Val d'Arno provides a secluded riverside setting for a nighttime encounter in which a lady follows a scholar’s instructions while he secretly watches. Its farm, riverbank, and lonely tower make the place both a practical refuge and the hidden stage for his design.

Setting and Features

The lady describes a farm toward the upper end of Val d'Arno, close to the bank of the Arno River. Because it is July, she expects bathing in the river to be pleasant. Near the stream stands a little uninhabited tower, isolated except for the shepherds who sometimes climb a chestnut-wood ladder to its upper room to look for strayed animals.

The tower’s occasional pastoral use contrasts with its usual solitude: the shepherds come only by times, and the lady considers the place out of the way. That combination of a familiar farm and a nearly deserted tower makes it suitable for a visit she hopes to keep private.

The Nighttime Encounter

The lady goes to the farm with her maid. After night falls, she pretends to go to bed and sends the maid away to sleep; later, she quietly leaves the house and approaches the riverbank by the tower. Having looked around and seen or heard no one, she undresses, hides her clothes beneath a bush, and bathes seven times while holding the image the scholar has sent her.

She then makes for the tower, still naked and carrying the image. But the scholar knows the place, despite having claimed otherwise. He has arranged to stay at a friend’s house nearby and, with a servant, hides among willows and other trees close to the tower. From there he witnesses the lady’s approach.

Narrative Significance

The landscape enables concealment without being wholly removed from ordinary life: shepherds use the tower, a farm lies nearby, and the river offers the bathing place the lady seeks. At night, these everyday features become cover for a secret encounter. The lady treats the location as private and secure, while the scholar’s prior knowledge and concealed position reverse that expectation, turning her chosen refuge into a vantage point for his plan.