im their horses,
inquired at the Castle of Carmagnola and found that Prospero Colonna and
his company had left barely a quarter of an hour before.

The captains considered what they should do: some were for advancing,
others hesitated, for if Colonna had any suspicion of their plan he
would call the Swiss to his help, for there was a large force in the
neighbourhood. It was Bayard who settled the question by saying: "Since we
have come thus far, my advice is that we continue the pursuit, and if we
come across them in the plain, it will be a pity if some of them do not
fall into our hands."

All cried that he was quite right, and that they must start as soon as
possible, but first it would be well if some one were sent on in advance,
in disguise, to find out the exact position of the enemy. This duty was
given to the lord of Moretto, who carried out the inquiry very quickly,
bringing back word that Colonna and his escort were preparing to dine at
Villafranca in full security.

They next settled the order of their match: Humbercourt was to go in front
with one hundred archers; a bow-shot behind him Bayard would follow with
one hundred men-at-arms, and then Chabannes de la Palisse and d'Aubigny
would bring up the rest of their men.

Prospero Colonna had good spies, and he heard from them as he was going to
Mass at Villafranca that the French were in the fields in great numbers. He
replied that he was quite sure it could only be Bayard and his company,
unless the others were able to fly over the mountains. As he was returning
from Mass, other spies came up to him with the news: "My lord, I have seen
close by more than a thousand French horsemen, and they are coming to find
you here." He was a little taken aback, and turned to one of his gentlemen,
to whom he said: "Take twenty horsemen and go along the road to Carmagnola
for two or three miles, and see if there is anything to alarm us."

All the same he commanded the Marshal of his bands to have the trumpet
sounded, and to start for Pignerol, where he would follow when he had eaten
a mouthful. Meantime the French were marching forward in haste, and were
about a mile and a half from Villafranca, when, coming out of a little
wood, they met the scouts sent by the lord Prospero to find them. When
these caught sight of the approaching enemy they turned straight round and
galloped off as hard as they could go. The lord of Humbercourt and his
archers pursued them at full speed