From the obscure state that it was, his patriotism and his skill as a condottiero should render it one of the great Italian powers--the rival of Florence, of Venice or Milan.

He had a vision of widened territories, and of neighbouring lords becoming vassals to his might.

He saw himself wresting Romagna mile by mile from the sway of the ribald Borgia, hunting him to the death as he was wont to hunt the boar in the marshes of Commachio, or driving him into the very Vatican to seek shelter within his father's gates--the last strip of soil that he would leave him to lord it over.

He dreamt of a Babbiano courted by the great republics, and the honour of its alliance craved by them that they might withstand the onslaughts of French and Spaniard.

All this he saw in that fleeting vision of his, and Temptation caught his martial spirit in a grip of steel.