Long time he stood musing on what he had seen,divided between pity and terror, and then it occurred to him that, as this passed every Friday, it might avail him not a little. So, having marked the place,he rejoined his servants, and in due time thereafter sent for some of his kinsfolk and friends, and said to them:—"'Tis now a long while that you urge me to give up loving this lady that is no friend to me, and therewith make an end of my extravagant way of living; and I am now ready so to do, provided you procure me one favour, to wit, that next Friday Messer Paolo Traversaro, and his wife and daughter, and all the ladies, their kinswomen, and as many other ladies as you may be pleased to bid, come hither to breakfast with me: when you will see for yourselves the reason why I so desire." A small matter this seemed to them;and so, on their return to Ravenna, they lost no time in conveying Nastagio's message to his intended guests:and, albeit she was hardly persuaded, yet in the end the damsel that Nastagio loved came with the rest.