impossible for him to visit Milan or remain any longer in Italy, since
the German Diet was about to meet, and he had promised to join his son,
the Archduke Philip, at Augsburg. A council was held in the Castello to
discuss political affairs, but it was plain that the Pisans had nothing
more to expect from their imperial ally, and Maximilian was only anxious
to be back in Germany. On the 4th he attended a solemn requiem mass for
the lamented princess Bianca in the Duomo, and in the afternoon rode out
to the Certosa with Lodovico, who showed him all the wonders of that
famous church and abbey. On the 6th, the duke took his wife, whose
delicate state of health needed rest, back to Milan, and a few days
later returned with Foscari to meet the emperor at the ducal villa of
Cussago. On the 11th, Maximilian went to Groppello, where he knighted
the Venetian ambassador and dismissed him, after which he took leave of
the duke, says the chronicler, with many expressions of affection on
both sides, and once more set out on his journey across the terrible
mountains. His expedition, remarked the Venetian writer, "has effected
nothing, and he leaves Italy in still greater confusion than he found
her."

Lodovico now joined his wife at Milan in time to receive another guest
in the person of Chiara Gonzaga, the widowed Duchess of Montpensier, who
was on her way back from France. Since her husband's death at Pozzuoli,
this unfortunate lady had been vainly trying to recover her fortune from
the French king, and was full of gratitude to the duke for his friendly
exertions on her behalf. Both her sons, Louis de Bourbon and Charles the
famous Connetable, were fighting with the remnants of the French army
against her brother in Naples, and both were to lose their lives in the
wars of Italy, while she herself spent the rest of her existence in
poverty and seclusion at Mantua. But to the last she remained a loyal
friend to Lodovico, with whom she corresponded frequently. On the 22nd,
Chiara left Milan, and the celebration of the Christmas festival began.
But the courtiers and ladies-in-waiting noticed the strange and mournful
forebodings which seemed to oppress their young duchess. They often saw
tears in her eyes, and wondered whether they were caused by her
husband's neglect or grief for the loss of Bianca. Day after day she
paid long visits to the Church of S. Maria delle Grazie, where the
duke's daughter had been laid to rest in this his fav