Fighting billows of terror that threatened to engulf her, Sophia pulled
her veil aside so that Tilia's servant Cassio could recognize her.
Yawning, Cassio led Sophia and Riccardo into the large, column-lined
reception room and left them. Ugolini's man threw himself down on a
padded bench. Sophia, too agitated to sit still, unpinned her hooded
cloak and dropped it beside Riccardo. Even though she had just walked
halfway across town, she paced the carpeted floor, twisting her fingers.
Would Tilia be able to help, or would she be as powerless as Ugolini?
This journey across the city might be utterly futile, but Sophia, unable
to sleep and tormented by demon-inspired visions of what was happening
to Daoud, had to do something.
Tilia quickly appeared on the landing of the second floor gallery,
followed by Cassio, who held a candle. Despite her bulk, she seemed to
flow down the stairs in her trailing red silk gown.
"Quickly, tell me what has happened," she said. "For you to come this
late it must be disastroso." Her voice was calm but hoarse. Her face was
puffy and creased with deep wrinkles. She wore one piece of jewelry, her
bishop's cross.
"We had better talk alone," Sophia said. Tilia nodded. Riccardo was
already sitting on a couch in the entry hall with his eyes shut. Cassio
looked inquiringly at Tilia. His shoulder-length black hair, usually
well-combed and glossy, was a nest of unruly locks pointing every which
way.
"Give me the candle, Cassio," said Tilia. "Come up to my room, Sophia.
Your escort can wait here." She sighed. "A few weeks ago there would
have been clients waiting in this room even at this hour. Since the pope
left--" She waved a hand at the emptiness of the great chamber.
Sophia felt herself wanting to cling to Tilia, as if the short, fat
woman were her mother. A few months before she had felt nothing but
hatred for the brothel keeper because she had introduced Rachel into
whoredom. Now she prayed only that Tilia could help her.
Her bedroom was cool, the shutters of a large double window having been
swung open to let in the night air. Tilia sat on her wide bed, which was
covered with embroidered cushions and silk sheets that draped over the
four posts. Sophia went to the window and drew back the curtain to look
out. The street outside was dark and empty.
What was happening to Daoud in the Palazzo del Podesta? Were they
crippling his beautiful body? Was he dying? Dead? She felt like crying
at the thought of how they might be hurting him. But she could not help
him unless she kept her head.
Sophia quickly told Tilia about Daoud's arrest. Tilia lay back on the
bed, her beady eyes fixed on Sophia, and fingered the cross on her ample
bosom. Every so often she nodded, as if this were just what she had
expected.
She covered her eyes momentarily with her hand. "May God be kind to
Daoud ibn Abdallah. He is worth ten of any ordinary men."
_She knows Daoud's Muslim name!_
But Sophia had no time to pursue the thought. Tilia had quickly wiped
her tears away and turned to Sophia expectantly.
"With Lorenzo away you are the only one who might be able to do
something," Sophia said.
"What do you expect of me, if David lets himself be taken away and the
cardinal does nothing?" Tilia asked. "Have I more power than they?"
Clearly her use of "Daoud" was a momentary indiscretion.
"We need someone who can think," Sophia said, realizing how vague she
sounded in her desperation.
"How is Adelberto taking it?" Tilia asked.
"He is almost speechless with terror. He just moans and weeps and wrings
his hands. I am afraid he may try to run away, or confess everything or
do something equally foolish."
Tilia nodded again, grimly. "He is picturing all the things they will do
to him if he is found guilty of conspiring with the enemies of
Christendom." She looked at Sophia keenly. "What about you? Are you not
afraid for yourself?"
"I am dying of fear."
Tilia reached over and squeezed her hand. "I am frightened too. Who
would not be? But you're right--giving way to panic just leaves us
helpless. Let us go back to Adelberto's mansion. He is a changeable man.
I may be able to get him to think sensibly. I will see what I can do
with him."
A wave of relief swept over Sophia. At least she was no longer
struggling alone.
Sophia could see a bluish light on the tile roofs of the houses across
from Tilia's window. It would soon be morning.
_God, they have had Daoud for a whole night! What have they done to
him?_
"D'Ucello has men watching the cardinal's mansion," Sophia said.
"Riccardo and I slipped out through the tunnel that leads under the
street to the potterymaker's shop, but we cannot get back in that way."
"Getting there is the easiest part of it," said Tilia. "Cassio will hire
a covered cart for us. The hard part will be deciding what to do once we
have arrived." She smiled and patted her breasts, accentuated by the
gossamer fabric of her sleeping gown. "I must put some clothes on."
"While you dress, can I see Rachel?" Sophia asked. She noticed three
ironbound chests, ornamented with circular enameled medallions, standing
in a row against the wall beside Tilia's bed. Each was secured with a
padlock. They must hold the gold Tilia's customers brought to her.
"I will take you to Rachel," said Tilia. "She is as well and happy as
when you saw her last. But do not tell her what has happened to David."
