nder the roof of the palace,
from which he would remove us in his envious hatred, leaving me widowed
and desolate, destitute of help and friends. But I have still spirit and
courage of my own; the people regard us with compassion, and look upon
him with hatred and curses, because he has robbed them of their gold to
satisfy his greed. I am not able to contend with men, and am forced to
suffer every kind of humiliation. There is no one here to whom I can
speak, for even our servants are given us by him. But if you have any
fatherly compassion, if a spark of royal or noble feeling still lives in
your heart, if love of me and the sight of my tears can move your soul,
I implore you to come to our help, and deliver your daughter and
son-in-law from the fear of slavery, and restore them once more to their
rightful kingdom. But if you will not help us, I would rather die by my
own hands than bear the yoke of strangers, which would be a still
greater evil than to allow a rival to reign in my place.'"

This letter was probably composed by the historian, but there is no
doubt that it reproduces the wronged duchess's sentiments, and that
Corio does not exaggerate the effect which his daughter's indignant
appeal produced upon Alfonso. "Shall we suffer our own blood to be
despised?" he is said to have exclaimed, when he called upon his father
to avenge his daughter's wrong, and at the same time pointed out how
fraught with danger to the realm of Naples was the existence of so
powerful and independent a prince as Lodovico. But the old king
preferred to have recourse to his usual expedients of cunning and
intrigue, and while he employed every artifice to undermine Lodovico's
influence both at the other courts of Italy and in France, he sent
ambassadors to congratulate the Moro on his son's birth, and only
expostulated in a friendly manner with his kinsman. Lodovico himself,
however, was too astute not to see the dangers which threatened him, and
he became doubly anxious to form a close alliance with the Pope, and
with his old enemies the Signory of Venice. Early in 1493, Alexander
VI., now Lodovico Sforza's firm friend, proposed a new alliance between
himself, Milan, and Venice to the Doge and Senate, and Count Caiazzo was
sent by Lodovico to negotiate the terms of the treaty, which was to hold
good for twenty-five years, and had for its express object the
maintenance of the peace of Italy. Ferrara and Mantua both joined the
new league