el;
at the second he began to waver when the servant deposed that his master
had given him a certain powder to mix with Brandonia's food in order to
increase her flow of milk; and, later on, when confronted with the man
from whom he had received the poison, he confessed all; and, simpleton as
he was, admitted that for two months past his mind had been set upon the
deed, and that on two previous occasions he had attempted to administer to
her the noxious drug against the advice of his servant. From the first
Cardan had placed his hopes of deliverance in the intervention of the
Milanese Governor, the Duca di Sessa, who had not long ago consulted him
as physician,[189] but the Duke refused to interfere. The intervention of
an executive officer in the procedure of a Court of Justice was no rare
occurrence at that period, and Cardan was deeply disappointed at the
squeamishness or indolence of his whilom patient. He records afterwards
how the Duke met his full share of the calamities which fell upon all
those who were concerned in Gian Battista's condemnation;[190] and in the
_Dialogus Tetim_, a work which he wrote immediately after the trial, he
bewails afresh the inaction of this excellent ruler and the consequent
loss of his son.[191]

For twenty days and more, while Gian Battista lay in prison, Cardan,
almost mad with apprehension and suspense, spent his time studying in the
library at Milan. Sitting there one day, he heard a warning voice which
told him that the thing he most feared had indeed come to pass. He felt
that his heart was broken, and, springing up, he rushed out into the
court, where he met certain of the Palavicini, the friends with whom he
was staying, and cried out, "Alas, alas, he was indeed privy to the death
of his wife, and now he has confessed it all, therefore he will be
condemned to death and beheaded." Then having caught up a garment he went
out to the piazza, and, before he had gone half-way he met his son-in-law,
who asked him in sorrowful tones whither he was going. Cardan answered
that he was troubled with apprehensions lest Gian Battista should have
confessed his crime, whereupon Bartolomeo Sacco told him that what he
feared had indeed come to pass. Gian Battista had admitted the truth of
the charge against him: he was ultimately put on his trial before the
Senate of Milan,[192] the President of the Court being one Rigone, a man
whom Cardan afterwards accused of partiality and of a hostile bias