ascertained the date when he was
going to move into the palace at San Polo, and, 'to put it briefly,
knew everything he did, and, as it were, how many times a day he
spit.' Such were the intelligences of the servants' hall, and of such
value were they to men of Bibboni's calling.

In the Carnival of 1546 Lorenzo meant to go masqued in the habit of
a gipsy woman to the square of San Spirito, where there was to be a
joust. Great crowds of people would assemble, and Bibboni hoped to
do his business there. The assassination, however, failed on this
occasion, and Lorenzo took up his abode in the palace he had hired
upon the Campo di San Polo. This Campo is one of the largest open
places in Venice, shaped irregularly, with a finely curving line upon
the western side, where two of the noblest private houses in the city
are still standing. Nearly opposite these, in the south-western angle,
stands, detached, the little old church of San Polo. One of its side
entrances opens upon the square; the other on a lane, which leads
eventually to the Frari. There is nothing in Bibboni's narrative to
make it clear where Lorenzo hired his dwelling. But it would seem
from certain things which he says later on, that in order to enter the
church his victim had to cross the square. Meanwhile Bibboni took the
precaution of making friends with a shoemaker, whose shop commanded
the whole Campo, including Lorenzo's palace. In this shop he began to
spend much of his time; 'and oftentimes I feigned to be asleep;
but God knows whether I was sleeping, for my mind, at any rate, was
wide-awake.'

A second convenient occasion for murdering Lorenzo soon seemed to
offer. He was bidden to dine with Monsignor della Casa; and Bibboni,
putting a bold face on, entered the Legate's palace, having left
Bebo below in the loggia, fully resolved to do the business. 'But we
found,' he says, 'that, they had gone to dine at Murano, so that we
remained with our tabors in their bag.' The island of Murano at that
period was a favourite resort of the Venetian nobles, especially of
the more literary and artistic, who kept country-houses there, where
they enjoyed the fresh air of the lagoons and the quiet of their
gardens.

The third occasion, after all these weeks of watching, brought success
to Bibboni's schemes. He had observed how Lorenzo occasionally so far
broke his rules of caution as to go on foot, past the church of San
Polo, to visit the beautiful Barozza; and h