veue de tous les passants, qui les larmoyoient et plaignoient de leur
misérable estat._[1]

(Pierre de Bourdeilles, abbé et Seigneur de Brantôme. _Recueil des
dames, seconde partie._)

[Footnote 1: "Doña Maria d'Avalos, one of the fair Princesses of the
land, and married to the Prince of Venosa, was enamoured of the Count
d'Andriane, likewise one of the noble Princes of the country. So being
both of them come together to enjoy their passion, and the husband
having discovered it ... had the twain of them slain by men appointed
thereto. In such wise that next morning the fair and noble pair, unhappy
beings, were seen lying stretched out and exposed to public view on the
pavement in front of the house door, all dead and cold, in sight of all
passers-by, who could not but weep and lament over their piteous lot."]


It was a day of high rejoicing at Naples, when the Prince of Venosa, a
rich and puissant Lord, was wed to Doña Maria, of the illustrious house
of Avalos.

Drawn by horses bedizened with scales, feathers or furs, in such wise as
to figure forth dragons, griffins, lions, lynxes, panthers and unicorns,
were twelve cars which did bear through all the city an host of naked
men and women, gilded all over, for to represent the Gods of Olympus,
come down to Earth to do honour to the Venosian nuptials. On one of
these cars was to be seen a young lad with wings treading underfoot
three old hags of an hideous ugliness. A tablet was fixed up above the
car to display the meaning thereof, to wit: LOVE VANQUISHETH THE FATAL
SISTERS. Whereby 'twas to be understood that the new-wedded pair would