it was not till five o'clock in
the morning that the registrar entered the cell of Lucrezia and Beatrice
to read their sentences to them.

Both were sleeping, calm in the belief of a reprieve. The registrar woke
them, and told them that, judged by man, they must now prepare to appear
before God.

Beatrice was at first thunderstruck: she seemed paralysed and speechless;
then she rose from bed, and staggering as if intoxicated, recovered her
speech, uttering despairing cries. Lucrezia heard the tidings with more
firmness, and proceeded to dress herself to go to the chapel, exhorting
Beatrice to resignation; but she, raving, wrung her, hands and struck her
head against the wall, shrieking, "To die! to die! Am I to die
unprepared, on a scaffold! on a gibbet! My God! my God!" This fit led
to a terrible paroxysm, after which the exhaustion of her body enabled
her mind to recover its balance, and from that moment she became an angel
of humility and an example of resignation.

Her first request was for a notary to make her will. This was
immediately complied with, and on his arrival she dictated its provisions
with much calmness and precision. Its last clause desired her interment
in the church of San Pietro in Montorio, for which she always had a
strong attachment, as it commanded a view of her father's palace. She
bequeathed five hundred crowns to the nuns of the order of the Stigmata,
and ordered that her dowry; amounting to fifteen thousand crowns, should
be distributed in marriage portions to fifty poor girls. She selected
the foot of the high altar as the place where she wished to be buried,
over which hung the beautiful picture of the Transfiguration, so often
admired by her during her life.

Following her example, Lucrezia in her turn, disposed of her property:
she desired to be buried in the church of San Giorgio di Velobre, and
left thirty-two thousand crowns to charities, with other pious legacies.
Having settled their earthly affairs, they joined in prayer, reciting
psalms, litanies, and prayers far the dying.

At eight o'clock they confessed, heard mass, and received the sacraments;
after which Beatrice, observing to her stepmother that the rich dresses
they wore were out of place on a scaffold, ordered two to be made in
nun's fashion--that is to say, gathered at the neck, with long wide
sleeves. That for Lucrezia was made of black cotton stuff, Beatrice's of
taffetas. In addition she had a small bl