of Este were
lodged, the duke and duchess having vacated it for them. The artful
Guidobaldo had set up the Borgia arms and those of the King of France in
conspicuous places in Urbino and throughout the various cities of his
domain.

Although Lucretia's wedding was regarded by the Montrefeltre with great
displeasure, they now, on account of Ferrara and because of their fear
of the Pope, hastened to show her every honor. They had been acquainted
with Lucretia in Rome when Guidobaldo, Alexander's condottiere,
conducted the unsuccessful war against the Orsini, and they had also
known her in Pesaro. Perhaps they now hoped that Urbino's safety would
be assured by Lucretia's influence and friendship. However, only a few
months were to pass before Guidobaldo and his consort were to be undone
by the fiendishness of their guest's brother and driven from their
domain.

After resting a day, Lucretia and the duchess, accompanied for a short
distance by Guidobaldo, set out from Urbino, January 20th, for Pesaro,
which they reached late in the evening. The road connecting these cities
is now a comfortable highway, traversing a beautiful, undulating
country, but at that time it was little more than a bridlepath;
consequently the travelers were thoroughly fatigued when they reached
their destination.

When Lucretia entered the latter city she must have been overcome by
painful emotions, for she could not fail to have been reminded of
Sforza, her discarded husband, who was now an exile in Mantua, brooding
on revenge, and who might appear at any moment in Ferrara to mar the
wedding festivities. Pesaro now belonged to her brother Caesar, and he
had given orders that his sister should be royally received in all the
cities she visited in his domain. A hundred children clad in his
colors--yellow and red--with olive branches in their hands, greeted her
at the gates of Pesaro with the cry, "Duca! Duca! Lucretia! Lucretia!"
and the city officials accompanied her to her former residence.[146]

Lucretia was received with every evidence of joy by her former subjects,
and the most prominent of the noble women of the city, among whom was
the matron Lucretia Lopez, once her lady-in-waiting, and now wife of
Gianfrancesco Ardizi.[147]

Lucretia remained a day in Pesaro without allowing herself to be seen.
In the evening she permitted the ladies of her suite to dance with those
of the city, but she herself took no part in the festivities. Pozzi
wr