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THE LEAGUE WITH SOLIMAN.
(1541–3.)
Francis, as we have said, was now resolved to win back his old allies, to disclose his real relations with the Emperor. For the Venetian embassy the King selected Cesare Fregoso, a son of the Doge of Genoa: for Constantinople, Antonio Rincon, a man of profound insight, one of the few who could answer the question of the East. As far as Venice they were to travel together, then Rincon should proceed alone to the Court of Soliman. The two ambassadors journeyed through Piedmont towards the Po, for, owing to the heaviness and corpulence of Rincon, they had resolved to take boat close to Turin and do as much as possible of their Journey by water. On the 1st of July 1541 they reached Rivoli, where they were met by messengers who beseeched them to halt, for news had come to the ears of Du Bellay, which it behoved them to learn before they left the town. At midnight Du Bellay himself arrived; he assured the ambassadors that he had discovered a plot on the part of Del Guasto and the Emperor to waylay their boat, murder them, and steal their despatches. But Fregoso laughed at
