The Family - Mario Puzo [90]
Vanozza greeted him with her usual warmth. And the Pope, smiling, remembering, stepped back to look at her with fondness and admiration. “You are one of God’s miracles,” he said. “You become more and more beautiful each year.”
Vanozza embraced him and laughed. “Not quite young enough for you, Rodrigo, eh?”
Alexander’s voice was soft and reassuring. “I am Pope now, Vee. It is different from when we were younger.”
“And is it ‘different’ with La Bella?” she teased. Alexander’s face reddened, but Vanozza gave him a broad smile. “Don’t be so serious, Rigo, I’m joking. You know I have no resentment toward Julia, or any of the others. We were good together as lovers, yet we are even better as friends, for true friends are rarer than lovers any time.”
Vanozza led him into the library and poured them each a goblet of wine.
It was Alexander who spoke first. “So Vee, why is it that you sent for me? Are the vineyards or the inns not doing well?”
Vanozza sat across from the Pope, and spoke pleasantly. “On the contrary, both are doing extremely well. And both are making money. There is hardly a day that passes when I don’t feel grateful for your generosity. Still, I would have loved you had you bought me nothing. And would have showered you with gifts had I been able to.”
Alexander said with affection, “I know that, Vee. But if it is not that, then what concerns you and how can I help?”
Vanozza’s eyes were dark and serious now. “It’s our son, Rigo. It’s Cesare. You must see him for who he is.”
Alexander frowned as he explained. “I see him quite clearly. He is the most intelligent of all our children. And one day he will be Pope. At my death he’ll be elected—for if he isn’t, his life, and perhaps even yours, will be in danger.”
Vanozza listened as Alexander spoke, but once he had finished, she insisted, “Cesare doesn’t want to be Pope, Rigo. He doesn’t even want to be a cardinal. You must know that. He is a soldier, a lover, a man who wishes a full life. All the wealth and mistresses you give him don’t fill his heart; all the benefices and properties still leave him empty. He wants to fight bulls, Rigo, not issue them.”
Alexander was silent, thoughtful. Then he said, “He told you this?”
Vanozza smiled and moved to sit closer to him. “I am his mother,” she said. “He doesn’t have to say it to me. I know it, as you should.”
Suddenly Alexander’s expression hardened. “If I were as much his father as you are his mother, it is possible it would be as clear to me . . . ”
Vanozza Catanei lowered her head for a moment, as though in prayer. When she lifted it again, her eyes were clear and her voice strong. “Rigo, I will say this only once, for I feel no need to defend myself. Yet, I feel you have a right to know. Yes, it is true that Giuliano della Rovere and I were lovers before you and I met. In fact, until my heart jumped at the first sight of you. And I will not patronize you by pretending I was a virgin then, for you know this not to be true. But, on my honor, and under the clear gaze of the Madonna, I swear to you that Cesare is your son, and no other man’s.”
Alexander shook his head, and his eyes softened. “I could never before be sure, Vee—you knew that. I could never feel certain. And so I could not trust what I felt for the boy, or what he felt for me.”
Vanozza reached for Alexander’s hand. “We could never speak of this before. For in order to protect both you and our son, I had to allow Giuliano to believe that Cesare was his son. But I swear to the Christ that was a lie. I did it to keep Giuliano at bay, for his heart is neither as good nor as forgiving as your own. The only protection from his treachery was for him to believe that your son was his.”
Alexander struggled with himself for a moment. “And how can either of us believe what is true? How can either of us know for certain?”
Vanozza took the Pope’s hand in her own and held it up before his eyes. She turned it slowly before him. “I want you to study this hand, Rigo. I want you to examine it carefully, in its every angle and form. And then I want you to study