lust for power and a taste for
extravagance quite unusual in so young a lad. The Cardinal yielded to
every whim, and very soon a goodly number of courtiers rallied round the
handsome youth.

Having launched one of his proteges successfully upon the troubled sea
of Florentine politics, Clement despatched Alessandro, under the care of
Rosso de' Ridolfi, one of his most trustworthy attendants, with little
Caterina de' Medici. They were instructed to report themselves to
Cardinal Passerini, and then without delay to proceed to the Villa
Poggio a Caiano.

This was a very wise arrangement on the part of Clement, in view of the
strenuous rivalry and emphatic dislike the two lads had for each other.
The two were kept apart as they had been at the Vatican, but this led
naturally to the creation of rival parties and rival courts, each of
which acclaimed their respective young leaders as _Il Capo della
Repubblica_ and "_Il Signore di Firenze_." Better far as matters turned
out, had it been deemed sufficient to advance Ippolito alone. His
splendid talents--although linked to fickleness and inconsistency--and
his liberality, appealed to the Florentines, and he might have proved a
second Lorenzo il Magnifico.

The sack of Rome in 1527 and the imprisonment of Clement VII. in the
fortress of Sant Angelo, raised the spirits of the Republicans of
Florence. Niccolo de' Soderini, Francesco de' Guicciardini and Pietro
de' Salviati took up a strong position as leaders of a popular party,
and once more the cry of "_Liberta!_" "_Liberta!_" was raised. Cardinal
Passerini was advised to leave Florence and to take the two lads with
him.

Among those who escaped from Rome were Filippo negli Strozzi and his
wife Clarice. They posted off to Florence, and whilst Filippo temporised
with the Cardinal and with the party of reform on either hand, Clarice
declared openly for the opponents of her own family.

She attended a specially convened meeting of the anti-Medicean party,
and placed her services at their disposal. It was arranged that she
should visit the Cardinal the following day. Dressed superbly, wearing
the family jewels, and conveyed in a State sedan-chair, she proceeded to
the Palazzo Medici--the house of her fathers. Ippolito and Alessandro,
with their tutors and attendants, met her upon the grand staircase, and
conducted her to the presence of the Cardinal.

Standing in the Long Gallery, she poured forth a torrent of scornful
words u