ir as he paced the room, his white gown rippling. "Why should He spare
me or any of us, when we have been working against His Church?"

_It is not my Church_, thought Sophia resentfully. _It is the schismatic
Latin Church he speaks of._ Remembering that she was probably the only
person of her faith in Orvieto, she felt terribly alone.

_Almost as alone as Daoud must feel._

"It seems that you no longer know who you are," said Tilia sourly to
Ugolini.

"Eh? What do you mean?" He turned quickly and peered at her.

_She talks to him as if she were his nursemaid_, Sophia thought. _And
that is what he needs._

"You are one of twenty-two men who _rule_ the Church," said Tilia
firmly. "You will elect the next pope, and very soon, by all signs. You
are not a citizen of Orvieto, subject to this podesta." She spat the
word. "You are one of the most powerful men in Italy."

"I am the creature of the Sultan of Egypt, and soon the whole world will
know it," Ugolini moaned. "Oh, God, how I wish you had never come to me
with his bribes."

So it was Tilia who had recruited Ugolini for this work. There were
depths to this woman. If anyone could have an effect on Ugolini now, she
could. But Sophia wondered if even Tilia could reach the cardinal in his
present state.

"Are you sorry you met me, Adelberto?" said Tilia softly.

"No, no!" said Ugolini hastily.

He rushed over to where she sat at his table and put his hands on her
shoulders.

"Without you," he said earnestly, "my life would have been flat and
empty."

_Love_, thought Sophia. _He loves her. That might make the difference._

"And I helped you become wealthier than you ever dreamed possible. I
helped you buy the red hat."

"True," said Ugolini. "But Fortune raises men high only so they may fall
farther when she casts them down."

Tilia brought her large hand down hard on Ugolini's marble-topped table.
"Enough of this talk of the stars and Fortune. Look here, Adelberto, for
this little cimice, this bedbug of a man, d'Ucello, to walk into the
house of Cardinal Ugolini and arrest one of his guests--it is
insufferable! You must not permit it."

Sophia did not dare to breathe as she watched Ugolini's face for a sign
of returning strength.

"No doubt you are right," said Ugolini, nodding slowly like a boy being
taught his lessons.

"You must bring pressure to bear on this man," Tilia went on. "With most
of the cardinals following the pope to Perugia, you are n