far fulfilled this as
to address some sonnets to him and a letter; "neither did the
King feel ashamed of his intimacy with the courtesan," remarks
Graf, "nor did she suspect that he would feel ashamed of it."
When Montaigne passed through Venice she sent him a little book
of hers, as we learn from his _Journal_, though they do not
appear to have met. Tintoret was one of her many distinguished
friends, and she was a strenuous advocate of the high qualities
of modern, as compared with ancient, art. Her friendships were
affectionate, and she even seems to have had various grand ladies
among her friends. She was, however, so far from being ashamed of
her profession of courtesan that in one of her poems she affirms
she has been taught by Apollo other arts besides those he is
usually regarded as teaching:

"Cosi dolce e gustevole divento,
Quando mi trovo con persona in letto
Da cui amata e gradita mi sento."

In a certain _catalogo_ of the prices of Venetian courtesans
Veronica is assigned only 2 scudi for her favors, while the
courtesan to whom the catalogue is dedicated is set down at 25
scudi. Graf thinks there may be some mistake or malice here, and
an Italian gentleman of the time states that she required not
less than 50 scudi from those to whom she was willing to accord
what Montaigne called the "negotiation entiere."

In regard to this matter it may be mentioned that, as stated by
Bandello, it was the custom for a Venetian prostitute to have six
or seven gentlemen at a time as her lovers. Each was entitled to
come to sup and sleep with her on one night of the week, leaving
her days free. They paid her so much per month, but she always
definitely reserved the right to receive a stranger passing
through Venice, if she wished, changing the time of her
appointment with her lover for the night. The high and special
prices which we find recorded are, of course, those demanded from
the casual distinguished stranger who came to Venice as, once in
the sixteenth century, Montaigne came.

In 1580 (when not more than thirty-four) Veronica confessed to
the Holy Office that she had had six children. In the same year
she formed the design of founding a home, which should not be a
monastery, where prostitutes who wished to abandon their mode of
life could find