posed to Ugolini--joined
the cry for le Gros, it was all over. Ugolini collapsed in tears, but he
was revived enough to make the arrangements to send to England for le
Gros to come in haste. Everybody was sworn to silence, and Ugolini went
out to make the public announcement. Of course, despite the secrecy, all
Perugia knows it will be le Gros."

"But the alliance?" Simon asked anxiously.

Friar Mathieu reached out and took his hand. "We will have to wait until
le Gros is officially crowned. But we can count on one of his first acts
being a call for an alliance between the princes of Christendom and the
khans of Tartary. And right after that will follow a declaration that
Manfred von Hohenstaufen is deposed and Charles d'Anjou is the rightful
king of southern Italy and Sicily."

A feeling of triumph swept Simon.

"Once the alliance is secured," he said, "I can really believe that I
have the right to be the Count de Gobignon."

"Oh?" said Friar Mathieu. "Is that the assurance you need?" He spoke in
a dubious tone that made Simon uneasy. "Well, then, I hope for your sake
le Gros gets here from England all the sooner. Even though I do not look
forward to the war he will unleash."

_I care nothing about this war between Charles d'Anjou and Manfred von
Hohenstaufen_, Simon thought. His work would be done when he delivered
the Tartars, with the pope's blessing, to King Louis.

And at the same time, he thought, he might bring Sophia to France. In
his present happy mood, the thought of her was like a sunrise. If there
was to be war in Italy, if Charles d'Anjou was to invade her homeland of
Sicily, she might be all the more grateful to him for offering her a
marriage that would take her away from all that.

He must arrange a rendezvous with her at once.

* * * * *

Luckily, Simon thought, the rain that plagued Umbria this time of year
had let up for three days, and the roads leading out of Perugia into the
countryside were fairly dry. He would have braved a flood or a blizzard
to see Sophia again, but it pleased him that there were blue breaks in
the gray dome of cloud overhead. After meeting on a road northwest of
Perugia, Simon and Sophia had ridden to a woodland lake that reflected
the blue in a darker tone on its rippling surface.

Simon felt himself breathing rapidly with excitement as he surveyed the
lake shore. It seemed almost miraculous that Sophia was standing beside
him.