is chair had been pulled out from under him and he had
been dumped on the floor. His whole being had been focused on bringing
good news to Perugia.

"But Father Mathieu, this means that the alliance of Tartars and
Christians is approved. By Pope Urban, anyway."

Now that Pope Urban was dead, did that mean anything? He hesitated,
confused.

Friar Mathieu sighed again. "I want the Tartars to embrace Christianity.
I want the holy places liberated. But this warfare in Italy seems to me
a false turning in the road. However--neither you nor I can stop the
march of events. What is it you are carrying?"

Simon unbuckled the fastenings of the leather case and took out a
package wrapped in silk. "Two letters written by King Louis. One was for
Pope Urban. The other is for de Verceuil if Pope Urban should die."

"You will have trouble delivering either one."

"The one for Pope Urban I will keep as the king ordered me, until a new
pope is elected. But the other one--why? Where is de Verceuil?"

"Locked away with the other cardinals in the Cathedral of Perugia,
trying to make himself pope."

The thought of Paulus de Verceuil as supreme head of the Church made
Simon's lip curl. "Pope? Not him!"

"He has the support of about half the French cardinals," Friar Mathieu
said, shaking his white beard. "The cardinals are supposed to be in
absolute seclusion, with no messages going in or out, but the servants
who bring them their meals report things in both directions. The other
cardinals lean to Gerard de Tracey, cardinal-bishop of Soissons. A
former inquisitor." Friar Mathieu made a sour face.

"What of the Italians?"

"Amazingly, despite the rumors about his heresy and sorcery, Ugolini has
four Italian cardinals voting for him. The servants say he has promised
large sums of money to those four. The other three Italian votes are
going to Piacenza. That must include Ugolini's vote, since the rules
forbid a cardinal to vote for himself. Voting for old Piacenza is just a
gesture, of course. He probably has less than a year of life left to
him. But until one or two Italians can be persuaded to vote for a French
candidate, no Frenchman can get the necessary two thirds."

"Are there not fourteen French cardinals to seven Italians?" Simon
asked.

"Yes, but right now there are only twenty cardinals in conclave
altogether. One of the French cardinals is in England on a diplomatic
mission, sent by Pope Urban before his death. So, even