What happens to Ottimo Massimo in chapter twenty?

The passing of time manifests in Ottimo Massimo, too, who lies about more and more until one day he sets off with a purpose to some unknown spot, catching a scent on the breeze. Cosimo follows him to the edge of the trees and the boundary of a huge field without a single tree to let him across. He has no choice but to sit in the tree and wonder what or who is on the other side of the field from whence his beloved dog might never return. He learns from a man walking below him that the only soul there is the widow of an ancient duke who has recently died, and she is the frequently absent and particular owner of all that was once his. The fact that the dog stays so faithfully at her side and that the man who tells him about her says she was the Marchessa as a little girl makes him wonder even more intently who she might be.