the poor girl; for that she was dead there could be
no doubt--from such a wound there was no chance of recovering. I stood
some moments in anxious wo, thinking on what had happened. Had the
Red-mantle deceived me, or was his sister, perhaps, only apparently
dead? The latter appeared to me more probable. Yet I dared not tell
the brother of the deceased, that, perhaps, a less rash blow would
have aroused, without having killed her; therefore I began to sever
the head entirely--but once again the dying one groaned, stretched
herself out in a convulsion of pain, and breathed her last. Then
terror overpowered me, and I rushed shivering out of the apartment.

But outside in the corridor it was dark, for the lamp had died out; no
trace of my companion was perceptible, and I was obliged to move along
by the wall, at hazard in the dark, in order to reach the
winding-stairs. I found them at last, and descended, half falling,
half gliding. There was no one below; the door was only latched, and I
breathed more freely when I was in the street, out of the uneasy
atmosphere of the house. Spurred on by fear, I ran to my dwelling, and
buried myself in the pillow of my bed, in order to forget the horrid
crime I had committed. But sleep fled my eyelids, and soon morning
admonished me again to collect myself. It seemed probable to me, that
the man who had led me to this villainous deed, as it now appeared to
me, would not denounce me. I immediately resolved to attend to my
business in my shop, and to put on as careless an air as possible.
But, alas! a new misfortune, which I now for the first time observed,
augmented my sorrow. My cap and girdle, as also my knives, were
missing; and I knew not whether they had been left in the chamber of
the dead, or lost during my flight. Alas! the former seemed more
probable, and they could discover in me the murderer.

I opened my shop at the usual time; a neighbor stepped in, as was his
custom, being a communicative man. "Ah! what say you to the horrid
deed," he cried, "that was committed last night?" I started as if I
knew nothing. "How! know you not that with which the whole city is
filled? Know you not that last night, the fairest flower in Florence,
Bianca, the daughter of the Governor, was murdered? Ah! only yesterday
I saw her walking happily through the streets with her bridegroom, for
to-day she would have had her nuptial festival!"

Every word of my neighbor was a dagger to my heart; and ho