ooking at the position of the queen and her son with a coolness that
was never deceived, she was convinced that there was no other means of
safety except a reconciliation with Charles, their mortal foe, which
could only be brought about by giving him all he wanted. It was one of
two things: either he would help them to repulse the King of Hungary, and
later on they would pay the cost when the dangers were less pressing, or
he would be beaten himself, and thus they would at least have the
pleasure of drawing him down with them in their own destruction.

The agreement was made in the gardens of Castel Nuovo, whither Charles
had repaired on the invitation of the queen and her aunt. To her cousin
of Durazzo Joan accorded the title so much desired of Duke of Calabria,
and Charles, feeling that he was hereby made heir to the kingdom, marched
at once on Aquila, which town already was flying the Hungarian colours.
The wretched man did not foresee that he was going straight to his
destruction.

When the Empress of Constantinople saw this man, whom she hated above all
others, depart in joy, she looked contemptuously upon him, divining by a
woman's instinct that mischief would befall him; then, having no further
mischief to do, no further treachery on earth, no further revenge to
satisfy, she all at once succumbed to some unknown malady, and died
suddenly, without uttering a cry or exciting a single regret.

But the King of Hungary, who had crossed Italy with a formidable army,
now entered the kingdom from the side of Aquila: on his way he had
everywhere received marks of interest and sympathy; and Alberto and
Mertino delta Scala, lords of Verona, had given him three hundred horse
to prove that all their goodwill was with him in his enterprise. The
news of the arrival of the Hungarians threw the court into a state of
confusion impossible to describe. They had hoped that the king would be
stopped by the pope's legate, who had come to Foligno to forbid him, in
the name of the Holy Father, and on pain of excommunication to proceed
any further without his consent; but Louis of Hungary replied to the
pope's legate that, once master of Naples, he should consider himself a
feudatory of the Church, but till then he had no obligations except to
God and his own conscience. Thus the avenging army fell like a
thunderbolt upon the heart of the kingdom, before there was any thought
of taking serious measures for defence. There was only on