The king lay but one night in the camp, and returned next morning to the town; but the Prince of Orange remained with the army, and with him the Counts of Foix and Vendôme[446], the latter of whom fell into a dysentery and died, to the unspeakable sorrow of the whole army, for he was a young gentleman of great valour and conduct, and came thither post upon the report of a coming battle; but he was not with the king in his expedition into Italy. There were likewise the Marshal de Gié, and several other commanders, but their principal force was the Swiss, who had been in Italy with the king; for the French, being so near home, were very unwilling to stay any longer in the camp, and several had already left it, some with leave and others without it. From Vercelli to Novara was ten good Italian miles, that is six French leagues; the country was flat and dirty, with ditches on both sides the road, much deeper than those in Flanders: in winter the roads are full of mud, and in summer of dust. Between our army and Novara there was a little town called Borgo, which we had taken possession of; and the enemy had another about the same distance from their camp, called Cameri: but the waters being up, the passage was very difficult from one army to the other. But as I was saying, the steward of the Marquis of Mantua’s household and I continued our conferences. I gave him several reasons why his master ought to be cautious of coming to a battle. I put him in mind of the danger he had lately escaped, and that he would expose himself for a people who had never rewarded him for services he had done; and that, therefore, his wisest method would be to endeavour an accommodation, and I promised to do all that lay in my power to promote it. He replied that his master was well enough inclined, but that it would be necessary (as I had received intimation before) that we should make the first overture, because they looked upon their alliance, which consisted of the Pope, the King of the Romans, the King of Spain, and the Duke of Milan, to be of greater dignity than a single monarch. I answered that this punctilio was idle and trifling, and that in justice our king was to be preferred, because he was there in person, and the confederates were represented only by their lieutenants. But I offered, if he pleased, that he and I as mediators would set the treaty on foot, provided I could be assured his master would continue it, and observe it; and finally it was concluded that I should send a trumpeter to their army the next morning, and that I should write to Signor Luca Pisani and Signor Melchior Trevisano, the two Venetian proveditors, or commissioners appointed to advise their generals and superintend the affairs of the army.