The Family - Mario Puzo [8]
One evening, after he and his children ate a sumptuous meal seated by the lake, he provided for them an extravagant display of fireworks. Rodrigo held the baby, Jofre, in his arms, and Juan hung tight to his father’s robes.
Silver stars lit the skies in huge luminescent arcs and sparkling cascades of gay color. Cesare held his sister’s hand and felt her tremble and cry out at the sound of gunpowder, as great bursts of light lit the sky above them.
But when the cardinal saw his daughter’s fear, he handed the baby to Cesare, and reached down to take Lucrezia in his arms. “Papa will hold you,” he said. “Papa will keep you safe.”
Cesare stood close to his father, holding baby Jofre now, and listened to the cardinal explain with grand gestures and great eloquence the constellation of stars. He found the sound of his father’s voice so great a comfort that even then he knew this time at Silverlake was a time he would always treasure. For on that night he was the happiest child in the world; and, suddenly, he felt all things were possible.
Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia enjoyed everything he did. He was one of those rare men of such high spirits that he drew everyone around him into the vortex of his enthusiasm. As his children grew older and their knowledge became more sophisticated, he discussed religion, politics, and philosophy with them in great detail, spending long hours discoursing to both Cesare and Juan in the art of diplomacy and the value of religious and political strategy. Though Cesare enjoyed these intellectual pursuits, Juan was often bored. Due to the cardinal’s previous fright, he indulged Juan to such a degree that it became a disadvantage, for the boy grew surly and spoiled. But it was his son Cesare in whom he placed his greatest hope, and his expectations of this son were high indeed.
Rodrigo enjoyed his visits to the Orsini Palace, for both his cousin Adriana and young Julia admired him and paid him much attention. Julia was growing into quite a beautiful woman, her hair more golden than Lucrezia’s, reaching almost to the floor. With her wide blue eyes and full lips, it seemed fitting that she was referred to as La Bella throughout Rome. The cardinal began to feel a certain fondness for her.
Julia Farnese had come from minor nobility, and had brought a dowry of three hundred florins with her—quite a sum—for her betrothal to Orsini, who was a few years younger than she was. Though Rodrigo’s children were always very happy to see him, Julia too began to look forward to his visits. His appearance brought a flush to her cheeks, as it did to most of the women he’d met in his life. And often after she’d helped Lucrezia wash her hair and dress in her finest outfits to greet her father, Julia herself made a special effort to appear her most attractive. Rodrigo Borgia, despite the difference in their ages, was charmed by this young woman.
When it was time for the official ceremony of the civil marriage of his godson, Orso, and Julia Farnese, respect for his cousin Adriana and affection for the young bride inspired him to offer to preside over the ceremony of their marriage in the Star Chamber of his own palace.
On that day, young Julia, dressed in a white satin bridal gown with a silver seed-pearl veil draped over her sweet face, seemed to him transformed from a mere child to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. So fresh, so full of life, that the cardinal had to restrain his own passion.
It was not long before young Orso was sent to the cardinal’s country retreat in Bassanello, with his advisors, and placed in training to become a leader of soldiers. As for Julia Farnese, she willingly found herself first in the cardinal’s arms, and then in his bed.
When Cesare and Juan reached their teens, both