Collected Works of Rafael Sabatini

by Rafael Sabatini

GIANLUCA There were five of them: The Duke of Gravina, Paolo Orsini and his son Fabio, Oliverotto of Fermo, and Vitelli, Tyrant of Castello. Vitelli and Oliver-Otto are already with their Maker.

  SANTAFIORA (in horror): Dead!

  GIANLUCA: That very night they were placed back to back, and strangled in the same noose.

  GUIDO (covering his face with his hands): O God!

  SANTAFIORA: But not even his audacity dared so much with the Orsini.

  GIANLUCA: Dared? Pshaw! He dares all things. He merely waits for ends of his own. It is said his messengers are speeding to Rome to arrest Cardinal Orsini and the Archbishop for their complicity.

  [There is a moment’s pause of blank astonishment.

  GUIDO: But how did he come to discover the plot?

  GIANLUCA: Ah! How? He knows all — all, that terrible man, Sometimes I think he is antichrist or else the fiend himself. He goes into Sinigaglia to meet his doom. He comes out of it more powerful than he went; and now he’s advancing by forced marches on Assisi.

  [There is a sudden forward movement on the part of ALDI and SANTAFIORA. GUIDO bounds from his chair.

  SANTAFIORA: Marching on Assisi, do you say?

  GIANLUCA: He is expected to arrive to-morrow.

  GUIDO: To-morrow?

  SANTAFIORA: Assisi will resist?

  GIANLUCA: Assisi will surrender. I attended the Council of the Ancients to-day, summoned to decide this question. Prince Sinibaldi of Venice was there and pleaded eloquently for resistance.

  PANTHASILEA: That was no coward’s pleading, at least.

  GIANLUCA: No. It was the pleading of crafty Venice that would use every state in Italy as the monkey used the cat. But Assisi has not the means to resist even if she had the will.

  GUIDO: Has she the will at least?

  GIANLUCA: Oh, yes. But...(He shrugs helplessly.)

  GUIDO (gloomily): And after Assisi it will be the turn of Solignola.

  PANTHASILEA Solignola does not yield.

  GUIDO: By Heaven’s Light, no! Here we have both the will and the means to resist. We must take order at once. There is not an hour to lose. Come, Santafiora. See the Council summoned. You, Messer Francesco, seek Campo and Barbero. Then bring them here to deliberate with us.

  ALDI (with a heavy sigh, and a bow): I go at once, my lord. (Bowing to Panthasilea.) Madonna. [He goes up.

  GUam (in the act of following): Await me here, Gianluca; unless you’re in haste to return.

  GIANLUCA: Return? I care little if I never see Assisi again.

  [GUIDO nods, and goes up. He pauses, and looks at Panthasilea, sitting listless and dejected in the chair at back.

  GUIDO (tenderly): Courage, Lea.

  PANTHASILEA: I need courage, Heaven knows.

  [He stoops to kiss her. Then he goes out, followed by SANTAFIORA. They close the doors.

  [There is a loud hum of voices from without, greeting Guido as he descends the stairs. This gradually recedes and presently dies down.

  [PANTHASILEA rises and moves up to the loggia, whence she looks out. GIANLUCA hovers near, obviously uncomfortable, hesitating to intrude upon her mood. She takes no heed of him.

  [A SERVANT enters R. with a salver bearing a gold beaker and some Venetian glasses. He sets it down upon the table, and withdraws.

  GIANLUCA: You have no word for me to-day, madonna. Alas! A messenger is welcomed according to the news he brings, and Heaven knows I am a messenger of evil.

  PANTHASILEA: Heaven knows you are.

  GIANLUCA: You say it almost as if I were the author of my news.

  [Rousing herself, she realizes her ungraciousness and turns.

  PANTHASILEA: No, no, Gianluca. Ah, forgive me. You know...you know how I have hoped and prayed that the Sinigaglia enterprise might rid Italy of this evil monster. And now...This!

  GIANLUCA: You had not prayed for it more fervently than I.

  PANTHASILEA: Had I not? I wonder! Let me pour for you, Gianluca. You will need a cup after your ride. (She pours.) It will revive you.

  GIANLUCA (softly): It needs no wine to revive me when I ride to Solignola, not though I rode all the way from Rome. To have the happiness to see you, Lea...

  PANTHASILEA (almost sternly): Not now, Gianluca! Not now!

  GIANLUCA Why not now?

  PANTHASILEA: Do you ask “why”?

  GIANLUCA Lea, you have bewitched me, I think. Though the earth quake under the tramp of Valentino’s host, though all Italy come clattering down in ruin about me, my mind Cannot be shaken from its thought of you — always you.

