farewell. The young
man had made a very bad impression in Florence; he had kept himself
entirely to himself, and had gone through his part of the ceremonials
like a puppet.

Lucrezia moved like the fabled princess in a dream. Her eyes were wet
with weeping, and, although she restrained her emotion, her
disappointment and distress caused her silent and bitter suffering.
Accustomed as she was to obey implicitly the commands of her autocratic
father, she knew that she must submit to the harshness of her spouse,
and make the best of a most unfortunate and embarrassing situation.

Alfonso had forbidden her to write to him, but appointed a faithful
follower of his, Francesco da Susena, as confidential Chamberlain of the
youthful Princess. He was to provide funds and disburse them for the
expenses of the Princess, and to keep his master well posted in all that
transpired, and, in particular, to inform him of every word and action
of his forsaken girl-wife!

Ten days after the departure of the Prince from Florence, he wrote a
letter to Lucrezia, which he bade da Susena read, and then give her. The
Court was at Poggio a Caiano in _villeggiatura_, and the Chamberlain was
in the company. He gave the Princess her husband's letter, and made the
following report to his master:--

"I was taken to the slope of a hill, where Her Highness the Princess was
walking with the Duchess Eleanora, who is always with her. I gave her
the letter, which she took greedily, with exceeding joy, and retired
apart with it. She read it over and over again, and then she questioned
me about your Highness.... I told her that she had no occasion to fear,
for your Highness would run no more risk than the king himself. She
appeared much comforted, and told me to beg your Highness, in her name,
to hasten your return to Florence." Within six months of Lucrezia's
ill-fated marriage, Duke Ercole died at Ferrara, and her husband
succeeded as Alfonso II. The life of Ercole and his Duchess Renata had
been anything but happy. He was as ambitious as he was unscrupulous:
Lord of Modena and Reggio and Papal Vicar of Ferrara, his possessions
stretched from the Adriatic to the Apennines. Extravagant and devoted to
amusement, he spared neither time nor money in the full enjoyment of
pleasure.

The Court of Ferrara became under him the most splendid Court in
Europe--famous for the excellence of its music and its dancing and the
superiority of its theatre--Carnival laste