The Diplomat of Florence: A Novel of Machiavelli and the Borgias by Wildman Anthony

Author:Wildman, Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19—Valentino in Crisis

Imola, October 1502

‘Niccolò, I hope your servants turn up soon. Your coat looks as if it is ready to walk away all by itself!’

It was true, he thought, holding his arms out and inspecting sleeves that, like his hose and boots, were squalid with mud from the road, which no amount of brushing had been able to get out. He needed a change of clothes and the services of a good laundrywoman, that was certain.

His dismay must have shown on his face, for Alessandro Spannochi let out a short laugh as he settled himself behind the desk that dominated the little cell that had been allocated to him as an office. Behind, a large window opened onto the castle courtyard, through which weak October morning sunlight was streaming. He waved Niccolò to the chair opposite. ‘Never mind, we aren’t standing on ceremony today. How was the duke last night?’

‘Confident. Cheerful. Charming, even. Still making demands, even though he virtually admitted that he had lost Urbino.’

Spannochi nodded. ‘He has. He sent orders yesterday to Ugo de Cardona to break camp and withdraw from the duchy. But he’s not discouraged at all. He has messengers flying in every direction and we are sending money with them to mobilise his forces. Michelotto Corella has been sent to join Cardona with a thousand infantry, Rafaello dei Pazzi is riding post to Milan to recruit among the Gascons stationed there, we have someone raising soldiers among the Swiss, and we expect to get another six thousand or so militia from within the Romagna. All we need is enough time to get them here.’

Niccolò nodded at this recitation, mentally committing each fact to memory for the despatch he would write that evening. Alessandro’s frankness was of course deliberate, intended to reinforce the idea that Borgia had everything under control, but that didn’t make the information any less useful.

‘Well, he is nothing if not energetic, your duke.’ Niccolò laughed. ‘Now, about these safe-conducts…’

A few hours later, Luca and Antonio arrived with the packhorse and found their way to his temporary lodgings above the stables, having ridden as hard as they could to catch up. They spent the afternoon dealing with the stabling of the horses and finding their way to the new and more suitable accommodation he had arranged that morning—two rooms on the top floor of a decent house that stood in the shadow of the city’s cathedral. It was owned by a candle-maker, whose workshop facing onto the street on the ground floor produced a reek of tallow that permeated the whole building. But their rooms looked out onto the Piazza del Duomo on one side and a small garden on the other, and they were light and spacious. Compared with some of the fleapits he had experienced on his previous diplomatic travels, this was luxury.

It was another small luxury to be able to change his attire and send Luca off to get his riding clothes laundered. A bath completed his inventory

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.