tto alone. When these two captains heard that
they were condemned, Oliverotto burst forth into reproaches against
Vitellozzo, saying that it was all his fault that they had taken up arms
against the duke: not a word Vitellozzo answered except a prayer that
the pope might grant him plenary indulgence for all his sins. Then the
masked men took them away, leaving Orsino and Gravina to await a similar
fate, and led away the two chosen out to die to a secluded spot outside
the ramparts of the town, where they were strangled and buried at once
in two trenches that had been dug beforehand.

The two others were kept alive until it should be known if the pope
had arrested Cardinal Orsino, archbishop of Florence and lord of Santa
Croce; and when the answer was received in the affirmative from His
Holiness, Gravina and Orsina, who had been transferred to a castle, were
likewise strangled.

The duke, leaving instructions with Michelotto, set off for Sinigaglia
as soon as the first execution was over, assuring Macchiavelli that he
had never had any other thought than that of giving tranquillity to the
Romagna and to Tuscany, and also that he thought he had succeeded by
taking and putting to death the men who had been the cause of all the
trouble; also that any other revolt that might take place in the future
would be nothing but sparks that a drop of water could extinguish.

The pope had barely learned that Caesar had his enemies in his power,
when, eager to play the same winning game himself, he announced to
Cardinal Orsino, though it was then midnight, that his son had taken
Sinigaglia, and gave him an invitation to come the next morning and talk
over the good news. The cardinal, delighted at this increase of
favour, did not miss his appointment. So, in the morning, he started an
horseback for the Vatican; but at a turn of the first street he met the
governor of Rome with a detachment of cavalry, who congratulated himself
on the happy chance that they were taking the same road, and accompanied
him to the threshold of the Vatican. There the cardinal dismounted, and
began to ascend the stairs; scarcely, however, had he reached the first
landing before his mules and carriages were seized and shut in the
palace stables. When he entered the hall of the Perropont, he found
that he and all his suite were surrounded by armed men, who led him into
another apartment, called the Vicar's Hall, where he found the Abbate
Alviano, the protonot