We can't be sure how it felt to the Orsinis, when Cesare Borgia strangled them together at his fortress in Sinigalia. But we can all remember, the first time we saw that the boy/girl, who had sworn undying love last week, and now was across the street, arm in arm, with someone taller ,or bustier ,or better dressed.
How must it have felt to be one of Lucretia's husbands and realize a few minutes before the assassin enters your bedroom, with his knife or garrote or poison, that in all the weeks or months of quiet morning conversations, after all the playful nights, she had never warned you, never even hinted at your danger.
But, we can all remember the first time. the handsome salesman/saleswoman, promising really very little, but implying a great deal, who sold us that first used car. How much worse it must feel, when you are the Duke of Urbino, and your error costs a thousand innocent lives and the wealth of all your citizens.
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