The day after at dawn the army started once more, and after marching the whole day, stopped in the evening at Velletri.There the king, who had been on horseback since the morning, with Cardinal Valentine and D'jem, left the former at his lodging, and taking D'jem with him, went on to his own.Then Caesar Borgia, who among the army baggage had twenty very heavy waggons of his own, had one of these opened, took out a splendid cabinet with the silver necessary for his table, and gave orders for his supper to be prepared, as he had done the night before.Meanwhile, night had come on, and he shut himself up in a private chamber, where, stripping off his cardinal's costume, he put on a groom's dress.Thanks to this disguise, he issued from the house that had been assigned for his accommodation without being recognised, traversed the streets, passed through the gates, and gained the open country.Nearly half a league outside the town, a servant awaited him with two swift horses.Caesar, who was an excellent rider, sprang to the saddle, and he and his companion at full gallop retraced the road to Rome, where they arrived at break of day.Caesar got down at the house of one Flores, auditor of the rota, where he procured a fresh horse and suitable clothes; then he flew at once to his mother, who gave a cry of joy when she saw him;for so silent and mysterious was the cardinal for all the world beside, and even for her, that he had not said a word of his early return to Rome.The cry of joy uttered by Rosa Vanozza when she beheld her son was far mare a cry of vengeance than of love.One evening, while everybody was at the rejoicings in the Vatican, when Charles VIII and Alexander VI were swearing a friendship which neither of them felt, and exchanging oaths that were broken beforehand, a messenger from Rosa Vanozza had arrived with a letter to Caesar, in which she begged him to come at once to her house in the Via delta Longara.Caesar questioned the messenger, but he only replied that he could tell him nothing, that he would learn all he cared to know from his mother's own lips.So, as soon as he was at liberty, Caesar, in layman's dress and wrapped in a large cloak, quitted the Vatican and made his way towards the church of Regina Coeli, in the neighbourhood of which, it will be remembered, was the house where the pope's mistress lived.
As he approached his mother's house, Caesar began to observe the signs of strange devastation.The street was scattered with the wreck of furniture and strips of precious stuffs.As he arrived at the foot of the little flight of steps that led to the entrance gate, he saw that the windows were broken and the remains of torn curtains were fluttering in front of them.Not understanding what this disorder could mean, he rushed into the house and through several deserted and wrecked apartments.At last, seeing light in one of the rooms, he went in, and there found his mother sitting on the remains of a chest made of ebony all inlaid with ivory and silver.When she saw Caesar, she rose, pale and dishevelled, and pointing to the desolation around her, exclaimed:
"Look, Caesar; behold the work of your new friends.""But what does it mean, mother?" asked the cardinal."Whence comes all this disorder?""From the serpent," replied Rosa Vanozza, gnashing her teeth,--"from the serpent you have warmed in your bosom.He has bitten me, fearing no doubt that his teeth would be broken on you.""Who has done this?" cried Caesar."Tell me, and, by Heaven, mother, he shall pay, and pay indeed!""Who?" replied Rosa."King Charles VIII has done it, by the hands of his faithful allies, the Swiss.It was well known that Melchior was away, and that I was living alone with a few wretched servants; so they came and broke in the doors, as though they were taking Rome by storm, and while Cardinal Valentino was making holiday with their master, they pillaged his mother's house, loading her with insults and outrages which no Turks or Saracens could possibly have improved upon.""Very good, very good, mother," said Caesar; "be calm; blood shall wash out disgrace.Consider a moment; what we have lost is nothing compared with what we might lose; and my father and I, you may be quite sure, will give you back more than they have stolen from you.""I ask for no promises," cried Rosa; "I ask for revenge.""My mother," said the cardinal, "you shall be avenged, or I will lose the name of son."Having by these words reassured his mother, he took her to Lucrezia's palace, which in consequence of her marriage with Pesaro was unoccupied, and himself returned to the Vatican, giving orders that his mother's house should be refurnished more magnificently than before the disaster.These orders were punctually executed, and it was among her new luxurious surroundings, but with the same hatred in her heart, that Caesar on this occasion found his mother.This feeling prompted her cry of joy when she saw him once more.
The mother and son exchanged a very few words; then Caesar, mounting on horseback, went to the Vatican, whence as a hostage he had departed two days before.Alexander, who knew of the flight beforehand, and not only approved, but as sovereign pontiff had previously absolved his son of the perjury he was about to commit, received him joyfully, but all the same advised him to lie concealed, as Charles in all probability would not be slow to reclaim his hostage:
