In Rome itself the greatest compassion was felt
for the Count on all sides, and Battista Fiera, the
Mantuan doctor, wrote an elegy on the poor young
Countess, in which he gives a touching description of
her mother-in-law's grief. These tokens of sympathy
and affection did much to soften the heavy blow.
Castiglione bore himself bravely, and did not allow
his private griefs to interfere with the business
that he had on hand, but he never recovered wholly
from the shock. Life had lost its charm for him,
and, although he was assiduous in his work and cheer-
ful in the company of his friends, from this time an
undertone of sadness pervades all his letters, and
shows how deeply the iron had entered into his soul

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