Signor Giovacchino Fortini was very decidedly the first man of his
profession in Ravenna, as indeed might be expected of the person who
had been honoured for more than one generation by the confidence of
the Castelmare family. For the lawyer was a much older man than the
Marchese, and had been the confidential adviser of his father. And
old Giovacchino Fortini's father and grandfather had sat in the same
"studio" before him, and had held the same position towards previous
generations of the Castelmare family.
For three generations also the Fortini, grandfather, father, and
son, had been lawyers to the Chapter of Ravenna; a fact which
vouched the very high standing and consideration they held in the
city, and at the same time explained the circumstances under which
it had come to pass that the "studio" they had occupied for so many
years, seemed more like some public building than the private
offices of a provincial attorney.
In fact the "Studio Fortini" was a portion of an ancient building
attached to the Cathedral, in which some of the less dignified
members of the Chapter had their residences. The building in
question encircled a small cloistered court, the soil of which was
on a lower level than that of the street outside it; and the
residences, to which a series of little doors around this cloister
gave access, looked as if they must have been miserably damp and
unwholesome.
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