Letters have come from the Duke displaying great affection for this Commune and promising every help in this affair. There are also letters from our ambassador at Rome, saying that the Pope and all the Cardinals are of the same mind, so it appears to me that they are abandoned by all, and if they are wise will submit. From Lorenzo[18] I have a letter of the 80th, and by what he says he must now have left Venice for Milan together with Messer Andrea Contarini. They have hopes of doing good business during this year, particularly as I understand the Duke is in need. Thou shalt hear as soon as I know anything. I hear thou hast had a few cases of plague, which grieves me: here also in the last two or three days there have been some cases, which makes one fear it may increase. The loss and damage to the city will be great. I have been thinking where to go, and as far as I can learn there are three places, either Arezzo in thy house near Anghiari, Bologna or Modena, or some distance into the Venetian territory, where it appears to be perfectly healthy. It does not seem to me wise to come there [Pisa] or to go near Siena or Perugia, for they are all suspect, as is the Romagna and the Malatesta district, where also they are preparing for war. As I said it is a serious matter, and I should like to have thy advice. No more at present. Christ guard thee.--February 1430 (1431).[19] In April 1433 the war with Lucca came to an end, leaving things very much as they were before, and the bitter hatred between Cosimo de’ Medici and Rinaldo degl’ Albizzi grew in intensity. The nobles accused Cosimo of using his riches to buy popularity, and he withdrew almost entirely from public life and retired to Cafaggiuolo, his fortress-villa in the Mugello. What followed is best told in his own words, translated from his diary.