Simon saw the fatigue in Mathieu's wrinkled face and felt guilty. "I am
most heartily sorry for awakening you at this ungodly time of night. It
was just--"
"Just that you could not sleep yourself." The friar laughed. "But it is
a most Godly time of night. The fact is, I would have had to get up soon
to say the first part of my office. Were I living with my brother
Franciscans--as I wish I were--I would be up chanting lauds with them.
But I fear the cardinal will be neither willing nor able to talk to us
if we go to him now."
"So much damage has been done, Friar Mathieu. The contessa is furious. I
could not begin to reason with her. She went on and on, talking about
murderers of babies. I would not be surprised if tomorrow morning she
ordered us to leave her palazzo."
The old man raised a hand. "Pope Urban would not let her do that. It
would be an insult to the ambassadors."
"Cardinal le Gros told me the pope looked pale and shaken when he left.
He might not care whether the ambassadors are insulted. We can have no
more of de Verceuil's blundering."
_Or mine._
Friar Mathieu shook a finger at him. "What happened tonight is not the
cardinal's doing. None of this is accidental. What happened tonight
shows that Ugolini will do everything in his power to block this
alliance."
"But Ugolini did nothing tonight. It was all that man from Trebizond."
"That is like saying that the axe chops the tree down, and not the
woodsman wielding it. Ugolini brought David to the contessa's reception.
He brought David's servant, an accomplished gambler as well as a
recruiter of brigosi. And he brought his niece, Sophia."
At the mention of Sophia a sharp pain went through Simon's chest.
_Sophia cannot be part of it. Not when I have just found her._
Was it possible that the passion she had showed in their time together
in the atrium was a sham? That would be too cruel. And yet, how could he
prove that she was innocent?
"It is just a coincidence that Sophia is here in Orvieto now," he said.
"She is as undecided about this matter of the Tartars as the pope
himself is."
_But is the pope still undecided_, Simon wondered as he spoke.
The wrinkles around Friar Mathieu's faded blue eyes deepened a little.
"Well, I would not expect you to say otherwise. A knight does not doubt
the honor of a lady he has kissed."
Simon sensed Friar Mathieu's skepticism, but he could not bring himself
to believe that Sophia had knowingly been the cardinal's agent. This
woman had made Italy a place of enchantment for him.
Friar Mathieu went on. "We both agree, do we not, that the luring of
Cardinal de Verceuil by David's man, Giancarlo, was planned by Ugolini?"
Glad to be on safer ground, Simon nodded vigorously. "We agree on that,
to be sure."
"But we cannot simply go to de Verceuil, as you proposed, and denounce
him for having left the room with Giancarlo. Not when he can at once
point out that you also left the room--with Sophia."
Simon turned his back on Friar Mathieu and stared out, almost unseeing,
toward the window. It had neither glass nor shutters nor parchment, only
a gauze curtain to discourage insects, iron bars to keep out larger
intruders. He felt furious with himself.
The mention of Giancarlo reminded him that he had heard nothing from
Sordello. By now the old mercenary should have insinuated himself into
the band Giancarlo was gathering. Perhaps through Sordello Simon could
prove Sophia's innocence.
He noticed now that some light was coming through the curtain, and he
thought he heard birds singing. He had been up all night.
"Then you think it pointless for us to confront de Verceuil? I suppose
you do not think I should write to Count Charles, either."
"I think it very unlikely that Count Charles would give the cardinal's
responsibilities in this to someone else. I think it very likely that
Cardinal de Verceuil has his intriguers around the count who would learn
of your message and might set themselves to do you harm. No, I do not
think we can rid ourselves of the cardinal. But I agree that we should
meet with him."