  PANTHASILEA (more gently): Don’t, Gianluca. Ah, don’t! Be Content to be my friend.

  GIANLUCA: Surely your friend, since the greater must include the less.

  PANTHASILEA: My friend, and nothing more just now. How can you woo me in the very midst of war, with death all about us as it is?

  GIANLUCA: Love is greater than death, Lea. Love is Lord of Life.

  PANTHASILEA: You know that I was to have married Pietro Varano.

  GIANLUCA (sadly): Ay.

  PANTHASILEA: And that he is dead — murdered?

  GIANLUCA: Heaven rest his soul!

  PANTHASILEA: Then...surely you understand. Surely you see the wound I bear, unhealed and raw.

  GIANLUCA: It but serves to move my love more violently. I ask nothing yet. I am patient. I can wait. But though you should never come to love me, Lea, you cannot deny my loving you, nor while I’ve life and breath Can I cease from proClaiming it to you.

  PANTHASILEA (slowly considering him, she smiles wistfully): Dear Gianluca, how you deceive yourself!

  GIANLUCA: DeCeive myself?

  [VOICES off, and steps upon the stair.

  PANTHASILEA: The members of the Council. You have not drunk your wine.

  [He looks at her, and drinks. The doors are thrown open, and ALDI comes in, followed by DEL CAMPO, PAVIANO and ANOTHER GENTLEMAN OF THE COUNCIL.

  CAMPO (coming forward): This is terrible news, madonna!

  PAVIANO: I suppose there is no possibility of error, Ser Gianluca?

  GIANLUCA: None. The Communal PalaCe in Assisi is being made ready to reCeive the Duke. It is expected that he will make Assisi his headquarters for the present.

  CAMPO: Conducting thence his operations against Solignola?

  GIANLUCA: Should it refuse to yield.

  PANTHASILEA: Be sure that Solignola will refuse to yield.

  CAMPO: (tartly): That is what the Council is to decide, madonna.

  PANTHASILEA: Decide? Can there be a doubt, Messer del Campo.

  CAMPO: If we must go the way of Pesaro, Imola, Rimini, Faenza and all the others, at least let us do so in the manner that will involve less cost to our people.

  PANTHASILEA: Cost, sir? Are we traders, to count the cost? Here, honour is at stake, and honour is not a marketable thing.

  [GUIDO enters at back with SANTAFIORA and ANOTHER COUNCILLOR.

  CAMPO: Assisi, madonna, has taken another view.

  PANTHASILEA (violently): Solignola is not Assisi, Messer del Campo. Assisi lies open to attaCk, and is without natural defenCes. Solignola is the most inaCcessible stronghold in Middle Italy.

  GUIDO: Perched here on these craggy heights, it can defy greater legions than those of Valentino. But to table, sIrs. We are all assembled.

  [SANTAFIORA bars the door. Then he comes down to the table about which the others are already grouped, some standing, some sitting.

  GIANLUCA: My lord, I will withdraw until your deliberations are...

  GUIDO: No, no. (Standing at the table-head R. he addresses the Council.) Messer Gianluca is fully informed of what is happening, and his presence may be useful.

  ALDI: Also he makes common cause with us.

  [General murmur of assent.

  GUIDO (to Gianluca): So that we shall be grateful if you will remain awhile.

  GIANLUCA (bowing): To command!

  [He goes up and takes his stand by Panthasilea,who is leaning against the high chair at back. On hi
s approach she sits. The others also now seat themselves. ALDI and CAMPO on the upper side of the table, so as to face the audience with one of the other councillors: PAVIANO and the remaining councillor on the lower side, having their backs to the audience. SANTAFIORA takes the table’s foot, on L. facing Guido.

  [GUIDO sits last, speaking as he does so.

  GUIDO: Our deliberations need not keep us long. You are already aware of the terrible menace that hangs over us.

  [He is interrupted by a knock upon the doors. SANTAFIORA rises.

  GUIDO: What now? See who comes.

  [GIANLUCA lifts the bar and opens the doors. An elderly Seneschal appears, bearing a letter. GUIDO bawls impatiently:

  GUIDO: What is it?

  SENESCHAL (hastening down to him): My lord! (He proffers the letter.) This is brought by a friar. He pleads the utmost urgency, else I should not have dared disturb you.

  [GUIDO takes the letter, breaks the seal, unfolds and hurriedly reads. An exclamation escapes him.

