t. A deputation was sent to the Emperor Charles to complain of
the tyranny of the Duke and to expose his immoral life. This sealed
Ippolito's fate, for Alessandro at once took steps, not only to
checkmate the action of the deputation, but to circumvent the
destruction of his rival.

Clement had of course full knowledge of the condition of affairs in
Florence, and of the increase of hostility between the cousins, but both
he and Paul III., who succeeded him as Pope in 1534, kept Ippolito
engaged in military and diplomatic duties away from Italy. Knowing his
predilection for soldiering, he was despatched, at the head of eight
thousand horsemen, to the assistance of the Emperor against the Turks
who had invaded Hungary under the Sultan Soliman. His valour and ability
were remarkable; and the dash with which he marched, later on, to the
defence of Rome, marked him as a commander of rare distinction.

Returning once more to Rome, he abandoned himself to a career of
debauchery and extravagance. Catillo, his castle-villa at Tivoli, became
the resort of immoral and disreputable persons. The Pope sought to
redress the disorder: he owed much to Ippolito at the time of his
election to the Papacy, which was in a great measure achieved by his
keen advocacy, so he sent him on embassies to the Emperor at Barcelona,
and to the King of Naples, under promise of rich revenues.

At the castle of Fondi, near the little town of Itri in the Neapolitan
province of Terra di Lavoro, eight miles from the fortress of Gaeta, and
overlooking the high road from Rome to Naples, was living, in strict
retirement, a girl greatly beloved by the Cardinal. Giulia Gonzaga, such
was her name, was the attractive and clever daughter of Messer
Vespasiano Colonna, whose brother, Cavaliere Stefano, had taken a
prominent and honourable part in the defence of Florence during the
memorable siege of 1529-1530.

Giulia was certainly only one of the many eligible maidens proposed at
various times as a wife for the young ecclesiastic; but, in her case,
the betrothal was all but effected, and with the approval of Pope
Clement, whose conscience smote him when he saw that his handsome and
gay young nephew was anything but disposed to observe the conventions of
his Order.

Nevertheless, the lovers were parted, and Giulia was confined in the
conventual fortress, and carefully guarded. Pope Paul, it appears, did
not relax the imprisonment of the unfortunate girl, as he su