gger
hilt into a loop at the back, he slowly twisted it about until the soul
of the duchess had fled. Not a harsh or hasty word was spoken, there was
no hurry and no confusion, all was done quietly and in order. The marvel
is that these highly emotional people, who are usually so sensitive to
pain, could have shown such stoical indifference to their fate.

The case of Beatrice Cenci is one of the best known in all this category
of crime, and here again is shown that sublime fortitude which cannot
fail to excite our sympathy, to some degree at least. Francesco Cenci
was a wealthy nobleman of such profligate habits and such evil ways
that he had twice been threatened with imprisonment for his crimes.
Seven children he had by his first marriage, and at his wife's death he
married Lucrezia Petroni, by whom he had no children. Francesco had no
love for his sons and daughters, and treated them with such uniform
cruelty that he soon drove from their hearts any filial affection they
may have felt for him. His conduct grew so outrageous that finally, in
desperation, his family appealed to the pope for relief, begging that
Cenci be put to death, so that they might live in peace; but the
pontiff, who had already profited by Cenci's wealth and saw further need
for his gold, refused to comply with so unusual a request, and made
matters so much the worse by allowing the father to find out what a
desperate course the children had adopted. One of the two daughters was
finally married, and Cenci was compelled by the pope to give her a
suitable _dot_; but Beatrice still remained at home, and the father kept
her in virtual imprisonment that she might not escape him and cause him
expense as the other girl had done. The indignities heaped upon her and
upon the wife and sons were such that they all revolted at last and
plotted to take his life. Cardinal Guerra, a young prelate, who, it
seems, was in the habit of visiting the house in Cenci's absence, and
who may have been in love with Beatrice, was taken into the secret and
all the details were arranged. Two old servants, who had no love for
their harsh master, were prevailed upon to do the deed, and were
secretly admitted by Beatrice to the castle known as the Rock of
Petrella, where Cenci had taken his family for the summer months--all
this was in the year 1598. The father's wine had been drugged so that he
fell into a deep sleep, and again it was Beatrice who took the assassins
into the r