o conceal the scaffold from his sight.

Then the executioner; having disposed of Giacomo, came down from the cart
to take Bernardo; whose pardon being formally communicated to him, he
took off his handcuffs, and placed him alongside his brother, covering
him up with a magnificent cloak embroidered with gold, for the neck and
shoulders of the poor lad had been already bared, as a preliminary to his
decapitation. People were surprised to see such a rich cloak in the
possession of the executioner, but were told that it was the one given by
Beatrice to Marzio to pledge him to the murder of her father, which fell
to the executioner as a perquisite after the execution of the assassin.
The sight of the great assemblage of people produced such an effect upon
the boy that he fainted.

The procession then proceeded to the prison of Corte Savella, marching to
the sound of funeral chants. At its gates the sacred crucifix halted for
the women to join: they soon appeared, fell on their knees, and
worshipped the holy symbol as the others had done. The march to the
scaffold was then resumed.

The two female prisoners followed the last row of penitents in single
file, veiled to the waist, with the distinction that Lucrezia, as a
widow, wore a black veil and high-heeled slippers of the same hue, with
bows of ribbon, as was the fashion; whilst Beatrice, as a young unmarried
girl, wore a silk flat cap to match her corsage, with a plush hood, which
fell over her shoulders and covered her violet frock; white slippers with
high heels, ornamented with gold rosettes and cherry-coloured fringe.
The arms of both were untrammelled, except far a thin slack cord which
left their hands free to carry a crucifix and a handkerchief.

During the night a lofty scaffold had been erected on the bridge of Sant'
Angelo, and the plank and block were placed thereon. Above the block was
hung, from a large cross beam, a ponderous axe, which, guided by two
grooves, fell with its whole weight at the touch of a spring.

In this formation the procession wended its way towards the bridge of
Sant' Angela. Lucrezia, the more broken down of the two, wept bitterly;
but Beatrice was firm and unmoved. On arriving at the open space before
the bridge, the women were led into a chapel, where they were shortly
joined by Giacomo and Bernardo; they remained together for a few moments,
when the brothers were led away to the scaffold, although one was to be
executed last,