JEROME CARDAN 167 



piazza, and asked of divers persons he met there, whether 

 they had also been disturbed, but no one had felt anything 

 of the shock he alluded to. He went home, and while the 

 family were at table, a messenger, sent, as he afterwards 

 records, by a certain woman of the town, 1 entered the 

 room, and told him that his son was going to be married 

 immediately after breakfast. Cardan asked who the bride 

 might be, but the messenger said he knew not, and 

 departed. It is not quite clear whether Gian Battista 

 was present or not, but as soon as ever the messenger 

 had departed, Cardan let loose an indignant outburst 

 over his son's misconduct, reproaching him with undutiful 

 secresy, and setting forth how he had introduced to him 

 four young ladies of good family, of whom two were 

 certainly enamoured of him. Any one of the four would 

 have been acceptable as a daughter-in-law, but he declared 

 that now he would insist upon having full information as 

 to the antecedents of any other bride his son might have 

 selected, before admitting her to the shelter of his roof. 

 Over and over again had he counselled Gian Battista 

 that he must on no account marry in haste, or without 

 his advice, or without making sure that his income would 

 be sufficient to support the responsibilities of the married 

 state ; rather than this should happen, he would willingly 

 allow the young man to keep a mistress in the house for 

 the sake of offspring, for he desired beyond all else to 

 rear grandchildren from Gian Battista, because he nursed 

 the belief that, as the son resembled his grandfather 

 Fazio, so the son's children would resemble their grand- 

 father himself. When he was questioned, Gian Battista 

 declared he knew nothing about the report, and was fully 

 as astonished as his father ; but two days later Gian 

 Battista's own servant came to the house, and announced 

 1 " A scorto nuntius venit." De Utilitate^ p. 833. 



