his arm-chair, invoking the name of Jesus and making the sign
of the cross. At last his ship entered the roads of Pontercole, where
he landed, and after sending to Corneto to fetch horses, he rejoined the
duke, who was there awaiting him. They then returned by slow stages, by
way of Civita Vecchia and Palo, and reached Rome after an absence of
a month. Almost at the same time d'Albret arrived in quest of his
cardinal's hat. He was accompanied by two princes of the house of
Navarre, who were received with not only those honours which beseemed
their rank, but also as brothers-in-law to whom the duke was eager to
show in what spirit he was contracting this alliance.

CHAPTER XIII

The time had now come for the Duke of Valentinois to continue the
pursuit of his conquests. So, since on the 1st of May in the preceding
year the pope had pronounced sentence of forfeiture in full consistory
against Julius Caesar of Varano, as punishment for the murder of his
brother Rudolph and for the harbouring of the pope's enemies, and he had
accordingly been mulcted of his fief of Camerino, which was to be handed
over to the apostolic chamber, Caesar left Rome to put the sentence in
execution. Consequently, when he arrived on the frontiers of Perugia,
which belonged to his lieutenant, Gian Paolo Baglioni, he sent
Oliverotta da Fermo and Orsini of Gravina to lay waste the March of
Camerino, at the same time petitioning Guido d'Ubaldo di Montefeltro,
Duke of Urbino, to lend his soldiers and artillery to help him in
this enterprise. This the unlucky Duke of Urbino, who enjoyed the best
possible relations with the pope, and who had no reason for distrusting
Caesar, did not dare refuse. But on the very same day that the Duke of
Urbina's troops started for Camerino, Caesar's troops entered the duchy
of Urbino, and took possession of Cagli, one of the four towns of the
little State. The Duke of Urbino knew what awaited him if he tried to
resist, and fled incontinently, disguised as a peasant; thus in less
than eight days Caesar was master of his whole duchy, except the
fortresses of Maiolo and San Leone.

The Duke of Valentinois forthwith returned to Camerino, where the
inhabitants still held out, encouraged by the presence of Julius Caesar
di Varano, their lord, and his two sons, Venantio and Hannibal; the
eldest son, Gian Maria, had been sent by his father to Venice.

The presence of Caesar was the occasion of parleying between the
be