The Family - Mario Puzo [63]
11
LUCREZIA HAD COME to join her father and brothers for the Easter festivities at the Vatican, and so she was in her apartments at her Palace of Santa Maria in Portico when Giovanni Sforza’s chamberlain came to her with an urgent message. Her husband had requested that she accompany him back to Pesaro, the man explained, for he found his stay in Rome oppressive and desired to escape the Pope’s vigilance.
Lucrezia listened, upset, as Julia began choosing some of Lucrezia’s things for her maidservant to pack. She had been incredibly lonely in Pesaro; here in Rome, she finally felt herself again.
“What am I to do?” she asked aloud as she paced. “In Pesaro, as in Rome, the duke seems not to care a goose’s egg for me; when he looks at me, it is with anything but affection. Yet now he wants to leave, with me at his side.”
Julia walked over to console her.
The chamberlain cleared his throat to summon his courage and asked for permission to speak. When it was granted he continued. “The duke of Pesaro indicates he is quite fond of the duchess. He longs for her company—if not in conversation, then just to be with him in his own duchy, where he is free to rule as he likes.”
“Well, my good man,” Lucrezia said, “that is his desire, and he wishes to have it his way. But what will become of me if I return? I will wither and die of loneliness. There is nothing to interest me in Pesaro.”
Impatient with Lucrezia, for she knew the torment it would cause Alexander, Julia excused herself and left the room.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and Lucrezia heard her brother’s voice calling. “Crezia, it’s Chez. May I enter?”
Quickly she ordered the chamberlain to conceal himself behind her dressing screen. She warned him not to move or make a sound, for his carelessness could cost him his life. Her brother’s dislike for the duke had enraged him of late, and she didn’t want another scene.
The little man moved silently behind the screen and covered himself with one of Lucrezia’s robes, placing other garments over his head to hide himself completely should Cesare walk too close or choose to search his sister’s chambers.
When Cesare entered, the first thing he did was kiss Lucrezia. He seemed pleased. “Father has decided to grant your wish for a divorce. He is quite certain that that swine Giovanni Sforza has not given us an advantage, and now that Milan is again aligned with the French, he is of no use to us. Also, and even more important, Father is displeased that he has not made you happy.”
Lucrezia sat on the divan and offered Cesare a seat next to her. But he refused, and walked around the room instead.
“But what will you tell Giovanni?” she asked him. “How shall a divorce be accomplished? He is not a heretic, and has committed no treason except to cause me unhappiness . . . ”
Cesare smiled. “And is that not crime enough?” he asked.
Lucrezia’s eyes lit up with amusement. “Though I think it the most heinous, I fear it will not be seen through the same eyes by others.”
Cesare became more serious. “Father will not chance a legal divorce. It would cause too great a scandal. He has ordered that Giovanni must be made to vanish.”
Lucrezia stood and frowned at her brother. “Chez, you cannot allow that. Giovanni is a brute and a bore, certainly. But much of my unhappiness with him is that he is not you! And though that too is a crime, it is not one that deserves the punishment you suggest.”
“And would you choose to tell the Holy Father that you refuse to obey his orders? Would you bring the fires of hell down upon you for Giovanni, who acts like such a pig?” Cesare asked.
Lucrezia studied her brother. “Did anyone ask the duke of Pesaro if he would consider willingly dissolving this marriage before you consider the extreme measures of a dagger or poison?”
Cesare answered, “Father asked, Giovanni refused. There is nothing left to speak about.”
Lucrezia’s voice was filled with determination. “Then speak again to the Holy Father, and your own father as well, to say that I will