Thou must know that till now we have come out of all with honour, _id est_ thy Franco, as Franco, towards his masters, towards thee, and towards himself, has done well despite of malignant, venomous and treacherous, envious, &c. I came, and on the road and whilst in Rome, with all the love and economy I was able to employ was so useful to my masters that they showed their appreciation by words and deeds many times; particularly when I stood aloof and they tried others. Of the money received by me for the expenses, my enemies twice carefully dissected, like anatomists, my accounts, shop by shop, day by day, entry by entry; and everything was in such order that calumny had a fall, and they were laughed at and put to shame. Thus my affection, fidelity, and diligence were established and talked of publicly by them as I heard privately, so that I pardon all. When I made up the final balance only twenty-eight lire were missing, which must have been forgotten by the man who buys retail. This would be of small account if I had not lost so much in brains, soul, and body, instead of only twenty-eight lire, in all these devilries and persecutions, &c., so that I even once cursed both thee and Lorenzo who sent me into this hell. But God has helped us, for of a certain Lorenzo, thou, and my own good intentions, could not have a bad ending. All this, my Ser Piero, must be a comfort to thee as it is to me. Also I cannot describe the kindness and love shown to me by Madonna Clarice, twice or thrice she even said that the Count showed small discretion in taking me from her, exclaiming: “See how I am left, I will not allow any man to have the spending of my money but Franco; and I will eat nothing but what has passed through his hands; we never intended to give Franco to him in order that he might be buried alive in a wood, he would be far more useful to Madonna Maddalena and to his house if he were here at hand, &c.” She talked of this a hundred times and has already sent for me twice since I have been at these baths, and kept me two or three days until his Lordship drove me back to the baths. It was rumoured that Maddalena was to go to Florence with Alfonsina and a list was drawn up of things she was going to ask of the Count for her journey; among others she desired: “As chaplain I wish for Franco. “And some one to write my letters, for this Franco will be good.