"Take it, and give this letter to the Signora Contessina.

If you bring me a written answer here to-morrow at this hour I will give you as much more." The man was dumfounded for a moment, after which he clutched the money and the letter greedily, and hid them in his coat.
"Your excellency shall be punctually obeyed," he said, with a deep bow, and I went away.
It was recklessly extravagant of me to do this, but there was no other course.

A small bribe would have been worse than none at all.

If you can afford to pay largely it is better to bribe a servant than to trust a friend.

Your friend has nothing to gain by keeping your secret, whereas the servant hopes for more money in the future, and the prospect of profit makes him as silent as the grave.
I would certainly not have acted as I did had I not met Hedwig in the hall.