The Story of Giuseppe and Maribella
Youthful romance in renaissance era Italy.
"Giuseppe! Giuseppe D'Ostra, pay attention!" Maestro Grassello, the fat professor of medicine, banged on the lectern with the hilt of his decorative dagger. Seeing the drowsy student rouse himself, he returned the blade to its sheath and tugged the sleeves of his doublet back into place, his scowl partially hidden by his full beard.
"Sorry Maestro." Giuseppe blinked a couple of times to force himself fully awake, retrieved his quill from the floor where it had fallen and sat up straighter, flexing his wiry fencer's shoulders. He tried to focus on the subject.
Many of the other students snickered at the young nobleman, enjoying his discomfort. All except one. Francisco was sitting next to Giuseppe at the long benches in the University hall and had been friends with the socially awkward nobleman since they both arrived at Macerata on the central eastern coast of Italy nearly a year ago. Giuseppe was glad to have at least one good friend and often loaned money to Francisco and otherwise helped the slightly younger student. This even though Giuseppe's father, the Count of Ostra, would disapprove of his youngest son befriending a common merchant's son.
"Here," Francisco whispered, "these will help you stay awake." He reached under his doublet sleeve into one of the bag-like sleeves of his shirt and produced a small handful of mint leaves.
"Ah, grazie - thanks Francisco." Giuseppe knew from his studies that mint leaves act as a natural stimulant. He should have thought to bring some, but his mind was on other things. He crushed some of the leaves, rubbed them across his mustache so he could inhale the scent and resumed taking notes on the lecture subject.
"Now let us discuss the flow of humors in the body." Maestro Grassello went on with his talk about the latest improvements in fifteenth century medical knowledge. "Blood is the most accessible humor and so is the easiest to adjust. In the past, ill trained physicians prescribed bloodletting for every disease, completely ignoring excesses of any of the other humors. Today we have access to the wisdom of the ancient Greek physicians that allows us to subtly adjust the various humors. A phlegmatic individual, for instance, will need to be treated with an expectorant. This can be made from various herbal..."
Giuseppe tried to concentrate on the words but he found his mind slipping back to the Maestro's pretty daughter Maribella. She was just about two years younger than Giuseppe and he had often seen her around town, at the market or fairs. But he was especially taken with her after seeing her betrothal ceremony. Some days ago in early spring, a bout of drinking and carousing had resulted in several sins that weighed on his conscience. He made his way to a nearby church for confession with a Priest that was friendly to the University students and very forgiving of their excesses and pranks. Giuseppe considered Father Pietro a friend as well as his confessor. On his way out of the Church of St. Fabiola after halfhearted prayer, he found a crowd gathered at the door with his friend, Father Pietro. They were announcing the banns of betrothal. Maribella looked beautiful in her new scarlet gown that accentuated the curve of her hips and held her generous breasts aloft, their upper slopes inadequately covered by the sheerness of her fine white chemise. Her sun-bleached curls were radiant under her embroidered cap and her skin glowed with the perfection of youth, this being only a few days past her eighteenth birthday. However there was sadness in her dark eyes and the corners of her rose-petal lips drooped in a frown.
Giuseppe thought that her sadness was caused by the dour figure that held her by the arm, her fiancee, Sfotuno. There couldn't have been a greater difference between any couple unless an angel was standing next to death himself. The miserly old ship owner was skinny enough to be a skeleton and his dark doublet and hose made him appear even more severe. The ruffles of his shirt hung limply and were visibly in need of laundering. When he doffed his cap to the Priest, his completely bald scalp made the skeletal comparison complete. He looked in such a sorry state that Maribella had a good chance of becoming a widow during the excitement of her wedding night, if not soon after. Giuseppe resolved to bring comfort to the maiden himself, to ease her unhappiness at being yoked to such a corpselike suitor. He thought of several ways to bring a smile to that pretty face, most of them starting with a kiss of those soft lips. There was potential here for a lot of comforting, especially if her fiancee's manhood were as limp as his shirt ruffles. Maribella would soon find out about the state of Sfortuno's manhood, the wedding was to take place only a few weeks after this betrothal ceremony.
Giuseppe snapped out of his daydream and back into the present when Francisco nudged him and stood up as the professor left. The lecture was over and it was time for other pursuits. Once the professor had exited, the students were free to gather their belongings and leave the room.
"Let's go get some wine, I have quite a thirst today." Francisco suggested.
"Not today, Francisco, I need to catch up on some reading and sleep." Giuseppe yawned. He wasn't about to tell even his closest friend that he could barely sleep last night for thinking of the professor's daughter.
He walked along the cobblestone streets, half-daydreaming and not really paying attention to where he was going. It was a while before he came up with a plan to meet Maribella and turned his steps towards his room. It would take a bit of preparation for his plan to work and he wanted to change into better clothes. But as they say "the best laid plans of mice and men..." Giuseppe's plans changed when the object of his desire suddenly materialized within view at a merchant's stall across the crowded square. The young student could hardly believe his good fortune, she was only accompanied by one elderly servant to act as chaperone. She was in a knot of people trying to get the freshest pastries from the baker's counter and they were continually jostling each other as they vied for the best items.
Giuseppe moved into the crowd and managed to place himself right behind the chaperone. With a quick move, he 'accidentally' stumbled against the older woman, causing her to bump into Maribella. He was hoping that he could get a chance to talk to the maiden, even if it started as an apology for tripping her servant. In another stroke of luck, the old woman's walking stick fell as she stumbled, falling under Maribella's feet. The old woman fought for balance and grabbed at Maribella, managing somehow to stay upright. However, Maribella was not so lucky. The walking stick rolled as she stepped on it, and the pressure from the other woman's hands caused her foot to go sideways. She flopped backwards with a cry, landing in a sitting position on the cobblestones splay legged and clutching her ankle. Fortunately, her full skirts cushioned the landing somewhat.
Apologizing profusely, Giuseppe shooed away some of the crowd and tried to help Maribella to her feet. The chaperone started yelling at him, but he brushed her aside and caught hold of the young lady's hands, gently hoisting her to a standing position.
The chaperone tried to shove the student away from her charge, but he ignored her, doffed his loaf-shaped student's cap to Maribella and bowed, introducing himself. During the bow he also managed to use one foot to 'accidentally' nudge the chaperone's fallen walking stick farther away from the old woman, causing her to limp off to retrieve it. Giuseppe now had his chance to talk to Maribella.
"I'm sorry to have caused you such distress, is there anything that I can do to make up for it? My name, by the way, is Giuseppe D'Ostra. I'm a medical student at the University."
