The Family - Mario Puzo [82]
Not one objection was raised when Ascanio, turning to Lucrezia, pronounced her, loudly and firmly, “Femina intacta!” A virgin. By that evening, she was on her way back to the convent to await the birth of her baby.
When Perotto arrived at San Sisto to bring Lucrezia the news that her divorce was final, and that the negotiations for her marriage to Alfonso, duke of Bisceglie, had been concluded, she felt tears well up in her eyes.
“After the birth, my baby will be taken from me,” Lucrezia told Perotto sadly as they sat in the convent garden. “And I will not be permitted to see you again, for in a very short time I will again be married. So this is both a happy day and a sad day for me. On the one hand I am no longer married to a man I dislike, but on the other I will lose both my child and my dearest friend.”
Perotto put his arm around her to comfort and reassure her. “Until the day I reach the heavens, I will hold you in my heart.”
“And you in mine, my good friend,” she said.
As Cesare prepared to leave for Naples, he and Alexander met in the Pope’s quarters to discuss the situation of Lucrezia and her baby.
Cesare spoke first. “I believe, Father, I have solved the problem. Immediately after the birth, the infant can be brought to live in my apartments, since yours or Lucrezia’s are out of the question. I will issue a statement that the child is mine, and that the mother is a married courtesan whom I prefer not to name. They’ll believe that, for it suits the rumors of my character.”
Alexander looked at his son with admiration and smiled broadly.
Cesare asked, “Why are you smiling, Father? Is that so funny not to be believable?”
The Pope’s eyes shone with amusement. “It is quite funny,” he said, “and believable. I am smiling because I, too, have a reputation that fits the situation. And today I signed a bull—not yet made public—referring to the child as the “Infans Romanus” and declaring that I am the father. Also by an unnamed woman.”
Alexander and Cesare embraced, both still laughing.
And Alexander agreed that to declare Cesare the father of the child was a better solution. He then promised that on the day of the baby’s birth, he would issue another bull, declaring Cesare the father of “Infans Romanus.” And the original bull declaring Alexander as the father would be hidden away in a Vatican drawer.
On the very day that Lucrezia gave birth to her baby, a healthy baby boy, Alexander had the infant taken immediately from San Sisto to Cesare’s home while Lucrezia was left at the convent to recover. It was agreed that later Lucrezia would claim him as her nephew, and raise him as her own. But there remained a dangerous loose end for Alexander—one more detail that required careful handling.
Though he felt some regret, he knew what he must do. He sent for Don Michelotto. An hour before midnight, the short, powerfully built man with a chest like a barrel stood at the door of his study.
The Pope embraced Michelotto as a brother and told him of the crisis that had befallen them.
“It is the young man who states he is the father of this child,” the Pope said. “A fine young Spaniard, a noble young man . . . and yet . . . ”
Don Michelotto looked at Alexander and placed his fingers to his own lips. “Not another word need be spoken,” he said. “I am at the service of the Holy Father. And if this good soul is as fine as he appears, then there is no question that the Heavenly Father will greet him with great joy.”
“I have considered exiling him,” Alexander said. “For he has been a loyal servant. But there is