"There is no point in frightening her," Sophia agreed. "But when we
leave Orvieto, I want to take her with us."
"Whether you believe it or not, I am looking after her welfare," Tilia
said. "Just yesterday, John the Tartar offered me five thousand florins
to let him take her to Perugia with him when he follows the pope there.
He flew into a rage when I refused him. So, you see, I have even braved
the fury of the Tartars for Rachel's sake. Perhaps you will begin to
judge me a little more kindly."
Turning to leave the room, Sophia froze momentarily. It had not occurred
to her that Tilia would know that she had once hated her. The woman
_was_ penetrating. She felt a little more confident that Tilia would
have the wisdom to help her in this calamity.
Tilia, holding a candle, opened Rachel's door for Sophia. More
glittering gold had been added to the girl's bedroom since Sophia had
last visited her, and when the candle flame illuminated it, the room
seemed to blaze. Sophia blinked at the gold curtains before the windows
and the heavy cloth-of-gold draperies surrounding the bed.
All this, she thought, was to impress that horrible Tartar who came
here to lie with Rachel. How lucky Sophia had been to be able to share
her bed with a man she loved.
But thoughts of happiness with Daoud--memories--were like a knife in her
heart, now that he had been taken from her.
Tilia pulled the drape aside, and there was Rachel, curled up nude on
top of yellow silk sheets. Her skinny arms and legs made her look even
younger than she was. Sophia felt heartsick as Rachel's eyes opened wide
at the sudden light. She sat up in bed, dragging the sheet across her
body, then drew back against the wall. She looked terrified. Sophia
wondered what sort of awakenings Rachel was used to in this place, and a
sudden return of her rage at Tilia made her tremble.
_Well and happy, is she?_
But she dared not be angry with Tilia now. Tilia was the only person who
could help her.
Rachel's black eyes fell on Sophia, and the fear went out of her face.
It was replaced by a glad smile that hurt Sophia's heart all the more.
_I abandoned her to this, and yet she is happy to see me._
"I will leave you two to talk," Tilia said.
Sophia sat on the gold sheets and took Rachel's hand when Tilia was
gone. For a moment she forgot her own grief and fear, as an urge to
comfort Rachel pushed to the fore.
"All of us are going to be leaving Orvieto soon, and when we do we will
take you with us," she said. Rachel's dark eyes glowed.
Sophia went on. "Wherever we go, you will not have to stay with Tilia
anymore and do--what Tilia expects of you. We will find a home for you."
She was not sure how she was going to keep such a promise, but she
decided that Daoud would have to kill her before she would let him put
Rachel in another brothel.
Again the knife in her breast as she remembered she might never see
Daoud again.
Rachel shrugged. "I may be better off doing this than I would be as some
man's wife." She looked down at her hands, and Sophia saw that her
fingers were long and slender and quite beautiful. "John Chagan has made
me very rich, you know."
Sophia thought of the three locked chests in Tilia's room. She would
have to make sure that Rachel, when she left this place of shame, got
all the gold that was rightfully hers. And how outrageous, that Tilia
had been filling Rachel's head with lies about how lucky she was.
"Tilia and the others here have to believe that this is the right life
for them. But there is not a woman here who would not trade whatever
riches she has earned for a real home, with a husband and children."
Rachel was silent a moment. Her face was all straight lines, Sophia saw,
yet delicate and feminine at the same time.
_As a woman, she will be much more beautiful than I._
"Even you?" Rachel said suddenly.
Sophia was surprised. "We are not talking about me. I am not--a
courtesan."
"What are you?" Rachel asked softly, shyly.
_What word is there to describe me?_
She had thought often about other women and how different their lives
were from hers. Sometimes, to survive, she had to give her body to men
when she did not want to. She had been in danger of death. She had known
love and wealth and power. She had lived this way since her parents and
the boy she had loved were killed, and she could not imagine living any
other way.
"I am just a person who does whatever she needs to," said Sophia. How
could she sit here and talk like this, when Daoud might be dying? A
chill went over her, as if she were in the grip of a fever, and she
almost cried aloud.
"Something is wrong," Rachel said. "Why are you here so early in the
morning?" That look of terror was coming back into her face.
The door opened, and Tilia was there, dressed in a long green silk tunic
and a yellow satin surcoat. Light was beginning to show through Rachel's
windows. Sophia held Rachel's hand for a moment and then let go of it
and stood up to leave.
"Take me with you," Rachel said, seizing Sophia's wrist.
"Not now," said Sophia quickly. "We will all be together when we leave
Orvieto."
Rachel's eyes overflowed with tears. "I do not want to stay here. I want
to go with you now."
"What have you been saying to her?" Tilia said angrily.
"Nothing," said Sophia. She turned to Rachel. "See, Madama will be angry
with me. She thinks I have been frightening you. Now show her that you
are calm and are willing to stay here."