When the body was found the following morning hanging in the branches of
the elder tree, everybody supposed, as Beatrice and her stepmother had
foreseen, that Francesco, stepping over the edge of the 386 terrace in
the dark, had thus met his end. The body was so scratched and disfigured
that no one noticed the wounds made by the two nails. The ladies,
as soon as the news was imparted to them, came out from their
rooms, weeping and lamenting in so natural a manner as to disarm any
suspicions. The only person who formed any was the laundress to whom
Beatrice entrusted the sheet in which her father's body had been
wrapped, accounting for its bloody condition by a lame explanation,
which the laundress accepted without question, or pretended to do so;
and immediately after the funeral, the mourners returned to Rome, hoping
at length to enjoy quietude and peace. For some time, indeed, they
did enjoy tranquillity, perhaps poisoned by remorse, but ere long
retribution pursued them. The court of Naples, hearing of the sudden and
unexpected death of Francesco Cenci, and conceiving some suspicions of
violence, despatched a royal commissioner to Petrella to exhume the body
and make minute inquiries, if there appeared to be adequate grounds for
doing so. On his arrival all the domestics in the castle were placed
under arrest and sent in chains to Naples. No incriminating proofs,
however, were found, except in the evidence of the laundress, who
deposed that Beatrice had given her a bloodstained sheet to wash. This
clue led to terrible consequences; for, further questioned, she declared
that she could not believe the explanation given to account for its
condition. The evidence was sent to the Roman court; but at that period
it did not appear strong enough to warrant the arrest of the Cenci
family, who remained undisturbed for many months, during which time the
youngest boy died. Of the five brothers there only remained Giacomo, the
eldest, and Bernardo, the youngest but one. Nothing prevented them from
escaping to Venice or Florence; but they remained quietly in Rome.