<blockquote>in all but their ages (both hover somewhere about seventeen), Cecilia and Girolamo are as different as sun and moon. His sandy hair is uncombed and unbound, long enough to reach the neck of his tunic. Her doublet, padded to resist blows from blunted rapiers, sits awkwardly on her narrow shoulders.
They will face each other, bow, and enter the stanzia terza. They will advance and cross blades. Secchi’s students will bellow across the room at the Fantini until the count’s Captain of Guards threatens to throw them all in the aqueduct.
Three minutes after that, Giro Basina will fall desperately in love.</blockquote>
