Then it was that Duke Cosimo missed the intelligent services of faithful, faithless Sforza Almeni--he would have done the dirty work of extricating his master from his false position as well, or better, than any one else. Eleanora and he had from the first been rivals for the confidences of the Duke, and hated each other heartily. She had good grounds doubtless for her contempt and distrust, by reason of the heartless and mean insinuations affecting her manner of life, which the trusty private secretary poured into the perhaps too ready ears of his master. The solution, however, of Cosimo's dilemma came quite suddenly from a perfectly unexpected quarter--from the Pitti Palace. Francesco and Giovanna had never ceased trying to detach the old debauchee from his lascivious entanglements. His conduct was fatal to the reputation and the authority of his successor. On 17th July a party of young men of good family riding out of one of the gates of the city, encountered another like company. One of the former, Carlo de' Panciatichi, accidentally cannoned against Jacopo d'Antonio, and the latter dismounted and demanded satisfaction for the presumed insult. A duel was promptly arranged, in which young Panciatichi dealt his opponent a fatal blow with his dagger. D'Antonio fell and was carried to the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, where he died three days after. By Duke Cosimo's recent enactment, such an occurrence was counted as a criminal offence, which required purgation by the payment of a heavy fine, failure to pay being punished by sentence of death. The _Otto di Guardia e Balia_ met and deliberated the matter, and imposed a fine of four thousand gold lire. This sum Messer Bartolommeo de' Panciatichi, Carlo's father, was unable to pay, and, in consequence, the lad was required to surrender himself for incarceration in the dungeons of the Bargello. Carlo de' Panciatichi failed to report himself, and his sentence bore the added punishment for contempt of court. The unhappy father appealed for mercy, and, because the law of the Ducal Court was superior to that of the State, threw himself upon the protection of Duke Francesco. It was woman's wit which now untied the knot twisted about the young man's throat. The Duchess Giovanna has, by some, been credited with the origination of the tactful expedient, but some say Bianca Buonaventuri was its inspiratrix. Anyhow, the solution came in a form agreeable to all parties concerned, namely, the full pardon of the criminal--on condition of his immediate marriage with Eleanora degli Albizzi!