nsort--he could not
brook any disobedience to his behests. He commanded his son to set forth
at once from Ferrara and claim his bride in Florence.

Accompanied by a glittering retinue, which included a dozen Lords of the
Supreme Council, Prince Alfonso took his way over the Apennines, along
the Bologna road. On 18th June the cavalcade was discerned from the
heights of Olivets, wending its way through Boccaccio's country to the
city walls.

He was received with great distinction by the Duke and Duchess, attended
by the whole Court; and his welcome by the citizens was very cordial.
Florentines always loved a spectacle. Everyone, however, remarked the
Prince's haughty bearing, and the coldness with which he returned
Cosimo's greeting. He bore himself as a man in presence of a foe whose
every action must be watched intently. The Duchess, with all her Spanish
sensibility, perceived at once the disfavour of their guest, and sought
to interest him in the scene around him and in the happiness in
prospect.

Alfonso was quite unmoved. He met Lucrezia's greeting with a cold
handshake, and begged that the marriage ceremonies might be hurried
forward, as "he had not much time to spare." Cosimo joined in the
Duchess' entreaties that the uncanny condition, in the
marriage-contract, might be observed in the breach.

"My word is pledged to the King of France," he replied disdainfully,
"and go I must."

Duke Ercole, in a letter delivered to Cosimo by Alfonso, urged the
former not in any way to dissuade his son from carrying out his
intention. It was common knowledge, however, in Ferrara, and reported by
members of the Prince's retinue to the courtiers of Florence, that Henry
II. of France had made known to Duke Ercole his intention of repaying
the three hundred thousand gold ducats he owed Ferrara. A condition
accompanied the proposal, namely, that the Duke should withdraw from the
alliance, and despatch his son at once to Paris, to assure the _bona
fides_ of the new arrangement.

Moreover, Henry hinted not only at the advisability of separating the
too youthful couple, and of giving the Prince military employment until
his young wife attained a more mature age; but suggested that some way
should be found, even at the eleventh hour, of allying Alfonso to a
French princess.

Nevertheless, Alfonso claimed his Florentine bride, whilst Lucrezia
appears to have conceived an attachment for the warlike young Prince,
who caused a couri