er leave me do; but one thing I
commend to thee, daughter mine, and that is, that thou be mindful of
me, for that I am a poor body and would have thee henceforth a sharer
in all my pardonings and in all the paternosters I shall say, so God
may make them light and candles for thy dead.'[288]

[Footnote 288: _i.e._ that they may serve to purchase remission from
purgatory for the souls of her dead relatives, instead of the burning
of candles and tapers, which is held by the Roman Catholic Church to
have that effect.]

With this she made an end of her discourse, and the young lady came to
an understanding with her that, whenas she chanced to spy a certain
young spark who passed often through that quarter and whose every
feature she set out to her, she should know what she had to do; then,
giving her a piece of salt meat, she dismissed her with God's
blessing; nor had many days passed ere the old woman brought her him
of whom she had bespoken her privily into her chamber, and a little
while after, another and another, according as they chanced to take
the lady's fancy, who stinted not to indulge herself in this as often
as occasion offered, though still fearful of her husband. It chanced
one evening that, her husband being to sup abroad with a friend of
his, Ercolano by name, she charged the old woman bring her a youth,
who was one of the goodliest and most agreeable of all Perugia, which
she promptly did; but hardly had the lady seated herself at table to
sup with her gallant, when, behold, Pietro called out at the door to
have it opened to him. She, hearing this, gave herself up for lost,
but yet desiring, an she might, to conceal the youth and not having
the presence of mind to send him away or hide him elsewhere, made him
take refuge under a hen-coop, that was in a shed adjoining the chamber
where they were at supper, and cast over him the sacking of a
pallet-bed that she had that day let empty.

This done, she made haste to open to her husband, to whom quoth she,
as soon as he entered the house, 'You have very soon despatched this
supper of yours!' 'We have not so much as tasted it,' replied he; and
she said, 'How was that?' Quoth he, 'I will tell thee. Scarce were we
seated at table, Ercolano and his wife and I, when we heard some one
sneeze hard by, whereof we took no note the first time nor the second;
but, he who sneezed sneezing yet a third time and a fourth and a fifth
and many other times, it made us all marve