Argalia had never before faced a Medici duke in his pomp

Argalia had never before faced a Medici duke in his pomp. However, when Giuliano de' Medici rode into his encampment that night, with a hood over his head for secrecy, Argalia understood at once that the new ruler of Florence was a weakling, and so was that young nephew of his, riding by his side. Pope Leo was known to be a man of power, a Medici of the old school, inheritor of the authority of Lorenzo the Magnificent. How concerned he must be to have entrusted Florence to the care of these second-raters.

S. Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence (2008), 332-3