hing Lucrezia did was to enlighten
Beatrice on the infamy of the life they were leading; they then together
prepared a memorial to the pope, in which they laid before him a
statement of all the blows and outrages they had suffered. But, before
leaving, Francesco Cenci had taken precautions; every person about the
pope was in his pay, or hoped to be. The petition never reached His
Holiness, and the two poor women, remembering that Clement VIII had on a
former occasion driven Giacomo, Cristaforo, and Rocco from his presence,
thought they were included in the same proscription, and looked upon
themselves as abandoned to their fate.

When matters were in this state, Giacomo, taking advantage of his
father's absence, came to pay them a visit with a friend of his, an abbe
named Guerra: he was a young man of twenty-five or twenty-six, belonging
to one of the most noble families in Rome, of a bold, resolute, and
courageous character, and idolised by all the Roman ladies for his
beauty. To classical features he added blue eyes swimming in poetic
sentiment; his hair was long and fair, with chestnut beard and eyebrows;
add to these attractions a highly educated mind, natural eloquence
expressed by a musical and penetrating voice, and the reader may form
some idea of Monsignor the Abbe Guerra.

No sooner had he seen Beatrice than he fell in love with her. On her
side, she was not slow to return the sympathy of the young priest.
The Council of Trent had not been held at that time, consequently
ecclesiastics were not precluded from marriage. It was therefore decided
that on the return of Francesco the Abbe Guerra should demand the hand
of Beatrice from her father, and the women, happy in the absence of
their master, continued to live on, hoping for better things to come.

After three or four months, during which no one knew where he was,
Francesco returned. The very first night, he wished to resume his
intercourse with Beatrice; but she was no longer the same person, the
timid and submissive child had become a girl of decided will; strong in
her love for the abbe, she resisted alike prayers, threats, and blows.

The wrath of Francesco fell upon his wife, whom he accused of betraying
him; he gave her a violent thrashing. Lucrezia Petroni was a veritable
Roman she-wolf, passionate alike in love and vengeance; she endured all,
but pardoned nothing.

Some days after this, the Abbe Guerra arrived at the Cenci palace to
carry out what