though a nun, marianna was both rich and powerful: from a wealthy family, she also administered property revenues in monza and was involved in administering justice. she started to exchange letters with osio, delivered to his garden through a rope lowered from a window. the liaison was facilitated by the use of counterfeit keys provided by a blacksmith. the meetings between them were frequent and were organized with the complicity of other nuns and a priest named paolo arrigone, a close friend of osio.