... and this I will do (i. e., Keep an eye upon the letters that arrive) with great care, in order that nothing may prevent my returning to my country and my home, according to the intention I have always had, and which I intend to fulfil; and God grant, that by his will, this may soon come to pass, and I did not write to you sooner, because, as I had the most illustrious lady donisabella (sic), and Don Pietro, her brother, with his wife, dining with me in my garden, they put out all my plans. (She then repeats her wish that he should come so that they may speak freely about that which "cannot be put on paper.")[235]
Florence, 24 Nov., 1573.
Your Lordship's, &c.
Biancha Cappello.
XIV.—To the same.
1573, Dec. 5.
... I have had a letter from my most magnificent brother, who tells me, that if I do not make up my mind to go to Venice without being married, these affairs of mine will become lengthy and impracticable; and I tell you, my most honoured Lord and Brother, that the lady donisabella (sic), will not hear of my going from hence, except on the conditions which she wrote to my brother, i. e. if I am married; and I swear to you, my lord, that I have been with her for more than two days to see if I could move her; but she told me that if I went from here without being married, she would by no means help me; therefore, you see, my Lord, that without her help I could do no good, because I must leave behind my goods and my flesh, by which I mean my daughter; and if I leave one thing still I would not leave the other. My Lord, if you do not bestir yourself to find or to make some friend of yours find a match for me, I think that my business will never be concluded. (At the end she adds, that she cannot go on, because she is sent for by Isabella Medici to accompany her and Cardinal Fernando to a grand hunting–party at Pisa.)
Florence, the 5th day of December, 1573.
Biancha Cappello.