CHAPTER VI He unbuttoned his frock-coat (I had never seen him wear any garment less formal) and took out of it a slender little volume in vellum covers. He passed it to me in silence. I opened it. It was a manuscript copy, roughly stitched together. I recognized the handwriting as that of St. Hilary. “Well?” I asked curiously, returning it to him. “This is a crude translation of certain passages in the Diary of Marius Sanudo, a Venetian who lived about the beginning of the sixteenth century. I made this translation in the Royal Library at Vienna the other day. The Diary is one of the rarest books in the world. You are wide enough awake to listen to it for an hour or two?” “It concerns the clock?” “It concerns the casket and the clock. You may imagine these extracts as being divided into two chapters. Chapter I–concerning the jewels and the casket; Chapter II–the clock. My remarks may be supposed to constitute a third 63chapter. You have heard of Beatrice d’Este, the Duchess of Milan and wife of Ludovico the Moor?” 63 “Practically only what you have told me about her. I know she lived during the latter part of the fifteenth century.” “Then I suppose you have never seen her portrait, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. It hangs in the Ambrosiana Library at Milan, the second room to the left as you enter; and I assure you that it is well worth a little pilgrimage to Milan to see. It is a profile of extraordinary charm–a young girl of eighteen. It is difficult to imagine this adorable child–for she was only twenty-two when she died–as an ambassadress to the most powerful court in Europe. “Her husband, Ludovico, toward the last part of his reign, was hard pressed by his foes. After intrigues with two kings and a pope, he found himself caught in the web of his own treachery. He needed money to pay his allies. But his wonderful Sala del Tesoro, with its oak chest of gold and plate, was empty. Only the jewels were left. I have already told you that this collection has never since been equaled in artistic value. “Now, if you are familiar with the financial methods of these princes of the Renaissance, you will know that in times of stress they resorted to 64the rather vulgar expedient of simply putting their jewels in pawn. 64
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