His parents were already dead at the time, and he lived with his paternal grandmother, Marchesa Maironi, an imperious and proud woman." "Oh!" exclaimed the Abbot, "I knew her! A perfect terror! I remember her well.

In Brescia they called her the 'Marchesa _Haynau_' [Footnote: In allusion to the terrible Austrian, General Haynau, who, on account of his cruelty to the Italian patriots, was surnamed the "Hyena of Brescia."-- TRANSLATOR.] She had twelve cats and wore a great black wig! I remember her well!" "I knew her only by reputation," Don Clemente continued, smiling, while the Abbot, with a sort of guttural purr, took a generous pinch of snuff, to rid himself of the bad taste this unpleasant memory had left.
"Well, the grandmother would not hear of this ill-assorted marriage.

The young couple therefore were guests in the house of the bride's uncle, she being also an orphan.

He, Don Franco, enlisted in 1859, and died of the wounds he received.

His wife died soon after.