leadership if those plans were to be carried out. It seemed as though Louis was going to have a victory as easy as that of Charles a few years earlier.
There came news which did arouse the lovers from their passionate devotion. Cesare was in Milan.
“I shall soon see my beloved brother again,” cried Lucrezia. “I long to hear about his adventures in France. I wonder his bride could bear to part with him.”
And Alfonso, listening, felt again that cold shadow over his life. It had always been Cesare who had alarmed him more than any.
But it was so easy to forget. Lucrezia would bring out her lute; Goffredo would sing with them and they would call in the men and women for the dancing.
Alexander felt elated. Cesare was home, and it would not be long now before he held his beloved son in his arms. The French were in possession of Milan and the Neapolitans were alarmed; but the Pope in the Vatican was well content. Cesare was a kinsman of the King of France, and the French and the Borgias would now be allies.
Alexander had already formed his plans for the future Borgia kingdom which would be his. The time was at hand when it should be seized; Milan, Naples, Venice, all the Italian States and kingdoms would be concerned with protecting themselves from the French. Now was the time for Cesare to step in with the Papal armies. Now was the time to form the State of Romagna. Towns such as Imola, Forlì, Urbino, Faenza and Pesaro (oh yes, certainly Pesaro; they would be revenged on Giovanni Sforza for the rumors he had circulated concerning the Borgia family) should all fall to Cesare. And here was Cesare, in Italy with his French allies, waiting to seize his Kingdom.
There was only one thing which irked Alexander at this time; this was his separation from his daughter. So he sent messages to Spoleto commanding Alfonso to take his wife to Nepi (that town which, at the time of his election to the Papal Chair, he had given to Ascanio Sforza in exchange for his support, and which he had since retaken from him) where he, Alexander, would join them.
Why should not Cesare ride to Nepi from Milan? There he and Alexander could discuss their plans for the future.
Cesare set out from Milan, eager for the reunion with his family. He longed to see Lucrezia again—even though he would have to see her husband as well; he wanted to bask in the warmth of Goffredo’s admiration; but chiefly he wished to hear his father’s plans for his advancement.
At last Cesare was doing what he had always made up his mind to do: he was a soldier, and the Papal forces were to be at his command.
It was exhilarating to feel the Italian air on his face again. In France he had always been conscious that he was in a strange land and that he was continually watched. The French had disliked him; they had inflicted many humiliations on him, and Cesare was not one to forget humiliations.
As he rode along the road from Milan to Nepi he thought of what he would like to do to the students of the Sorbonne, if it were only in his power to punish them. They had staged a comedy based on Cesare’s marriage, and they had taken particular delight in defaming Cesare and the Pope. Louis had declared his wish that this should be stopped, for the comedy, performed many times, was the talk of Paris; he had even sent two of his officials to the capital to prevent its presentation, but the students, six thousand strong, had refused to stop their performance, and Louis himself had at length gone to Paris to prohibit this insult to one who should have been an honored guest.
Cesare could not be revenged on the students, but he would on others. He had a mental dossier of all those who had offended him, even if it was but by a slighting word or a look. They should all die—in one way or another—for it was Cesare’s doctrine that none should insult him and live.
But revenge must wait. First he had his kingdom to conquer, and the great dream of his life had to be realized.
Lucrezia was watching for him as he rode to the castle of Nepi, and was the first to greet him. She was large with child—the birth was a few weeks away—and this irritated him