re crammed with them.

The procession marched over the Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge"), which was
gay with festive decorations and sounds of music, wound across the Piazza
amid a crowd of triumphal cars, statues, etc., and, passing the Canto dei
Pazzi, made the tour of the Cathedral Square, and halted before the great
door of the church. The people shouted the name of France with cries
of applause, but the King only smiled inanely and stammered some
inappropriate words in Italian. Entering the Duomo, he was met by the
seigniory, who, to avoid the pressure of the armed host, had been obliged
to come around by the back streets. After joining in prayers with their
royal guest, they escorted him to the sumptuous palace of the Medici, and
the soldiers dispersed to their quarters. That night and the next the
whole city was a blaze of illuminations; the intervening day was devoted
to feasting and amusements, and then the terms of the treaty began to be
discussed.

The terms of the treaty stood as follows: That there should be a good
and faithful friendship between the republic and the King; that their
subjects should have reciprocal protection; that the King should receive
the title of restorer and protector of the liberty of Florence; that he
should be paid one hundred twenty thousand florins in three instalments;
that he was not to retain the fortresses for more than two years; and if
the Neapolitan expedition finished before that date, he was then to give
them up without delay; that the Pisans were to receive pardon as soon as
they should resume their allegiance to Florence. It was also stipulated
that the decree putting a price on the heads of the Medici should be
revoked, but that the states of Giuliano and Cardinal Giovanni were to
remain confiscated until all Piero's debts had been paid, and that the
said Piero was to remain banished to a distance of two hundred miles, and
his brothers of one hundred, from the Tuscan border. After the agreement
had been drawn up in regular official form, the contracting parties met
in the Duomo to swear to the observance of all its clauses, and in the
evening there was a general illumination of the city, although the people
gave no signs of their previous good-will toward the King.

But no sooner was one difficulty disposed of than another arose. When
all was concluded Charles relapsed into his normal state of inertia, and
showed no disposition to depart. The city was thronged by the Fren