of the gold had captivated my feelings, otherwise I should not have
fallen blindly into the trap. Two hours after my arrest I was led out
of my cell. I descended several steps until at last I reached a great
hall. Around a long table draped in black were seated twelve men, mostly
old men. There were benches along the sides of the hall, filled with the
most distinguished of Florence. The galleries, which were above, were
thickly crowded with spectators. When I had stepped towards the table
covered with black cloth, a man with a gloomy and sad countenance rose;
it was the Governor. He said to the assembly that he as the father in
this affair could not sentence, and that he resigned his place on this
occasion to the eldest of the Senators. The eldest of the Senators was
an old man at least ninety years of age. He stood in a bent attitude,
and his temples were covered with thin white hair, but his eyes were as
yet very fiery, and his voice powerful and weighty. He commenced by
asking me whether I confessed to the murder. I requested him to allow
me to speak, and related undauntedly and with a clear voice what I had
done, and what I knew.

I noticed that the Governor, during my recital, at one time turned pale,
and at another time red. When I had finished, he rose angrily: "What,
wretch!" he exclaimed, "dost thou even dare to impute a crime which thou
hast committed from greediness to another?" The Senator reprimanded him
for his interruption, since he had voluntarily renounced his right;
besides it was not clear that I did the deed from greediness, for,
according to his own statement, nothing had been stolen from the victim.
He even went further. He told the Governor that he must give an account
of the early life of his daughter, for then only it would be possible
to decide whether I had spoken the truth or not. At the same time he
adjourned the court for the day, in order, as he said, to consult the
papers of the deceased, which the Governor would give him. I was again