than those he used when
he referred to you as his father and to himself as your son, which
he did repeatedly.

When I take both the actual facts and his words into consideration,
I see why he wishes to establish some sort of friendly alliance
with your Majesty. I believe in his professions, and I can see
nothing but good in them. He was much pleased by your Majesty's
sending a special messenger to him, and I heard that he had
informed the Pope of it; to his followers here he spoke of it in a
way that showed he considered it of the greatest moment.

Replying in general terms, I said that I could only commend the
wisdom he had shown in regard to your Excellency, owing to our
position and to that of our State, which, however, could only
redound to his credit; to this he emphatically assented. He gave me
to understand that he recognized this perfectly, and thereupon,
breaking the thread of our conversation, we came to the subject of
Faenza. His Majesty said to me, "I do not know what Faenza wants to
do; she can give us no more trouble than did the others; still she
may delay matters. I replied that I believed she would do as the
others had done; but if she did not, it could only redound to his
Majesty's glory; for it would give him another opportunity to
display his skill and valor by capturing the place." This seemed to
please him, and he answered that he would assuredly crush it.
Bologna was not mentioned. He was pleased by the messages which I
brought him from your people, from Don Alfonso and the cardinal, of
whom he spoke long and with every appearance of affection.

Thereupon, having been together a full half hour, I took my
departure, and his Majesty, mounting his horse, rode forth. This
evening he is going to Gradara; to-morrow to Rimini, and then
farther. He is accompanied by all his troops, including the
artillery. He told me he would not move so slowly but that he did
not wish to leave the cannon behind.

There are more than two thousand men quartered here but they have
done no appreciable damage. The surrounding country is swarming
with troops; whether they have done much harm we do not know. He
granted the city no privileges or exemptions. He left as his
lieutenant a certain doctor of Forli. He took seventy pieces of
artille