Their leaders having deserted them, the people of Fermo and Perugia sent messengers to Valentino offering him their allegiance, which he accepted, and, having appointed Vincenzo Calmeto and Agapito Gerardino Governors of these places, he set out for Siena. When he reached Assisi--January 7th--he was met by envoys from Siena, come to ask him what terms he would grant. His first demand was that they surrender Pandolfo Petrucci, and without waiting for an answer he pressed forward in the direction of Castel della Pieve. While there he made public the treaty into which he had entered with Giovanni Bentivoglio, who, to prove his sincerity, immediately announced that he was ready to dispatch the troops he had agreed to furnish. At the same time the marriage contract of the sister of the Bishop of Elne, a relative of the Pope and Caesar, with Costanzo Bentivoglio was signed--this had also been stipulated in the treaty. Caesar reached Castel della Pieve January 18th, and there he had Paolo and Francesco Orsini strangled. He had stated that he intended to imprison them in Civita Castellana, but he probably found their presence hampering to his movements and concluded that there was no reason to defer their death, upon which he was resolved. The papal Master of Ceremonies calmly records the fact: “January 18th Francesco Orsini, Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini, and the Chevalier Orsini[26] were killed and strangled by Michelotto and Marco Romano by order of the Duke Valentino.” When the Pope was asked about the affair he replied coldly, saying that he knew nothing about it, as he had received no letters from the Duke; and to give an appearance of truth to what he said he added that the Duke had entered upon the Sienese expedition without his consent. [Illustration: VITELLOZZO VITELLI _From an early engraving._ To face p. 220.]