Lorenzo, he said, "Signor and brother, receive your nephew, my son, and
see whether it please you to give permission for the public
solemnisation of my marriage with this peasant girl--the only one to
whom I have ever been betrothed."

To repeat the replies of Lorenzo would be never to make an end, and the
rather if to these we added the questions of Don Juan, the remarks of
Don Antonio, the expressions of delight uttered by the priest, the
rejoicing of Sulpicia, the satisfaction of the housekeeper who had made
herself the counsellor of Cornelia, the exclamations of the nurse, and
the astonishment of Fabio, with the general happiness of all.

The marriage ceremony was performed by the good priest, and Don Juan de
Gamboa gave away the bride; but it was agreed among the parties that
this marriage also should be kept secret, until he knew the result of
the malady under which the duchess-dowager was labouring; for the
present, therefore, it was determined that Cornelia should return to
Bologna with her brother. All was done as thus agreed on; and when the
duchess-dowager died, Cornelia made her entrance into Ferrara, rejoicing
the eyes of all who beheld her: the mourning weeds were exchanged for
festive robes, the two housekeepers were enriched, and Sulpicia was
married to Fabio. For Don Antonio and Don Juan, they were sufficiently
rewarded by the services they had rendered to the duke, who offered them
two of his cousins in marriage, with rich dowries. But they replied,
that the gentlemen of the Biscayan nation married for the most part in
their own country; wherefore, not because they despised so honourable a
proffer, which was not possible, but that they might not depart from a
custom so laudable, they were compelled to decline that illustrious
alliance, and the rather as they were still subject to the will of their
parents, who had, most probably, already affianced them.