The Constable De BourbonAinsworth, William Harrison
General
The Constable De Bourbon
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Bourbon, Charles, duc de, 1490-1527 -- Fiction
As Bourbon approached Monaco, the Bishop of Grasse, accompanied by his
nephew, the young Prince Onorio Grimaldi, a very handsome stripling of
some thirteen or fourteen years, came forth with a large attendance of
richly-attired esquires and gentlemen to meet him. Courteously greeting
the duke, the bishop placed the castle at his disposal, and the young
prince gracefully seconded his uncle's proposition.
Bourbon gladly accepted the proffered hospitality, and he and all
the principal leaders of the army were lodged within the castle, and
sumptuously entertained. The camp was pitched on the farther side of the
Bay of Monaco, about a league from the town.
Nearly a week had elapsed since Bourbon's arrival at Monaco, and no
tidings having been heard of the Spanish fleet, which was to bring the
artillery from Genoa, he began to fear that some disaster had happened,
especially as it was known that Andrea Doria and the French fleet
under La Fayette had left Marseilles, and were cruising about in the
Mediterranean, However, as for several days a dead calm had prevailed,
the slow progress of the ships could be easily accounted for.
At last the wished-for breeze sprang up. The smooth blue expanse became
ruffled, and the wind being favourable, the fleet might be speedily
expected.
One morning, Bourbon, accompanied by Pescara and Del Vasto, and followed
by a troop of two hundred mounted Spanish arquebusiers, was riding from
the Castle of Monaco to the camp, when, perceiving several vessels in
the distance, he halted to look at them, feeling sure they must be the
expected squadron. He was right in the supposition; but his satisfaction
was speedily damped, when it became manifest that the ships were being
chased by a hostile fleet far their superior in number, and were making
all possible sail to place themselves under the protection of the
guns of the Castle of Monaco. But it was doubtful whether they could
accomplish their object. Clearly they were pursued by Andrea Doria, and
in him, as Bourbon and Pescara well knew, they had to deal with one of
the most resolute and skilful naval captains of the age.
For a short time, the ships on either side, pursued and pursuers, seemed
to maintain their relative distances, being more than half a league
apart, and a strong hope was felt by the beholders that the former would
escape. But this impression was shaken when it became manifest that
the French were gaining upon the fugitives, the still freshening breeze
aiding their efforts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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