e of mirth: nor ever
elsewhere, I think, was so relished, as once was here, how great may
be the sweetness of dear and cherished companionship; for apart from
the honor it was to each of us to serve such a lord as he of whom I
have just spoken, there was born in the hearts of all a supreme
contentment every time we came into the presence of my lady Duchess;
and it seemed as though this contentment were a chain that held us all
united in love, so that never was concord of will or cordial love
between brothers greater than that which here was between us all.

The same was it among the ladies, with whom there was intercourse most
free and honorable; for every one was permitted to talk, sit, jest,
and laugh with whom he pleased; but such was the reverence paid to the
wish of my lady Duchess, that this same liberty was a very great
check; nor was there any one who did not esteem it the utmost pleasure
he could have in the world to please her, and the utmost pain to
displease her. And thus most decorous manners were here joined with
the greatest liberty, and games and laughter in her presence were
seasoned not only with keenest wit, but with gracious and sober
dignity; for that purity and loftiness which governed all the acts,
words, and gestures of my lady Duchess, bantering and laughing, were
such that she would have been known for a lady of noblest rank by any
one who saw her even but once. And impressing herself thus upon those
about her, she seemed to attune us all to her own quality and pitch:
accordingly each strove to follow this example, taking as it were a
pattern of beautiful behavior from the bearing of so great and
virtuous a lady; whose highest qualities I do not now purpose to
recount, they not being my theme and being well known to all the
world, and far more because I could not express them with either
tongue or pen; and those that perhaps might have been somewhat hid,
fortune, as though wondering at such rare virtue, chose to reveal
through many adversities and stings of calamity; so as to give proof
that in the tender breast of a woman, in company with singular beauty,
there may abide prudence and strength of soul and all those virtues
that even among stern men are very rare.

But continuing, I say that the custom of all the gentlemen of the
household was to betake themselves straightway after supper to my lady
Duchess; where, among the other pleasant pastimes and music and
dancing that continually were p