His soul, he said, was like a field of battle, where his passion and reason held continual conflict.

In his calmer moments, many agreeable motives for travelling suggested themselves to his mind.
He had a strong desire to visit Rome, where he was sure of finding the kindest welcome from the Bishop of Lombes.

He was to pass through Paris also; and there he had left some valued friends, to whom he had promised that he would return.

At the head of those friends were Dionisio dal Borgo San Sepolcro and Roberto Bardi, a Florentine, whom the Pope had lately made chancellor of the Church of Paris, and given him the canonship of Notre Dame.

Dionisio dal Borgo was a native of Tuscany, and one of the Roberti family.