Rage and indignation took possession of him, and he gave orders that the army should march the next morning; but there were still peaceful counsellors near at hand; the march was put off till next day, and before that hour the news arrived that two of the envoys had been set free. Two, however, were still detained, and the further advance of the army began. Still Alexander vacillated and hesitated, now giving way to bursts of furious passion, now yielding to immoderate terror; but that vacillation had now to give way. A military envoy appeared at the court of the sovereign pontiff, and with very little ceremony delivered his message in the presence of Ferdinand, the young prince of Naples, who stood at Alexander's right hand. "What have you to say, Signor de Vitry?" asked the pope, affecting a tone of calmness which he was far from feeling. "Merely this, Holiness," answered Vitry, "the army of my Sovereign Lord the King of France is within an hour's march of the walls; he desires to know if you are prepared to receive him within them. The day is nearly spent; he will have no time to force the gates to-night, and the men must be lodged somewhere." Alexander trembled--partly, perhaps, with rage, but certainly with fear also. He looked to the Prince of Naples; he looked to his son, the Cardinal Borgia, upon whose handsome lips there was a sort of serpent smile; but no one ventured to utter one word of advice, till Ramiro d'Orco slowly approached his chair, and spoke a few words in a low tone. "Well," said the pontiff, "tell the King of France, that I will not oppose his entrance. The Church does not seek to drive even her disobedient children to sacrilege. For myself, I will make no treaty--no stipulation with one who can disregard the repeated injunctions he has received. But for this young prince and his forces I demand a safe conduct." "Not for me, your Holiness," said Ferdinand, raising his head proudly. "I need none. My sword is my safe conduct, and I will have no other." "Then my errand is sped," said De Vitry. "I understand there will be no opposition to the king's entrance?" The pontiff bowed his head with the single word, "None," and the envoy retired from his presence and from the city. "And now to St. Angelo with all speed," cried Alexander. "Quick, Burchard, quick. Let all the valuables be gathered together and carried to the castle. Come, Cæsar--come, my son, and bring all the men you can find with you. The place is well provisioned already;" and he left the room without bestowing another word upon the young Prince of Naples. Ferdinand paused a moment in deep thought, and then, with a heavy sigh, quitted the Vatican. Half an hour after he marched out of Rome at the head of a few thousand men, and beheld, by the fading light, the splendid host of the king who was marching to strip his father and himself of their dominions, winding onward--like a glittering snake--towards the gates of Rome.