in the Tyrol, pined for the brightness of her fair
Milanese home, had set her heart on a gown of this material, and begged
her kind uncle to excuse her if she asked too much, assuring him that
nothing else could give her so much pleasure.

The beauty of Milan, with its stately Castello and white marble Duomo,
its spacious streets and long rows of armourers' and goldsmiths' shops,
its beautiful gardens and frescoed palaces, made a deep impression upon
these strangers from the North. Never had they seen so fair a city or so
rich a land. Marvellous were the tales they had to tell their countrymen
of the splendid court where they had lived like princes, and of this
wealthy and magnificent Signor Lodovico, who had entertained them in so
royal a manner.

But although the investiture of Genoa had been provisionally granted,
and a treaty of alliance agreed upon, several articles of the league
still remained to be discussed. Negotiations dragged on all through the
year, chiefly with regard to certain castles belonging to Charles's
ally, the Marquis of Montferrat, which had been seized by the Milanese.
Niccolo da Correggio was sent to France in the summer to endeavour to
bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion, but nothing was finally
settled until the winter, when Charles decided to send a second embassy
to Milan. This time one of the former envoys, Jean Roux de Visque, was
selected for the office, and, together with Le Sieur Pierre de
Courthardi, left Paris early in December, and arrived at Milan in
January, 1492.

Lodovico himself received the ambassadors in the Castello, and
entertained them with his wonted magnificence. A treaty was drawn up, by
which Charles agreed to recognize all the claims advanced by the Duke of
Milan, and admitted the Duke of Bari by name as governor of his nephew
into the defensive and offensive league concluded on the 13th of
January, and on the 19th the French ambassadors left Milan. Before their
departure, however, Lodovico, anxious to do his guests honour and at the
same time impress them with his wealth and the vast resources at his
command, himself conducted them over the Treasury of the Castello,
which was deservedly regarded as one of the principal sights of Milan.

There, in the heart of the Rocchetta, close to his own apartments, was
the vaulted room, decorated with frescoes by Leonardo and Bramante, and
known as the Sala del Tesoro. Here, piled up in enormous chests, were
the vast st