Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

A delightful opportunity soon presented itself and enabled Machiavelli to carry out his plan.He seized the opportunity without wasting time.Generally speaking, he doesn't get up early unless necessary.The morning after his conversation with Father Timoteo, when he rolled out of bed and began to dress, it was already mid-sun.He went into the kitchen and ate the simple breakfast Serafina had prepared for him, then went out into the yard and drew some water from the well.Trembling, he washed his hands and face.Then he went upstairs to get some papers he needed.He opened the window to check the weather, when suddenly he saw Nina, the maid, taking a chair and a stool up on the roof of Bartolomeo's house.The weather has been cloudy these days, with occasional showers.But this morning was cloudless and sunny.He wondered what Nina's actions meant.After a while Aurelia was on the roof, wrapped in a quilted quilt and holding a huge straw hat in her hand.Machiavelli had guessed correctly that Aurelia was going to dry her freshly washed hair while the weather was fine.She was sitting on a chair, and the maid passed her long hair through the hat with a huge brim but no top, placed the straw hat on Aurelia's head, and spread her hair over the brim of the straw hat, so that The sun can shine on these hairs, and the golden color that has just been dyed will be more vivid.

Machiavelli changed plans.He decided to postpone the reading of the document until a better time.He took his lute and went upstairs into the second-floor corridor of Serafina's house overlooking the courtyard.When he went up, the maid had already gone about her business, and Aurelia was alone on the roof.The huge brim of the straw hat blocked her view so that she did not see Machiavelli at all.On the other hand, Aurelia was really focused on getting her hair to dry well, and didn't bother to think about other things.But when she heard him begin to sing, she raised the brim of her hat in surprise and looked towards Machiavelli through the very limited space between the two houses next to each other.Before Machiavelli could meet her eyes, she immediately lowered her head.Machiavelli sang a love song as if entertaining himself.As was the fashion of the time, the theme of the song was Cupid and his arrows of love, his cruel wounds from the eyes of the woman he loved;Machiavelli puts Aurelia in a dilemma.She may wish she could get out because she's shy, but she really needs the sun to set her freshly dyed hair firmly.Machiavelli felt that a woman would not sacrifice her appearance for the sake of virtue. If Aurelia hadn't been too sure about Machiavelli's feelings for her before, there should be no doubt about it now, but Machiavelli felt that such an opportunity might not arise again, so he tried to make sure that Aurelia felt it.He once composed a serenade dedicated to a woman named Fenice, which began like this: "Hello, girl, you are extraordinary." Then the lyrics began to describe what a rare beauty she was, with all kinds of Lovely beautiful soul, here, it's so easy to change the lyrics from "oh only Fenice" to "oh only Aurelia" without breaking the rhyme at all.Plucking the strings of the lute, he uttered the words in a recitative tone with a certain softness in it.Aurelia sat quietly, her face hidden under a straw hat, but Machiavelli had the feeling that she was listening intently.This is exactly what he wanted.But he had just finished two stanzas when Aurelia rang the little bell she had brought with her, and called for her maid.After Nina came up, Aurelia said a few words to her and stood up.Nina then moved the chair that Aurelia had been sitting on to another part of the roof.Aurelia walked over and sat down.The two women began to talk.Machiavelli guessed that Aurelia wanted to keep Nina with her until she went away.He also has nothing to dissatisfy.He went downstairs to his room, took the papers from his locked paper box, and presently devoted himself to writing his report to the Consulate.

So far so good.