ainst sudden whirlwinds which are want
to arise in the midst of a calm, and to blow up the storm-clouds I mean
the host of enemies. Now any one of these enemies who does his worst can
cause injuries far more powerful than any help that is at all likely to
come from a hundred friends and their lying promises. If you and your
brothers walk in the path of virtue which we shall now open for you,
every wish of your heart shall be instantly accomplished; but if you take
the other path, if you have ever hoped that our affection will wink at
disorderly life, then you will very soon find out that we are truly pope,
Father of the Church, not father of the family; that, vicar of Christ as
we are, we shall act as we deem best for Christendom, and not as you deem
best for your own private good. And now that we have come to a thorough
understanding, Caesar, receive our pontifical blessing." And with these
words, Alexander VI rose up, laid his hands upon his son's head, for
Caesar was still kneeling, and then retired into his apartments, without
inviting him to follow.

The young man remained awhile stupefied at this discourse, so utterly
unexpected, so utterly destructive at one fell blow to his most cherished
hopes. He rose giddy and staggering like a drunken man, and at once
leaving the Vatican, hurried to his mother, whom he had forgotten before,
but sought now in his despair. Rosa Vanozza possessed all the vices and
all the virtues of a Spanish courtesan; her devotion to the Virgin
amounted to superstition, her fondness for her children to weakness, and
her love for Roderigo to sensuality. In the depth of her heart she relied
on the influence she had been able to exercise over him for nearly thirty
years; and like a snake, she knew haw to envelop him in her coils when
the fascination of her glance had lost its power. Rosa knew of old the
profound hypocrisy of her lover, and thus she was in no difficulty about
reassuring Caesar.

Lucrezia was with her mother when Caesar arrived; the two young people
exchanged a lover-like kiss beneath her very eyes: and before he left
Caesar had made an appointment for the same evening with Lucrezia, who
was now living apart from her husband, to whom Roderigo paid a pension in
her palace of the Via del Pelegrino, opposite the Campo dei Fiori, and
there enjoying perfect liberty.

In the evening, at the hour fixed, Caesar appeared at Lucrezia's; but he
found there his brother Francesco. The