Over this again he poured melted lead, thus making a hard die with which he could stamp the wax without danger of breaking the instrument.  Once more he retouched the lead with a graving tool, using a lens for the work and ultimately turning out an absolutely accurate copy of the seal used in the Chancery office.  He made experiments as he proceeded, and when he was at last satisfied he turned to the actual forgery, which was a longer matter and required greater skill and patience.  Nothing was omitted which could make the fraud complete.  The parchment assumed the exact shade under his marvellous manipulation.  The smallest roughness was copied with faultless precision, and then by many hours of handling and the use of a little dust collected among the books in the library, he imparted to the whole the appearance of age which was indispensable.  When he had finished he showed his work to old Montevarchi, but by an inherent love of duplicity did not tell him that the whole document was forged, merely pointing to the inserted clause as a masterpiece of imitation.  First, however, he pretended that the copy had actually contained the inserted words, and the prince found it hard to believe that this was not the case.  Meschini was triumphant.

Again he returned to the Chancery and substituted what he had written for the first original upon which he had now to make the insertion.  There was no difficulty here, and yet he hesitated before beginning.  It seemed to him safer after all to forge the whole of the second as he had done the first.  A slip of the pen, an unlucky drop of ink might mar the work and excite suspicion, whereas if he made a mistake upon a fresh sheet of parchment he could always begin again.  There was only one danger.  The Saracinesca might have made some private mark upon the original which should elude even his microscopic examination.  He spent nearly a day in examining the sheet with a lens but could discover nothing.  Being satisfied of the safety of the proceeding he executed the forgery with the same care he had bestowed upon the first, and showed it to his employer.  The latter could scarcely believe his eyes, and was very far from imagining that the two originals were intact and carefully locked up in Meschini’s room.  The prince took the document and studied its contents again during many hours before he finally decided to return it to old Saracinesca.

It was a moment of intense excitement.  He hesitated whether he should take the manuscripts back himself or send them by a messenger.  Had he been sure of controlling himself, he would have gone in person, but he knew that if Saracinesca should chance to look over the writing when they were together, it would be almost impossible to conceal emotion under such a trial of nerve.  What he really hoped was that the prince would think no more of the matter, and put away the parcel without examining the contents.