Inside the Chamber again Messer Tommaso Soderini was unanimously elected president, and forthwith proceeded to report the result of the deputation.  His speech was repeatedly interrupted by cries that he should reconsider his decision and accept then and there the Headship of the State.  He again emphatically declined the honour his fellow-citizens desired to confer upon him, and proclaimed Lorenzo de’ Medici Capo della Repubblica Fiorentina.

At a preconcerted signal the arras over the doorway leading to the private audience chamber was lifted, and there advanced Piero’s widow with her two sons, clothed in the dark habiliments of mourning.  Domina Lucrezia threw back her thick black veil, revealing upon her kindly face a sorrowful expression and her eyes suffused with tears.  Making a lowly curtsey she drew herself up—­a queenly figure—­and holding the hands of Lorenzo and Giuliano, on either side, made her way to where Messer Tommaso Soderini was standing.

All eyes were bent upon the pathetic little group, and a sympathetic murmur moved the whole audience.  Every man of them had for years regarded the Domina as the model of what a woman and a wife, a mother and a queen, should be.  She had no rivals and no detractors.  Hers had been the wise power behind the throne, for her tactful counsels had guided the actions of her husband unerringly.

Florence was greatly beholden to Domina Lucrezia—­a debt which nothing could repay.  Her influence for good upon the Court, her munificence in charity, and her unsparing unselfishness had not been without powerful effect upon every one of those hard-headed, hard-hearted citizens.  They called to mind that well-known saying of the “Father of his Country”—­“the great merchant”—­Cosimo:  “Why, Lucrezia is the best man among us!”

They reflected, too, upon the auspicious example set at the Palazzo Medici, where the mother’s part was conspicuous in the wise training of her family and in the loving deference she received from her sons.  And as they gazed upon Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici—­“the hope of Florence”—­they recognised in the former a statesman, already a ruler in the making.  Young though he was, he had widely gained a reputation for shrewdness and energy, for Piero had taken his eldest son early into his confidence, and had entrusted to him much important State business.  He had sent him with embassies to Rome, Venice, and Naples; he had despatched him upon a round of ceremonious visits to foreign courts; and had encouraged him to make himself acquainted with all Tuscany and the Tuscans.

Lorenzo’s accomplishments in the school of letters were known to all.  He was a scholar and a gentleman, and these points had great weight in Florentine opinion.  In figure and physiognomy he very greatly resembled his grandfather.  His dignified bearing greatly impressed the assembly, whilst his unaffected modesty, pleasant courtesy, and graceful oratory, gratified them all.