. And over all he kept the
same keen and vigilant eye, paying attention to every detail and
providing for every contingency. The management of this model farm and
the progress of the extensive works that were being executed in the new
palace of Vigevano filled every moment that he could spare from affairs
of state at Milan. But on this occasion his especial object in visiting
his native city was, as he tells Isabella d'Este, to stock the park with
game of all kinds--deer, chamois, hare, and pheasants--as well as the
wild boars and wolves for the more serious sport known as _la grande
caccia_.

"I am hoping to go to Vigevano on Monday," he writes from Milan on the
26th of February, "with my wife, and intend to make extensive preparations
for fresh hunting-parties, so that when you are here we may be able to
give you the more pleasure. As for my wife, I really believe that since
your departure she has not let a single day pass without mounting her
horse!" And later in the summer he says, "My wife has become so clever at
hawking that she quite outdoes me at this her favourite sport."

Beatrice herself gives a lively account of her country life during the
spring of 1491, in a charming letter which she addressed to her sister
from Villa Nova, another of Lodovico's delightful pleasure-houses in the
valley of the Ticino between Milan and Pavia.

"I am now here at Villa Nova, where the loveliness of the country and
the balmy sweetness of the air make me think we are already in the month
of May, so warm and splendid is the weather we are enjoying! Every day
we go out riding with the dogs and falcons, and my husband and I never
come home without having enjoyed ourselves exceedingly in hunting herons
and other water-fowl. I cannot say much of the perils of the chase,
since game is so plentiful here that hares are to be seen jumping out at
every corner--so much so, that often we hardly know which way to turn to
find the best sport. Indeed, the eye cannot take in all one desires to
see, and it is scarcely possible to count up the number of animals that
are to be found in this neighbourhood. Nor must I forget to tell you how
every day Messer Galeazzo and I, with one or two other courtiers, amuse
ourselves playing at ball after dinner, and we often talk of your
Highness, and wish that you were here. I say all this, not to diminish
the pleasure that I hope you will have when you do come by telling you
what you may expect to find here