To enjoy a lawless amour was not enough; but to possess a woman who alternated between transports of passion and torments of remorse, added zest to guilty pleasure.

For men who habitually tampered with magic arts and believed firmly in the devil, this raised romance to rapture.

It was a common thing for debauchees to seek what they called _peripetezie di nuova idea_, or novel and exciting adventures stimulative of a jaded appetite, in consecrated places.

At any rate, as will appear in the sequel of this chapter, convent intrigues occupied a large space in the criminal annals of the day.
_The Lady of Monza_.
Virginia Maria de Leyva was a descendant of Charles V.'s general, Antonio de Leyva, who through many years administered the Duchy of Milan, and died loaded with wealth and honors.[188] [Footnote 186: In support of this assertion I translate a letter addressed (Milan, September 15, 1622) by Cardinal Federigo Borromeo to the Prioress of the Convent of S.Margherita at Monza (Dandolo, _Signora di Monza_, p.

132).