ter of his epoch!

Another story affects the career of the Chamberlain Troilo d'Orsini. He
sought sanctuary in France and was befriended by Queen Catherine, to
whom his mistress, the unhappy Duchess of Bracciano, had commended "the
little kid." Whether he accepted the role of father to save the fame of
the defunct Grand Duke is not known, but the unfortunate, if guilty,
fugitive was stabbed in the streets of Paris by bravoes sent after him
in the pay of the Duke of Bracciano.

CHAPTER V

FRANCESCO--"_Il Virtuoso_"

BIANCA CAPPELLO--"_La Figlia di Venezia_"

PELLEGRINA--"_La Bella Bianchina_"

_True Lovers--and False_

"We'll have none of her among our dead!"

These were the brutal words of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, at the
villa of Poggio a Caiano on the morning of 21st October 1587. They
formed the curt reply his Eminence vouchsafed to Bishop Abbioso of
Ravenna, "her" confessor.

The bishop, looking to favours from Ferdinando, who succeeded Francesco
as third Grand Duke of Tuscany, sent overnight, the following message to
his new Sovereign:

"This moment at 8 p.m. Her Most Serene Highness the Grand Duchess passed
to another life. The present messenger awaits your Highness' orders as
to the disposal of the body."

"The body!"

Yes, it was "the body" of as loving a woman as ever lived in Florence.
She had been the most faithful of wives, the most attractive of
consorts, and one of the most generous of benefactresses. It was "the
body" of as unselfish a sister-in-law as any man, high or low, ever
had, who strove her utmost to propitiate, screen, and honour the
self-seeking brother of her husband. It was "the body" of Bianca
Cappello!

Ferdinando had, for years, plotted her death, and now he had
accomplished his dastardly design--a design which also made him the
murderer of his brother, Francesco de' Medici.

To be sure, the double tragedy was adjudged no tragedy by such as waited
for favours from the coming ruler, and the mysteriously sudden deaths of
Francesco de' Medici and his wife Bianca were assigned to natural causes
by well-paid dependants upon Ferdinando's bounty and favour. The
bloodguiltiness of fratricidal Ferdinando was well whitewashed by his
courtiers, and historians have painted him in colours that ill befit his
character. So is history written ofttimes and again.

Pope Sixtus VI. had all the gruesome circumstances placed before him,
and whilst he was too weak or too cunn