[30]. Power of Attorney (p. [162]). Under date of October 7, 1694, Guido grants full power of attorney to Abate Paolo, who was representing him in the lawsuits in Rome and in other matters of business.
[31]. Arcangeli's Manuscript Letter (pp. [235]-[6]). On February 22, 1698, only a few hours after the execution of Guido, Signor Arcangeli, his legal defender, announces the end of the case to Signor Cencini, the Florentine lawyer who collected the Book, and who seems to have been professionally related to the Franceschini family, as he had sent certain "proofs" to assist the cause of Guido, probably including the report of the criminal condemnation of Pompilia in the Tuscan courts. (See [Note 3]). This letter is reproduced by Browning, R. B. XII. 239-98.
[32]. The Other Letters (pp. [237]-[8]), written on the same day and to Signor Cencini, give a few additional details. The writers seem to have been professionally associated with the Franceschini family.
[33]. Francesca Pompilia, foster daughter of the Comparini, b. July 17, 1680; was married to Guido Franceschini, December 1693; fled from her husband's home in Arezzo, April 29, 1697; arrested at Castelnuovo, May 1; wrote to her foster parents from her prison at Castelnuovo, May 3; made deposition in Rome concerning her flight, May 13; was on trial for flight and adultery during the summer of 1697; was placed in the convent of the Scalette, September 1697; removed to the home of the Comparini as prison, October 12, 1697; gave birth to a son, Gaetano, December 18, 1697; was assassinated January 2, 1698; died January 6.
[34]. Giuseppe Maria Caponsacchi, b. May 26, 1673, was invested Canon of the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve, November 26, 1693, and resigned "of his own accord," May 15, 1702. He is referred to in the Book as a man of courage, and his words as he faced Guido at Castelnuovo are significant: "I am a man, and have done what I have that I might save your wife from death." His affidavit is convincingly straightforward, in spite of certain discrepancies with Pompilia's statements, and there is evident moral indignation in his replies under cross-examination. His participation in the dangerous flight in mere amorous intrigue seems unbelievably foolish, and could hardly have been carried through save on the motive he assigns, courageous "Christian compassion." In September 1697 he went to Civita Vecchia under sentence of three years' relegation.
[35]. Canon Conti, called the "mediator in the flight," was brother of Count Aldobrandini, who had married Guido's sister, and Conti is accordingly spoken of as a "relative and frequenter of the Franceschini home." He had been invested Canon of the Pieve, August 14, 1692. He must have been fully informed of Pompilia's sufferings, and to him she turned at last for help. Deeming it improper for himself to afford her relief, he urged his friend Caponsacchi to accompany her. No criminal procedure was instituted against him in Arezzo when Pompilia and Guillichini were accused. He died January 1698, and the Second Anonymous Pamphleteer hints that this was due to foul play.
[36]. Guido Franceschini, b. January 24, 1658, the youngest son of an impoverished, second-rate, noble family of Arezzo, had sought his fortunes in Rome, where he became secretary of Cardinal Nerli. He dropped out of this service in middle life, with hardly a dollar in his pocket, and planned to recoup his fortunes by marriage with Pompilia, the heiress of the well-to-do Comparini. After the marriage in December 1693, the Comparini accompanied him back to Arezzo. He seems to have been unattractive and saturnine, and later on proved himself both crafty and brutal.
[37]. Abate Paolo Franceschini, b. October 28, 1650, the older, shrewder, and more able brother of Guido, was more successful in seeking his fortunes in the official world of Rome. He became secretary of the powerful Cardinal Lauria, and on the death of the latter, November 30, 1693, obtained the lucrative office of Secretary of the Order of St. John of Malta. He assisted Guido in effecting the marriage with Pompilia, and was his active agent in Rome during the lawsuits which followed. In 1697 he lost his secretaryship because of the ignominy which had come upon him in Guido's shameful troubles, and left Rome, possibly, as he is accused by the Second Anonymous Pamphleteer, to assist in planning the murder of the Comparini.
[38]. Honoris Causa. As the fact of the murders by Guido and his cut-throats was subject to no dispute, the whole law case turns on the question whether these murders had been for the sake of honour, the ever repeated plea of the unwritten law for the right of the husband to slay a wife sinning against her wifehood. The lawyer's devote themselves to ascertaining the limitations and privileges of this plea.
[39]. Incontinenti, Ex Intervallo. There is much argument on the justification for honour's sake in murder done immediately after the insult, or after an interval of time has elapsed. In the latter case, the murder becomes premeditated, and is not justifiable on the ground of excusable heat of passion at an insult.