Honour to whom honor is due! The ostensible
reason for this unique act of justice was that the said Perrelli had
appeared at some palace function with paste buckles on his shoes,
instead of silver ones. The pretext was well chosen, inasmuch as the
tyrant added to his other vices and absurdities the pose of being an
extravagant stickler for etiquette. We happen to know, nevertheless,
that the name of a young dancer, a prime favourite at Court, cropped up
persistently at the time in connection with this malodorous but
otherwise insignificant episode."
It were idle, at this hour of the day, to pursue the enquiry; the
mutilation of Monsignor Perrelli's person, however, would explain
better than anything else his equivocal attitude as historian. Nor is
the incident altogether inconsistent with what we know of the Duke's
cheerful propensities. "Nose after ears!" was one of his blithest
watchwords. Faced with so dispiriting a prospect and aware that His
Highness was as good as his princely word, the sympathetic scholar,
while too resentful to praise his achievements, may well have been too
prudent to disparage them.
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