Near the close of the day the count visited several families. He went to the Doria palace, where, finding in the vestibule the children of Gianettino with their father, he caressed and kissed them with much tenderness. After some conversation he drew Gianettino aside and begged him to make no opposition to the departure of some of his vessels which were that night to sail for the Levant. He added that if the vessels should discharge some fire-arms in the port, he hoped the admiral would give himself no concern. He also requested Gianettino to interpose his good offices with prince Doria in case the prince should oppose the count’s plan of privateering. This plan was in fact a violation of the treaty between the emperor and the Turks, because the galleys of Fieschi would have sailed from a port over which Doria was, as the admiral of Cæsar, master and guardian. Gianettino, not from any love he bore the count, as a modern writer remarks, but because the favour was of trivial importance, promised to use his influence with the prince if it should become necessary, and gave to his captains the order requested by Fieschi. Afterwards, Gianluigi went to the apartment of Andrea who was lying in bed suffering from pains and a fever. It happened that the prince was at that moment in conversation with Gomez Suarez Figuerroa, who, having received repeated messages from Gonzaga respecting the conspiracies of Fieschi, had come to speak of the soldiers taken by the count from the duke of Piacenza and other facts wearing an ambitious appearance. But so soon as Andrea saw the count on his threshold, at the sight of the ingenuous and courteous youth whom he loved almost as a son, he bent his head to the ear of the minister and whispered,--“Tell me yourself if it be possible that a base spirit can be concealed under that angelic countenance.”[44] After a brief conversation the count retired, mounted his superb jennet and rode gracefully along the streets. Figuerroa exhausted all his arts to remove the delusion of Doria but without success. Shortly after, Andrea was on the verge of making the discovery by other means, but in this case, by combinations of chance, Gianettino was the person to dissipate his apprehensions. Giocante, of the Casa Bianca family, who had once been in the service of the Venitians, had command of the permanent militia.