aped with cloth of gold,
which contained the gifts of which Cesare was the bearer. Behind these
rode the duke's thirty gentlemen, in cloth of gold and silver, and
amongst them came the duke himself.

Cesare was mounted on a superb war-horse that was all empanoplied in a
cuirass of gold leaves of exquisite workmanship, its head surmounted
by a golden artichoke, its tail confined in a net of gold abundantly
studded with pearls. The duke was in black velvet, through the slashings
of which appeared the gold brocade of the undergarment. Suspended from
a chain said by Brantome's poet to be worth thirty thousand ducats, a
medallion of diamonds blazed upon his breast, and in his black velvet
cap glowed those same wonderful rubies that we saw on the occasion of
his departure from Rome. His boots were of black velvet, laced with gold
thread that was studded with gems.

The rear of the cavalcade was brought up by more mules and the chariots
bearing his plate and tents and all the other equipage with which a
prince was wont to travel.

It is said by some that his horse was shod with solid gold, and there is
also a story--pretty, but probably untrue--that some of his mules were
shod in the same metal, and that, either because the shoes were loosely
attached of intent, or because the metal, being soft, parted readily
from the hoofs, these golden shoes were freely cast and left as largesse
for those who might care to take them.

The Bishop of Rouen--that same Georges d'Amboise for whom he was
bringing the red hat--the Seneschal of Toulouse and several gentlemen
of the Court went to meet him on the bridge, and escorted him up through
the town to the castle, where the king awaited him. Louis XII gave him
a warm and cordial welcome, showing him then and thereafter the
friendliest consideration. Not so, however, the lady he was come to woo.
It was said in Venice that she was in love with a young Breton gentleman
in the following of Queen Anne. Whether this was true, and Carlotta
acted in the matter in obedience to her own feelings, or whether she
was merely pursuing the instructions she had received from Naples, she
obstinately and absolutely refused to entertain or admit the suit of
Cesare.

Della Rovere, on January 18, wrote to the Pope from Nantes, whither the
Court had moved, a letter in which he sang the praises of the young Duke
of Valentinois.

"By his modesty his readiness, his prudence, and his other virtues he
has known