Page:Vol 2 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/604

584 that on the arrival of the visitador, Valderrama, it broke out disgracefully. For the reception of the visitador the viceroy invited all officials and persons of rank, among them the marquis, who paid no heed to the invitation and resolved not to appear in the viceregal suite. He would go in advance with some friends, and be followed by the page with the lance, his object being to meet the visitador in Cuitlahuac, four leagues out; but he came upon him in fact at Itztapalapa, a league and a half from Mexico.

Valderrama was gratified at this mark of attention, and with the marquis' manner, and together they rode toward the city. Though chagrined, Velasco smothered his resentment as best he was able until he saw the page, when he sent Antonio de Turcios, the secretary of the audiencia, to tell Cortés that he should at once send the fellow away. Such an order, now for the first time given, and in such company, enraged the marquis, who resolved to disregard it. When the viceroy threatened him with arrest, the. marquis turned to the visitador and said, "Your worship has now the evidence of the viceroy's ill-will toward me. I am glad this has occurred that you may form your own judgment." Valderrama, in order to stop the disagreeable scene, supported the viceroy's authority. But not to wound the marquis too deeply, he ordered the page to keep himself at some distance from the suite. This reconciled matters, and the march continued on to the city, where all entered on the 16th of August, 1563. Valderrama became the guest of the marquis, and there was soon an intimate friendship between them.

The marquis shortly afterward caused his intendente to form a general statement of his affairs, from which it appeared that the yearly income from the encomiendas amounted to 150,000 pesos. It reached the ears of the king, who thought the revenue almost too royal for a subject, and directed the solicitor-general to notify Cortés that the crown had been deceived