s well as his intimate connection with the duke and duchess,
all point in the same direction; and if any further proof were needed,
the mention of his brother Gaspare, and the allusion to Galeazzo by name
in one of Bellincioni's sonnets on the subject, and the fact that one of
the letters is dated from his own villa of Castelnuovo, near Tortona,
would be sufficient to settle the question. The champion of Orlando and
the faithful servant of Beatrice d'Este was, it is evident, none other
than the friend of Leonardo and Castiglione--that ideal knight, Galeazzo
di Sanseverino.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] G. Uzielli, _Leonardo da Vinci_, etc., p. 26.

[10] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, p. 98.

[11] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, p. 104.

CHAPTER VIII

Relations between Lodovico and Beatrice--Cecilia Gallerani--Birth of her
son Cesare--Her marriage to Count Bergamini--Beatrice at Villa Nova and
Vigevano--The Sforzesca and Pecorara--Lodovico's system of irrigation in
the Lomellina--Leonardo at Vigevano--Hunting-parties and country
life--Letters to Isabella d'Este.

1491

All these caresses and adulation, all the expeditions and hunting-parties
and _fetes_ in her honour, were naturally very delightful to this young
princess of fifteen summers, who had till now hardly left home, and who
flung herself with such boundless enjoyment into every new form of
amusement. Life for her was full of mirth and rapture; a long prospect of
endless pleasures seemed to open before her as the first breath of spring
passed over the green Lombard plains, and the delicious gardens of the
Castello of Milan and the long avenues on the sunny terraces of Vigevano
burst into leaf. The world seemed waking into new bliss, and Duchess
Beatrice was the gayest and gladdest of its creatures. So at least she
appeared to those who saw her in the full enjoyment of chase or dance.
But there was a darker side to the picture. Lodovico looked on his young
wife as a joyous and fascinating child, as he told Giacomo Trotti,
"_lieta di natura et molto piacevolina_," and thought that as long as he
treated her with consideration and respect, and at the same time allowed
her every possible indulgence, he might continue to go on his own way and
take his pleasure in whatever form he chose. But he soon found out his
mistake. This young wife of his, full of mirth and high spirits as she
was, had a deeper nature and a stronger will than he suspected. If a
constant round of amusement