108. _Millet-cake._ A cake made of an Italian grain and eaten only by
the poorest classes.
135. _Letter No. 3._ The information from Rome is based on a wrong
assumption. The elder brother had an infant heir whom the second brother
endeavored to put out of the way in order that he might himself inherit
the estate. He hired Maffeo to destroy the child, and, according to the
information from Rome, Maffeo did so. On this assumption Maffeo is to be
arrested and the money and land given him by the second brother to keep
the deed a secret are now to revert to the church.
154. _So old a story._ In reality Maffeo has been more astute than they
thought. He did not kill the child but kept it ready to produce as the
heir to the estates if the second brother at any time proved delinquent
in the required payments.
174. _Let us understand one another._ He believes that when the Bishop
sees himself about to lose the estate, he too will show himself ready
for a bargain. The Bishop is simply to keep still and Maffeo will see
that the heir--who is Pippa--shall be finally brought to shame and
death. The Bishop is to have the estates, and Maffeo is to keep his
ill-gotten gains and be given a chance to escape. The Bishop is
apparently listening to the tempter when he hears Pippa's song. Its
fresh lilting sweetness, and especially, perhaps, the wording of the
last line, touch his heart and his conscience, and he suddenly orders
Maffeo's arrest, at the same time uttering the prayer, "Have mercy upon
me, O God."