Cesare can't sleep. He is restless, constantly full of energy, as if possessed by some spirit. At first, he stays out late into the night, but then he begins to worry that Fiametta will worry and think him unfaithful. (He worries, also, that he may be unfaithful - what does it mean that he can no longer find restful comfort in the arms of his beloved?) So he remains in her home, where she can see him if she wakes in the night, where she (and he) can be sure he remains true. To pass the time, he reads. Candles are expensive, but his family has money. He studies Caesar by day and Christ by night.

(After a few nights of this he realizes his mistake and switches the two, studying god in the same hours that his classmates do.)