fe and children,
             to a small farm not far from Florence. Dividing his time between farming
             and petty dispositions, he commented that, possessing nothing but the
             "knowledge of the State," he had no occasion to use it. His only remaining
             link the official world was through his longtime friend, the Florentine
             Ambassador to the Pope, to whom he wrote of public affairs and, strangely,
             his more romantic encounters. His letters reveal the inner dichotomy of
             this man. He wrote, "at the threshold I take off my workday clothes,
             with the dirt and mud, and don royal and curial garments. Worthily
             I enter in the ancient courts of the men of antiquity, where I am warmly
             received. I feed on that which is my only food and which was meant for me.
             I am not ashamed to speak with them and ask them the reasons for their
             actions, and they, because of their humility, answer me. Hours can pass,
             ...