If Don Francesco and Duchess Giovanna were aggrieved by the intrigue already going on, it was conceivable that the trouble would be greatly intensified by a second.  Cosimo did not wish their increased displeasure nor publicity, so, for a while, he kept his hopes and his intentions to himself.  At last, inflamed more and more by the fresh, unsullied beauty of Cammilla, he broached his proposition to Messer Antonio.  Greatly in need of money, and hoping much from court patronage, the unnatural father determined to follow the example of his brother-in-law, and surrender, for a worthy consideration, his child as a “Cosa di Cosimo il Duca.”

The cast-off Eleanora was married, as we have read, to Cavaliere Carlo de’ Panciatichi in September 1567, and on 28th May—­eight months after—­Cammilla de’ Martelli gave birth, at Pisa, to a dear little girl, the latest child of Duke Cosimo!  This was by no means to the mind of Duke Francesco, and news of the birth quickly reached the ears of the Pope.  His Holiness at once despatched a courier to Duke Cosimo, urging him to legitimatise the child by his immediate marriage with the mother.

This was not at all what the Duke wanted; he preferred, of course, to be quite free to love any girl or woman that he might single out.  Nevertheless the pressure was so great that he was compelled to yield; and, in January 1569, he took Cammilla to be his wedded wife, but not to share his Ducal title!  That was forbidden by the emphatic opposition of the acting Duke and Duchess, and by the direct intervention of the Emperor Maximilian.

Messer Antonio de’ Martelli was in ecstasies, and his unconcealed delight gained for him the nickname “Il Balencio,” “like Whalebone”!  It is said that when his wife’s kinsman, Alamanno de’ Pazzi, ventured to congratulate him at his house in the Via Maggio, he found the place gaily decorated, and musicians playing before the door!

“What is this brave show for, Messer Antonio?” he asked.

“Why, Ser Alamanno, I have married my daughter to the Duke Cosimo.  Rejoice with me to-day.  We have now no relations but Emperors and Princes, what would you!”

Cosimo created his wife’s father a Knight of the Order of San Stefano and endowed him with a good annual income.  At the same time he advanced Madonna Maria di Baldassarre Suarez to the rank of a Gentlewoman of the Court, and caused unhappy Gaspare Chinucci to be banished out of Tuscany; some indeed say that he even instigated his assassination!  Messer Suarez was promoted to an honourable place at Court, and his name was changed to Martelli.  Two sons and a daughter blessed his union with Madonna Maria.  Violante, as the girl was christened, grew up, as beautiful as her aunt Cammilla, with a pair of eyes like hers, and nothing could restrain the passion of that young libertine, Don Piero de’ Medici, for love of her—­he was indeed his father’s son!

Nevertheless she was not to be his innamorata alone, for Cardinal Ferdinando also “came and saw and conquered,” and young Violante became his chief mistress in Florence—­the rival in his affections of his father’s fascinating young wife, her aunt Cammilla.