The Family - Mario Puzo [49]
Charles could waste no more time in pursuit of this elusive Pope. The trap he had feared was about to be sprung, and his army was its prey. With not a moment to spare he pushed his troops mercilessly toward the Alps in a series of forced marches. They arrived just in time. As it was, his troops had to fight Holy League infantrymen with pikes in order to cross the border to safety.
King Charles, badly shaken and defeated, was going home to France.
9
NOW THAT ROME was temporarily quiet, the Pope traveled to Silverlake for a necessary respite. And he immediately sent for his children to join him there for a family celebration.
Lucrezia came from Pesaro; Juan came from Spain without his Maria, Jofre and Sancia left Naples to be part of the festivities. Again, the Borgia family was together. Julia Farnese and Adriana would arrive within the week, for Alexander planned to spend the first few days with his children and wanted no distractions.
At Silverlake Rodrigo Borgia had built a majestic stone villa, a hunting lodge with stables for his prize horses, and several small cottages to house the women and children who often accompanied him when he fled the choking summer heat of the city. Pope Alexander loved to surround himself with beautiful women dressed in finery, and to listen to the sound of those delicate creatures laughing happily. And so, with their husbands gone to far-off places, many of these young court pretties accompanied him, some with their children. The bright faces of the children, so new and untarnished, filled him with a sense of hope.
His entourage of noblemen and their wives, men and ladies in waiting, servants and palace cooks to prepare the lavish meals to be served, together with the members of his court, numbered more than one hundred. There were musicians and actors, jugglers and jesters, all to assist in those comedies and performances that the Pope so enjoyed.
Pope Alexander spent many days sitting alongside the lake with his children. During those peaceful times, he often regaled them with tales of the great miracles that occurred as sinners from Rome came to bathe themselves in the waters of the lake to wash away their sinful desires.
Years before, the first time he told these stories, Cesare had asked, “Did you too bathe in the waters, Father?”
The cardinal smiled. “Never,” he’d said. “For what sins have I committed?”
Cesare laughed. “Then I, as my father, have no desire to bathe.”
Lucrezia looked at them both and said slyly, “I suppose neither of you have need of a miracle?”
Rodrigo Borgia had thrown his head back and laughed with pure joy. “Quite the contrary, my child,” he said. And then with his hand to his mouth, he whispered, “But I’ve a greater need for my earthly desires at the moment, and live in horror of them being washed away too soon. There will come a time. But not while the hunger in my belly for the fullness of life is greater than the hunger in my soul for salvation . . . ” He blessed himself then, as though fearing sacrilege.
Now, each day began with an early morning hunt. Though the Pope was forbidden by canon law to hunt, he quoted his doctors as saying that he must have exercise. To himself, he reasoned silently, he did other things that were forbidden, most of which he enjoyed less than hunting. When chastised by his valet because he wore boots that made it impossible for his subjects to show their respect by kissing his feet, he joked that at least it prevented the hunting dogs from taking off his toes.
Surrounding the hunting villa, a hundred acres had been sealed off by fences composed of wooden poles and thick sailcloth, forming an enclave in which the game naturally congregated. Before each hunt, pound after pound of raw meat was stacked near the wide gate of the pen for use in leading the animals to their fate.
Just as dawn was breaking, the hunters gathered. Once they drank a cup of strong Frascati wine to thicken their blood and fortify themselves, Alexander dropped the