hands and struck her head against the wall, shrieking, "To die! to die!
Am I to die unprepared, on a scaffold! on a gibbet! My God! my God!"
This fit led to a terrible paroxysm, after which the exhaustion of her
body enabled her mind to recover its balance, and from that moment she
became an angel of humility and an example of resignation.

Her first request was for a notary to make her will. This was
immediately complied with, and on his arrival she dictated its
provisions with much calmness and precision. Its last clause desired her
interment in the church of San Pietro in Montorio, for which she always
had a strong attachment, as it commanded a view of her father's palace.
She bequeathed five hundred crowns to the nuns of the order of the
Stigmata, and ordered that her dowry, amounting to fifteen thousand
crowns, should be distributed in marriage portions to fifty poor girls.
She selected the foot of the high altar as the place where she wished to
be buried, over which hung the beautiful picture of the Transfiguration,
so often admired by her during her life.

Following her example, Lucrezia in her turn, disposed of her property:
she desired to be buried in the church of San Giorgio di Velobre, and
left thirty-two thousand crowns to charities, with other pious legacies.
Having settled their earthly affairs, they joined in prayer, reciting
psalms, litanies, and prayers far the dying.

At eight o'clock they confessed, heard mass, and received the
sacraments; after which Beatrice, observing to her stepmother that the
rich dresses they wore were out of place on a scaffold, ordered two to
be made in nun's fashion--that is to say, gathered at the neck, with
long wide sleeves. That for Lucrezia was made of black cotton stuff,
Beatrice's of taffetas. In addition she had a small black turban made to