cifix with great
devotion. He was completely covered with a large mourning cloak, under
which his bare breast was prepared to be torn by the red-hot pincers of
the executioner, which were lying ready in a chafing-dish fixed to the
cart. Having ascended the vehicle, in which the executioner placed him
so as more readily to perform this office, Bernardo came out, and was
thus addressed on his appearance by the fiscal of Rome--

"Signor Bernardo Cenci, in the name of our blessed Redeemer, our Holy
Father the Pope spares your life; with the sole condition that you
accompany your relatives to the scaffold and to their death, and never
forget to pray for those with whom you were condemned to die."

At this unexpected intelligence, a loud murmur of joy spread among the
crowd, and the members of the Confraternity immediately untied the small
mask which covered the youth's eyes; for, owing to his tender age, it
had been thought proper to conceal the scaffold from his sight.

Then the executioner; having disposed of Giacomo, came down from the
cart to take Bernardo; whose pardon being formally communicated to
him, he took off his handcuffs, and placed him alongside his brother,
covering him up with a magnificent cloak embroidered with gold, for
the neck and shoulders of the poor lad had been already bared, as a
preliminary to his decapitation. People were surprised to see such a
rich cloak in the possession of the executioner, but were told that it
was the one given by Beatrice to Marzio to pledge him to the murder
of her father, which fell to the executioner as a perquisite after the
execution of the assassin. The sight of the great assemblage of people
produced such an effect upon the boy that he fainted.

The procession then proceeded to the prison of Corte Savella, marching
to the sound of funeral chants. At its gates the sacred crucifix halted
for the women to join: they soon appeared, fell on their knees, and
worshipped the holy symbol as the others had done. The march to the
scaffold was then resumed.

The two female prisoners followed the last row of penitents in single
file, veiled to the waist, with the distinction that Lucrezia, as a
widow, wore a black veil and high-heeled slippers of the same hue,
with bows of ribbon, as was the fashion; whilst Beatrice, as a young
unmarried girl, wore a silk flat cap to match her corsage, with a plush
hood, which fell over her shoulders and covered her violet frock;
white slipp