not want to force her, but waited patiently for her to be willing to give herself spontaneously. The Dukes of Ferrara instead pressed to hasten the consummation: only in this way the marriage would be considered valid, vice versa it was subject to annulment, with serious dishonor of the family. Ludovico had opted for a seductive strategy, and combined caresses and kisses with very rich daily gifts. Despite the efforts made to accustom her to love games, however, Beatrice remained "in superlative ashamed" and still in mid-February Ludovico had not been able to conclude anything: he complained about it with the Este ambassador Giacomo Trotti, saying that he had been forced to vent with Cecilia. The ambassador in turn reproached Beatrice for her frigidity and invited her to put "so much shame on the other side", by saying that "men want to be well seen and caressed, as is just and honest, by their wives", but without too much success, as she showed herself to him "a little wild". Not even the continuous pressure exerted by the father on his daughter had any effect, indeed the more the insistences, the more Beatrice dodged her husband. The situation was finally resolved spontaneously shortly after, when in March–April trotti's letters of complaint turned into praise addressed by moro to his wife. Now he declared that he no longer thought of Cecilia, but only of Beatrice, "To whom he wants all his good, and takes great pleasure from her for her customs and good manners", praising her because "she was delighted by nature ... and very pleasant and nevertheless modest". Duchess of Milan Birth of Hercules Maximilian After a carefree year spent among many amusements, Beatrice found herself expecting a child. On 20 January 1493 Eleonora of Aragon returned to Milan to assist her daughter during childbirth and brought with her from Ferrara comare Frasina, the midwife of the family. Two days later at the Sala del Tesoro in the Rocchetta of the Castello Sforzesco the gifts of the Milanese nobility were exhibited on tables covered with crimson gold velvet, offered to the Moro in view of the imminent birth of his son. Among these were "two beautiful diamonds" worth 18,000 ducats and a beautiful golden cradle, donated by his father-in-law Hercules. On 23 January Beatrice gave birth to her eldest son Hercules Maximilian, baptized after her father Hercules (Ercole), to whom she