to the 'scopatore santissimo' that, as her father had come from
Palestrina to be present at her wedding, she could not come to supper. I
admired her subtlety. A young girl has no need of being instructed in
diplomacy, nature and her own heart are her teachers, and she never
blunders. At supper I studied the young man, and found him eminently
suitable for Mariuccia; he was handsome, modest, and intelligent, and
whatever he said was spoken frankly and to the point.

He told me before Momolo's daughter, Tecla, that he would have married
her if she had possessed means to enable him to open his shop, and that
he had reason to thank God for having met Maria, whose confessor had been
such a true spiritual father to her. I asked him where the wedding
festivities were to take place, and he told me they were to be at his
father's house, on the other side of the Tiber. As his father, who kept a
garden, was poor, he had furnished him with ten crowns to defray the
expenses.

I wanted to give him the ten crowns, but how was I to do it? It would
have betrayed me.

"Is your father's garden a pretty one?" I asked.

"Not exactly pretty, but very well kept. As he owns the land, he has
separated a plot which he wants to sell; it would bring in twenty crowns
a year, and I should be as happy as a cardinal if I could buy it."

"How much will it cost?"

"It's a heavy price; two hundred crowns."

"Why, that's cheap! Listen to me. I have met your future bride at this
house, and I have found her all worthy of happiness. She deserves an
honest young fellow like you for a husband. Now what would you do
supposing I were to make you a present of two hundred crowns to buy the
garden?"

"I should put it to my wife's dowry."

"Then here are the two hundred crowns. I shall give them to Momolo, as I
don't know you well enough, though I think you are perfectly to be
trusted. The garden is yours, as part of your wife's dowry."

Momolo took the money, and promised to buy the garden the following day,
and the young man shedding tears of joy and gratitude fell on his knees
and kissed my hand. All the girls wept, as I myself did, for th