Had he possessed any of the courage with which he was credited, in his youth, he would have called his guards and nobles around him, and died fighting.

Having once given in, he assumed the air of having done so voluntarily, and ordered his litter to be brought.
In the meantime his attendants, and the nobles who had been present, had spread the news through the city.

The Mexicans, catching up their arms, ran to the rescue of their monarch; but the Spaniards closed round the litter and, had a blow been struck, the emperor would doubtless have been murdered.

Montezuma exhorted the people to be tranquil, assuring them that he was going willingly; and the Mexicans, accustomed to implicit obedience, and fearing that harm would come to the emperor if a struggle began, drew back and allowed the Spaniards to pass; and Montezuma was conveyed, a prisoner, into the palace occupied by the Spaniards.
The act was one of almost unparalleled boldness; but as performed upon a monarch who was the host of his assailants, and with whom they were previously on the most friendly relations, it was an act of treachery, and reflects dishonor upon the fame of Cortez.

At the same time, the position occupied by the Spaniards was so strange, and even desperate, as to palliate, though it cannot excuse, such a course of action.
There is no reason to believe that Montezuma intended to act treacherously.