into his presence; even Borso da Correggio,
who came from Ferrara, was referred to the Marchesino Stanga and the
Conte di Caiazzo, as deputies appointed by the duke to receive
condolences. And when Lodovico saw his ministers, they were strictly
charged only to speak of business matters, and never to mention the name
of the duchess or allude to the duke's recent bereavement. So complete
was his seclusion and so profound his melancholy, that those about him
began to tremble for his reason. "The duke," wrote Sanuto, "has ceased
to care for his children or his state or anything on earth, and can
hardly bear to live." But fears of his old enemy Louis of Orleans before
long roused him from the apathy and despair, and showed his foes that
they had still to reckon with him. Rumours of a French invasion were
once more heard; Trivulzio was at Asti with a strong force, and the Duke
of Orleans was shortly expected to lead an expedition into Lombardy and
assert his claim to Milan.

On the 17th of January, Lodovico shaved his head, came out of his room,
and publicly gave the standard and baton of command to Galeazzo di
Sanseverino, who was sent to defend Alessandria at the head of a
considerable Milanese and German army. But the French king's health was
failing, and the Duke of Orleans, who, since the death of the little
dauphin twelve months before, had become the next heir to the crown,
suddenly refused to leave France. Trivulzio was repulsed in an attack
on Novi; while an attempt to seize Genoa, which was set on foot by the
Cardinal della Rovere and Battista Fregoso, was frustrated by the prompt
measures of defence taken by the Duke of Milan and the Venetians.

Meanwhile every possible honour was paid to the memory of Duchess
Beatrice. All through the duchy, during the month of January, solemn
funeral services were held, and one hundred requiem masses were said
daily in S. Maria delle Grazie for the repose of her soul, while a
hundred tapers were kept burning day and night round the stone
sarcophagus supported by lions in which her remains were interred. The
duke himself, clad in a suit of black fustian and wrapt in a long black
cloak, which all his courtiers wore as a badge of mourning, attended two
or three masses daily, as well as many offices to Our Lady, and sent a
hundred gold ducats to the Santa Casa at Loreto, in discharge of a vow
which poor Beatrice had made to take a pilgrimage to that famous shrine
after the birth of