nditions came from the Spanish council, and not from
Charles himself, Francis now became anxious to visit the emperor in Spain,
hoping to soften him in a personal interview. He even furnished the
galleys for that purpose, Charles at that time being too poor to fit out a
squadron, and soon the spectacle was seen of a captive monarch sailing in
his own ships past his own dominions, of which he had a distant and
sorrowful view, to a land in which he was to suffer the indignities of
prison life.

Landing at Barcelona, Francis was taken to Madrid and lodged in the
alcazar, under the most vigilant guard. He soon found that he had been far
too hasty in trusting to the generosity of his captor. Charles, on
learning of his captivity, had made a politic show of sympathy and
feeling, but on getting his rival fully into his hands manifested a plain
intention of forcing upon him the hardest bargain possible. Instead of
treating his prisoner with the courtesy due from one monarch to another,
he seemed to seek by rigorous usage to force from him a great ransom.

The captive king was confined in an old castle, under a keeper of such
formal austerity of manners as added to the disgust of the high-spirited
French monarch. The only exercise allowed him was to ride on a mule,
surrounded by armed guards on horseback. Though Francis pressingly
solicited an interview, Charles suffered several weeks to pass before
going near him. These indignities made so deep an impression on the
prisoner that his natural lightness of temper deserted him, and after a
period of deep depression he fell into a dangerous fever, in which he
bitterly complained of the harshness with which he had been treated, and
said that the emperor would now have the satisfaction of having his
captive die on his hands.

The physicians at length despaired of his life, and informed Charles that
they saw no hope of his recovery unless he was granted the interview he so
deeply desired. This news put the emperor into a quandary. If Francis
should die, all the advantage gained from the battle of Pavia would be
lost. And there were clouds in the sky elsewhere. Henry VIII. had
concluded a treaty of alliance with Queen Louise, regent of France, and
engaged to use all his efforts for the release of the king. In Italy a
dangerous conspiracy had been detected. There was danger of a general
European confederacy against him unless he should come to some speedy
agreement with the captive kin