i will tell you the story of the picture, when we have made ourselves comfortable before the fireplace…
alphonso, a wealthy merchant of the dukedom of f————, had grown so prosperous that he raised a private army of soldiers and pikemen to guard his ships, his warehouses, and his estates.
he now had a larger standing force at his command than duke rodrigo. duke rodrigo was also heavily in debt to alphonso, to the extent that alphonso could fairly be said to own him.
alphonso, in time-honored fashion, sought to assure and complete his position in the dukedom by marrying rodrigo’s daughter.
but rodrigo, who had brought himself to what he regarded as this sorry pass by a lifetime of debauchery and heedlessness, would not give in so easily to the inevitable.
rodrigo’s daughter, adeline, was a genuine beauty, and he had hoped to marry her to some duke or count of a wealthier and more ancient house than his own - perhaps even to a prince of the empire!
and now, here he was, asked to consider marrying her to a man who in his time had loaded his own ships and wagons with his own calloused hands!
alphonso and duke rodrigo sat down to a meeting in the center of the town square, in the shadow of the cathedral, each accompanied by a band of his own cutthroats.
alphonso had brought with him to help him plead his case, the celebrated cardinal p—————, a subtle rascal who had the ear of the pope, and was reputed to be in line for the chair of st peter himself.
rodrigo had not thought to bring even his own chaplain , and considered alphonso’s recruitment of the eminent churchman as simply one more instance of his bumptious effrontery. he felt more resolute than ever in his determination to defy him.
“my dear duke,” the cardinal began, after the preliminaries and courtesies had been dispensed with, "you of all men are a man of the world, and must know that situations of this sort, in which new wealth is united to ancient honor, is nature’s way, no less than that birds nest in trees, or waves follow the wind.”
“that is all very well, your eminence,” rodrigo replied, “but i had thought to marry my daughter to someone like the archduke francisco.”
“the archduke francisco! the brother of the emperor! are you in earnest?’
“i am indeed.”
“and has the archduke francisco made the acquaintance of your daughter?” asked the astonished cardinal.
“not yet. but when he does i am sure he will be so smitten by her unearthly beauty that the match can be considered already made in heaven.”
“far be it from me, my dear duke, to dispute the enthusiasm of a fond parent, but perhaps some sign other than one anticipated, however confidently, from heaven might be felt necessary as a basis for serious negotiation.”
“there is another factor,” replied duke rodrigo, “ which we have not considered. another actor in the drama,”
“and who might that be?” asked the cardinal.
“kobra. the bandit chieftain kobra , who even now threatens the safety of the entire peninsula, if not the empire itself.”
“kobra! a mere outlaw and peasant, fated to look down on the city from a spike on a wall, with empty eye sockets. we have had peasant uprisings before , and will have them again. they pass like storms.” the cardinal asserted with a wave of his hand..
“nevertheless, with all due respect, i would prefer the security provided by an alliance with the emperor to that provided by the holy father, let alone one provided by a merchant.”
stung by this response, alphonso, who had hitherto been silent, blurted out, “perhaps you could find security against the dread kobra by offering him your daughter’s hand.”
duke rodrigo shrugged. “an alliance with a bandit. would it be so different from one with a stevedore?”
alphonso flushed at the insult, but the cardinal, feeling that the discussion was getting out of his control, held up his hand to silence him.
the cardinal’s secretary, a sly little rosy cheeked cleric with gently fluttering eyelids, now spoke.
“since heaven has been invoked in this discussion, why not seek guidance from an accredited observer of heaven?”
the cardinal smiled. “explain yourself, my son.”
“we current;y have at residence in rome the famous friar ham, the english astrologer and soothsayer, whose skill at reading the heavens has elicited the approbation and even admiration of his holiness himself.”
the cardinal nodded. “quite so. perhaps, duke, you would be pleased to seek the opinion of the worthy friar?.” he looked at the duke and then at alphonso. “of course someone would have to arrange and pay for his passage here.”
“i will happily undertake to do so,” replied alphonso.
“that is all very well,” said the duke. “but i would then arrange to have my own mage imported, that we might have two opinions rather than just one.”
“and who might that be?” asked the cardinal.
“none other than doctor lee, the celebrated magician and astrologer from the celestial empire, whose prophecies and powers have so astonished the courts of the saracen, and of the doge of venice.”
and so it was arranged that the two astrologers should be summoned.
the cardinal and his entourage returned to rome, and alphonso and duke rodrigo - and the fair adeline - awaited the arrival of the two savants.
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