Towards the close of the sixteenth century, this castle was in the
possession of Ferdinand, fifth marquis of Mazzini, and was for some
years the principal residence of his family. He was a man of a
voluptuous and imperious character. To his first wife, he married
Louisa Bernini, second daughter of the Count della Salario, a lady yet
more distinguished for the sweetness of her manners and the gentleness
of her disposition, than for her beauty. She brought the marquis one
son and two daughters, who lost their amiable mother in early
childhood.

The arrogant and impetuous character of the marquis
operated powerfully upon the mild and susceptible nature of his lady:
and it was by many persons believed, that his unkindness and neglect
put a period to her life. However this might be, he soon afterwards
married Maria de Vellorno, a young lady eminently beautiful, but of a
character very opposite to that of her predecessor. She was a woman of
infinite art, devoted to pleasure, and of an unconquerable spirit. The
marquis, whose heart was dead to paternal tenderness, and whose
present lady was too volatile to attend to domestic concerns,
committed the education of his daughters to the care of a lady,
completely qualified for the undertaking, and who was distantly
related to the late marchioness.

He quitted Mazzini soon after his second marriage, for the gaieties
and splendour of Naples, whither his son accompanied him. Though
naturally of a haughty and overbearing disposition, he was governed by
his wife. His passions were vehement, and she had the address to bend
them to her own purpose; and so well to conceal her influence, that he
thought himself most independent when he was most enslaved. He paid an
annual visit to the castle of Mazzini; but the marchioness seldom
attended him, and he staid only to give such general directions
concerning the education of his daughters, as his pride, rather than
his affection, seemed to dictate.