Chapter 10 chapter Ten

At the appointed time, one of the Duke's secretaries, surrounded by a crowd with torches, came to fetch Machiavelli.Machiavelli summoned one of his servants and set out for the palace.The duke received him with unexpected mildness, as if Machiavelli had been sent home two days ago in a fit of anger, as if the time had passed.He seemed in high spirits.He mentioned the fall of the castle of San Leo in a casual manner, and seemed confident that he would soon put down the disturbance at Urbino.He then told Machiavelli, in a tone of geniality and confidentiality, that he had called him in order to give him some news which would be of interest to the officials of the Consulate.The Duke's genial and trusting attitude would have served Machiavelli very well, had he been a man of flattery.He produced a letter which he had just received from the Bishop of Ales, the Pope's envoy to France.In the letter, the bishop told him that the king and his vizier were very keen to please the duke.They knew that he needed troops to attack Bologna, so they had already issued instructions to Lord de Chaumont in Milan, asking him to immediately send 300 cavalry led by Lord de Lacre to support the Duke, and, once the Duke gave an order, Monsieur de Chaumont must march to Parma with another three hundred lancers.The duke delivered the letter himself to Machiavelli so that he could confirm its authenticity.

The reason why the Duke is in such a good mood at the moment is obvious.If he had not taken advantage of the momentum and marched on Florence after taking Urbino, the only reason was that the French had sent a force to protect it.The only conclusion to be drawn from this was that he could not count on the French to help him.It was precisely because of this certainty that the mercenary leaders were encouraged to rebel.But if the French, for reasons not yet understood, were once again ready to support the duke, the situation would have turned in the duke's favour. "My lord clerk, please listen to me," he began, "this is a reply to me. In my letter to my lord bishop, I asked for French support for my attack on Bologna. As you can see now, I have no shortage of strength to deal with these rascals. It's time for them to reveal themselves. Now I know who to beware of and who is my friend. I'm telling you this so you can write a letter To your superiors, I did not bow before the storm. I have some good friends, including the Florentine Consulate - if they can negotiate with me the terms of alliance. But if they are not sincere, I will break with them, In the future, no matter how difficult I encounter, I will never make peace with them."

While his words were threatening, he said them in such a relaxed and confident way that they didn't sound too hostile.Machiavelli replied that he would immediately write to the Consulate to report all this which the duke had shared with him.The duke then bade him good night. When Machiavelli arrived at the hotel, he found Bartolomeo waiting for him.They ordered wine heated.Machiavelli, acting mysteriously to make the conversation important, told what Duke Bartolomeo had told him.Machiavelli knew privately that Bartolomeo, if not already, would soon be aware of the above.Machiavelli thought it would be nice to be able to add some embellishment, so he told Bartolomeo that the duke had mentioned him kindly.When the fat man wanted more details, Machiavelli had no trouble inventing some.Bartholomew immediately beamed with joy.

"You are already the number one person in the city of Imola, Lord Bartolomeo. If the Pope Shoubinanshan and the Duke's career are flourishing, you are very likely to become the number one person in Italy." "I'm just a businessman, I dare not expect so much." "Cosimo de' Medici was only a merchant, but became the master of Florence. His son Lorenzo was equal to kings and princes." Bartolomeo's facial expression showed Machiavelli that his javelin hit the mark. "My lord, I heard that your wife is pregnant, is it true?" "It's something that makes me very happy. She's due sometime next year."

"You are much luckier than I am," sighed Bartolomeo. "I have married three wives, and none of them gave birth to a man and a woman." "Lady Aurelia was a strong and young lady. There is no reason to believe she would be sterile." "What other explanation could there be? We've both been married for three years." "Maybe you can take her to a hot spring bath..." "I took her to the thermal baths, and when that didn't work, I took her on a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Mesericodia in Albagno, where the statue of the Virgin is so powerful that Infertile women conceived, but it still didn't work. You can imagine what a humiliation it was to me. My enemies said I was an impotent man. It was absurd. No one could bear children more than I did. I just can't figure out that there's a bastard of mine in every village within ten miles of Imola."

Machiavelli knew this was a lie. "Can you imagine a person who is so unlucky that he can marry three barren women in a row?" "My friend, please do not despair. Miracles are always possible. I am sure that you have done much for our Holy Church and are fully qualified to be blessed." "Father Timoteo said the same. He prays for me every day." "Father Timoteo?" asked Machiavelli, as if hearing the name for the first time. "Our confessor. He keeps me confident in the matter." Machiavelli ordered more wine.With well-chosen compliments, that is, asking Bartolomeo how he could negotiate a tough negotiation with the duke, he quickly cheers the latter up.Then he told Bartolomeo some extremely indecent anecdotes.Machiavelli has accumulated quite a lot of such yellow anecdotes, and every time he tells them, he is vivid and fascinating.Bartolomeo was amused, and when they parted he decided that he had never in his life met a more interesting companion than Machiavelli.Machiavelli, too, thought the evening had been worthwhile.He was a man of moderation, and he was a good drinker, so the little drink that made Bartolomeo drunk had no effect on him.When he returned to his room, he began to write a letter to the ruling body.The letter described the process of his meeting with the Duke, as well as the troops that the Duke currently has at his disposal and can be dispatched at any time.He writes very smoothly, not a single thing needs to be revised.After he finished writing, he read it again and thought it was very well written.