Fortunate Son
- Count Lodovico—a notorious crook, murderer, and all around bad dude—has just been banished from Rome. Speaking with his cronies, Antonelli and Gasparo, he attacks Fortune for being a "whore," saying she ripped him off by taking back the goodies she had given him.
- Gasparo and Antonelli point out how corrupt he's been. They list some of his sins (ruining his domain, endless drinking) and how his followers have been wrecked by his lifestyle—worse, he's committed bloody murders in Rome.
- Although true, this also seems to partly be joking around—they're all aware of how bad they are, and Lodovico doesn't take these comments to seriously.
- Gasparo suggests penance. Lodovico says that's not a bad idea—but what about guys like the Duke of Brachiano, Paulo Giordano Orsini, who avoid banishment, while still doing bad things? Like, Brachiano is trying to commit adultery with Vittoria Corombona, another man's wife.
- Antonelli says that trees that are planted elsewhere sometimes give off pleasant scents—meaning Lodovico might thrive in banishment. But Lodovico says he'll disembowel the people who banished him if he ever comes back.
- Antonelli and Gasparo expect they'll have luck in trying to repeal the banishment. Lodovico wishes them well, and reminds them that "great men" treat their underlings the same way farmers treat sheep: they cut them in pieces after selling their fleeces.