The waywardness of that age will give
more trouble than the conduct of far graver matters."
"Is the lady attended by suitable companions in her daily life?"
"Her companions are known to the Senate. In so grave an interest, I
would not act without their authority and sanction. But the affair hath
great need of delicacy in its government. The circumstance that so much
of my ward's fortune lies in the states of the church, renders it
necessary to await the proper moment for disposing of her rights, and of
transferring their substance within the limits of the Republic, before
we proceed to any act of decision. Once assured of her wealth, she may
be disposed of as seemeth best to the welfare of the state, without
further delay."
"The lady hath a lineage and riches, and an excellence of person, that
might render her of great account in some of these knotty negotiations
which so much fetter our movements of late. The time hath been when a
daughter of Venice, not more fair, was wooed to the bed of a sovereign."
"Signore, those days of glory and greatness exist no longer. Should it
be thought expedient to overlook the natural claims of my son, and to
bestow my ward to the advantage of the Republic, the most that can be
expected through her means, is a favorable concession in some future
treaty, or a new prop to some of the many decaying interests of the
city. In this particular, she maybe rendered of as much, or even more
use, than the oldest and wisest of our body.
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