Joseph reminisces:

 

The example of several priests I knew in the city made my transition (into the priesthood) easier. Innumerable abbés, including Eleonora's uncle, had independent careers of erudition, in some cases even enjoyed fame. Their lives were filled with intellectual freedom and scholarly leisure. I now wanted to share those same privileges.

 

 

 

Eleonora's Memoir:

 

 I was brought back to the Vicaria prison. This time Suor Amadea della Valle was at the entrance's loggia, she seemed to be waiting for my arrival. The soldiers removed my chains and she escorted me to the cell I'm in, in the jail's basement. … Her eyes expressed a grief hard to put into words. Did she already know my fate, even if I didn't?

 

 

 

Suor Amadea Della Valle:

 

I placed the memoir in the black leather case I had given Eleonora recently. I found the pages with her writings scattered around the drawer's secret compartment. I'm sure she placed them there in a hurry, perhaps alarmed when the royalist soldiers came to fetch her. How I miss my Eleonora, dear friend and compatriot! I put this letter of mine in the case's back pocket and tied the case with a red ribbon.