midnight
The Pope 's adopted family would vie with the ex-Queen of Sweden , the Spanish Ambassador and the rich nobles , to flatter him and attract him to their respective palaces . Alberto Altieri , who had lost his heart to Ortensia 's beauty at first sight , would organise every sort of fashionable entertainment for the young bride 's benefit , and would do his best to turn her head by magnificent display . Hereafter , till the summer heat drove the Romans to the country , no evening gathering in a noble house would deserve mention if Stradella and his wife were not there , as no concert would be worth hearing unless some of his music was performed . The young couple would be continually in the very vortex of fashion 's whirlpool , and though they would not resent the distinction , and might even enjoy the gaiety for a few weeks , they would have but little time left for each other between morning and midnight . It was apparent on the very first night they spent in the Palazzo Altieri that Don Alberto was not the only young man in Rome who wished to please Ortensia . Soon after the second hour of night , which we should call about ten o'clock in June , Stradella and Ortensia heard music in the narrow street below their new quarters ; and as the sounds did not move farther away , it was almost immediately apparent that the singers were serenading Ortensia . It was no ordinary music , either ; there were half-a-dozen fine voices and four or five stringed instruments , played with masterly skill -- a violin , a ` viola d'amore , ' and at least two or three lutes .