nate of Rome and all the lords who,
by virtue of their wealth, could display most magnificence in their
costumes and liveries. Among this brilliant throng might be seen Olivero
and Ramiro Mattei, sons of Piero Mattel, chancellor of the town, and a
daughter of the pope whose mother was not Rosa Vanozza; besides these,
the pope nominated in consistory Francesco Borgia, Cardinal of Sosenza,
legate a latere, to accompany his daughter to the frontiers of the
Ecclesiastical States.

Also the Duke of Valentinois sent out messengers into all the cities of
Romagna to order that Lucrezia should be received as sovereign lady and
mistress: grand preparations were at once set on foot for the fulfilment
of his orders. But the messengers reported that they greatly feared that
there would be some grumbling at Cesena, where it will be remembered
that Caesar had left Ramiro d'Orco as governor with plenary powers, to
calm the agitation of the town. Now Ramiro d'Orco had accomplished
his task so well that there was nothing more to fear in the way
of rebellion; for one-sixth of the inhabitants had perished on the
scaffold, and the result of this situation was that it was improbable
that the same demonstrations of joy could be expected from a town
plunged in mourning that were looked for from Imala, Faenza, and Pesaro.
The Duke of Valentinais averted this inconvenience in the prompt
and efficacious fashion characteristic of him alone. One morning the
inhabitants of Cesena awoke to find a scaffold set up in the square, and
upon it the four quarters of a man, his head, severed from the trunk,
stuck up on the end of a pike.

This man was Ramiro d'Orco.

No one ever knew by whose hands the scaffold had been raised by night,
nor by what executioners the terrible deed had been carried out; but
when the Florentine Republic sent to ask Macchiavelli, their ambassador
at Cesena, what he thought of it, he replied:

"MAGNIFICENT LORDS,--I can tell you nothing concerning the execution of
Ramiro d'Orco, except that Caesar Borgia is the prince who best
knows how to make and unmake men according to their deserts. NICCOLO
MACCHIAVELLI."

The Duke of Valentinois was not disappointed, and the future Duchess
of Ferrara was admirably received in every town along her route, and
particularly at Cesena.

While Lucrezia was on her way to Ferrara to meet her fourth husband,
Alexander and the Duke of Valentinois resolved to make a progress in
the region of the