Spring arrived but as if to spite the fair city of Milan, the heavens opened. Father Marco rued his misfortune. He and another brother priest had set off before daybreak on the arduous journey of escorting Alessandro to his new home high in the Swiss Alps.
They were not the only ones venturing out on such a wet day. The Duchess of Milan was also departing for Venice, where along with her father Ercole d’Este, Duke of Ferrara they were to carry out a diplomatic mission on behalf of her husband. One that would hopefully see the Venetians recognize Ludovico Sforza as the rightful Duke of Milan. Something they had been loath to do since Il Moro had usurped the Duchy of Milan from his seven-year-old nephew, Gian Galeazzo Sforza, after the assassination of the boy’s father, the cruel and tyrann
