ith frescoes and
marbles at the duke's expense. Early the next day they travelled by boat
to Abbiategrasso, past the fair villas and smiling gardens that charmed
the eyes of Jean d'Auton when he travelled along the banks of the
Ticino. Here Foscari, who was already in attendance on the emperor, came
to meet them, and they rode into Vigevano, where they were received by
the Count of Caiazzo and Galeotto della Mirandola, and listened in
torrents of rain to a Latin oration that was delivered in Maximilian's
name. It was already dark when the ambassadors reached the Castello, but
the duke himself rode out to welcome them, and conducted them to their
lodgings in the palace of his son-in-law, Galeazzo di Sanseverino. Here
the duke's own daughter, Madonna Bianca, the youthful bride whom Messer
Galeaz had brought home a few weeks before, entertained her father's
guests, and bade them welcome in the name of her gallant husband, who
was laid up with an attack of fever, and was unable to leave his room
or attend to business. The next day the ambassadors were granted an
audience, at which Marino Sanuto, as a member of Foscari's suite, was
himself present. His Majesty, whom the Venetian described as a
magnificent-looking man of thirty-seven, with long hair already turning
white, and perfect manners, received them at the top of the grand
staircase, on the first floor of the Castello. As usual, he was clad in
black and wore a long velvet mantle, and a black woollen cap trimmed
with cords in the French style, having taken a vow to wear no colours
until he had defeated the Turks, while his sole ornament was a gold
chain, with the badge of the Golden Fleece, which hung round his neck.
He was seated on a dais, draped with cloth of gold, with the Duke of
Milan on his right hand, and the Cardinal di Santa Croce on his left.
The ambassadors of Naples and Spain were also present, as well as the
Count of Caiazzo, the Marchesino Stanga, Don Angelo de' Talenti, the
Bishops of Como and Piacenza, the secretary de' Negri, and other
well-known Milanese courtiers. Marco Morosini then pronounced an elegant
harangue, which was praised by all present, and graciously accepted by
the emperor, who conversed affably with the envoys on general subjects.
Afterwards Marino Sanuto was presented to the Duchess Beatrice, who, he
remarks, "never leaves her lord's side, although she is once more with
child,"--and her two fine little boys, "Ercole, whose name has been