s he
had fulfilled all his promises, except the matter of the loan,
which could not be settled anywhere but at Florence, the king saw no
objection, and the very evening after he quitted the French army Piero
returned incognito to his palace in the Via Largo.

The next day he proposed to present himself before the Signoria, but
when he arrived at the Piazza del Palazzo Vecchio, he perceived the
gonfaloniere Jacopo de Nerli coming towards him, signalling to him that
it was useless to attempt to go farther, and pointing out to him the
figure of Luca Corsini standing at the gate, sword in hand: behind him
stood guards, ordered, if need-were, to dispute his passage. Piero dei
Medici, amazed by an opposition that he was experiencing for the first
time in his life, did not attempt resistance. He went home, and wrote
to his brother-in-law, Paolo Orsini, to come and help him with his
gendarmes. Unluckily for him, his letter was intercepted. The Signoria
considered that it was an attempt at rebellion. They summoned the
citizens to their aid; they armed hastily, sallied forth in crowds, and
thronged about the piazza of the palace. Meanwhile Cardinal Gian dei
Medici had mounted on horseback, and under the impression that the
Orsini were coming to the rescue, was riding about the streets of
Florence, accompanied by his servants and uttering his battle cry,
"Palle, Palle." But times had changed: there was no echo to the cry, and
when the cardinal reached the Via dei Calizaioli, a threatening murmur
was the only response, and he understood that instead of trying to
arouse Florence he had much better get away before the excitement ran
too high. He promptly retired to his own palace, expecting to find there
his two brothers, Piero and Giuliano. But they, under the protection of
Orsini and his gendarmes, had made their escape by the Porto San Gallo.
The peril was imminent, and Gian dei Medici wished to follow their
example; but wherever he went he was met by a clamour that grew more
and more threatening. At last, as he saw that the danger was constantly
increasing, he dismounted from his horse and ran into a house that he
found standing open. This house by a lucky chance communicated with a
convent of Franciscans; one of the friars lent the fugitive his dress,
and the cardinal, under the protection of this humble incognito,
contrived at last to get outside Florence, and joined his two brothers
in the Apennines.

The same day the Medici