"Please, Dona Elvira!" he cried. "Do not trouble yourself so."

"No, I am a good daughter of the Church," said the contessa. "And
through you I pay homage to God."

The old woman's maroon satin gown crackled as she bent her knees. Even
kneeling, she was almost as tall as Ugolini. Gold bracelets rattled
around her skinny arms, and heavy medallions dangled from gold chains
around her neck. A net of gold threads held the coiled braids of her
white hair in place.

Once she was on her knees, her grandnephew pulled off his red cap and
bowed to Ugolini with a sweeping gesture. His hair was a mass of tight
black curls. Had he, too, watched the massacre of the Filippeschi,
Sophia wondered. And what had that done to the boy?

"Please let me kiss your ring," the contessa said. She seized his hand
and planted a loud, smacking kiss on his sapphire cardinal's ring.

"It is I who should pay homage to you, Dona Elvira," said Ugolini.

Sophia immediately stepped forward to help the contessa struggle to her
feet. The boy took the old lady from the other side. Sophia caught a
glimpse of him looking at her with bright, amused eyes. Eyes that were
too old for the face of an eleven-year-old boy.

When she got close to the contessa, Sophia smelled an odor that made her
think of a damp cellar. Together Sophia and the Monaldeschi heir walked
with the old lady to a broad-armed chair, where she settled herself,
gasping. Two manservants set smaller chairs for the cardinal and Sophia
facing the contessa.

The contessa's grandnephew leaned elegantly against the back of the old
lady's chair, the fingers of his chubby hands interlinked. Sophia
glanced at him and caught his glittering eyes roving over her body. He
saw her looking at him, and smiled faintly and without embarrassment.

Contessa Elvira raised a trembling hand. "Cardinal Piacenza had been
most unkind. I had a letter from him this morning condemning me in the
rudest terms for our triumph over the Filippeschi canaglia yesterday in
the Piazza San Giovenale. He accused me of sacrilege, because I shed the
blood of Marco during a Mass. When else could I have taken him and his
foul brood unawares? God gave me the opportunity."

"Nothing happens save by the will of God," Ugolini murmured.

"Esattamente! Yet Cardinal Piacenza has the audacity to tell me that I
am in a grave state of sin and that I have led Vittorio here into sin as
well."

Glancing again at Vittorio, Sophia noticed the