Page:Matteo Bandello - twelve stories (IA cu31924102029083).pdf/321



WOULD here tell you the pitiful story of a murder committed with the utmost barbarity conceivable. It happened in Flanders, the persons concerned being two merchants of the pleasant city of Lucca, who lived in Antwerp, a city famed for its wealth and gaiety—the market, so to speak, for all the Christians of Europe and elsewhere to meet. Life there is far freer and more intimate than in many other places. Among other familiar customs in Antwerp I would mention this, viz., that marriageable damsels before they grow up usually have young lovers about them, who call themselves their servants. That maiden is most thought of who has most "servants"; and the young fellows may visit the girls all day un-