  GUIDO: Prin...(He seems about to make an announcement to the Council, then checks, and turns to the Seneschal.) Bring him up.

  [The SENESCHAL bows and goes out. GUIDO watches him of, then speaks.

  GUIDO: Sirs, in this note Prince Sinibaldi announces himself. He has ridden over secretly from Assisi. He is more prudent than you, Gianluca, who have had the hardihood to come here openly.

  CAMPO: Sinibaldi, do you say? Who is he?

  PAVIA: Ay, who?

  GUIDO: Tell them, Gianluca. You have his acquaintance.

  GIANLUCA: Prince Sinibaldi is the envoy-extraordinary sent by Venice to felicitate the Duke of Valentinois upon his conquest of Sinigaglia. He arrived in Assisi last night.

  ALDI (incredulously): Venice sends felicitations to Valentino? Venice?

  CAMPO: You’re surely wrong, Messer Gianluca. VeniCe notoriously is the power in all Italy most hostile to the House of Borgia.

  GIANLUCA (sneering): That may explain Prince Sinibaldi’s presence here.

  CAMPO: I don’t understand.

  GUIDO (impatiently): Isn’t it plain? Though VeniCe fears his power and desires his ruin, yet she is not at war with him; therefore she must observe the amenities of peace.

  SANTAFIORA: That’s what they call politics, I suppose. Thank God, I’m a soldier.

  [The SENESCHAL re-enters, accompanied by a tall man, in the grey habit of a Capuchin friar, his face invisible in the cowl.

  SENESCHAL: My lord, here is the messenger. [GUIDO rises. The newcomer bows. GUIDO (to Seneschal): You may go.

  [The SENESCHAL goes out again, and closes the doors, which GIANLUCA presently bars.

  [Then at last GUIDO returns the bow.

  GUIDO: Excellency, be welcome. We are private here. These are the members of my council. Messer Gianluca, you already know.

  [The FRIAR looks round, questioningly.

  GUIDO: That is my daughter, excellency — my heiress here in Solignola.

  [SINIBALDI draws back the cowl, and loosens his girdle, revealing his rich black dress.

  SINIBALDI: Sirs, your servant; madonna, to command.

  [He tosses the habit aside. He is booted, and armed with a dagger. He bows to the company.

  SINIBALDI: You all realize, I am sure, that in certain circumstances, if my presence here to-day were to become known, the adventure might cost me my life — which is a small thing — and the Most Serene RepubliC might be compromised — which would be a grave one. Hence my precautions.

  [He comes down.

  GUIDO: Be sure that what passes here does not go beyond those doors. A chair, excellency.

  [GUIDO advances the chair by the hearth, then swings his own seat half round, so that he shall not have his back to the prince. SINIBALDI acknowledges the chair, and standing beside it looks up at Gianluca with a half-smile.

  SINIBALDI: Although I have made haste, it seems that another is here before me with the news of what is happening in Assisi.

  GUIDO: Ay, bad news travels quickly. That is why you find the Council here assembled.

  SINIBALDI (anxiously) To determine whether you will follow the example of weak-kneed Assisi?

  GUIDO: No. To determine the preCise measures for our resistance of this bastard duke.

  CAMPO (agitated): What? Is resistance, then, already determined?

  [There is an ominous pause, all eyes upon DEL CAMPO, GUIDO scowling, SINIBALDI cunningly alert.

  GUIDO: Is there anyone here so base as to urge surrender?

  CAMPO: But we have not yet been summoned to surrender?

  SINIBALDI: That summons, sir, believe me, will not be long delayed.

  CAMPO: Were it not best to wait...?

  SANTAFIORA: To be sure we’ll wait. But while we wait, we’ll arm.

  CAMPO: My lord, in making up your mind to resistance, have you considered what will happen to the townships of the valley?

  GUIDO: I have not.

  PAVIANO: It should be weighed, I think.

  CAMPO: Of course it should. It is our duty to weigh it. We are here in Solignola itself, which is almost impregnable. But those in the valley are defenceless, and Valentino may terribly avenge upon them the stubbornness of the Capital.

  SINIBALDI: Surely, sir, if you think that, you cannot have observed Valentino’s methods. They are not quite so crude. It is not his way to avenge upon dependencies the resistance of a capital. He is too guileful, believe me. Whom he subjects, he conciliates.

  GIANLUCA: Always is it so. Consider the Case of Faenza. What harm was suffered by the folk in her territories? None. The townships surrendered, and knew no violence, though Faenza herself resisted stubbornly.

  CAMPO: But to little purpose.

  GUIDO: That is beside the point. And Faenza had not the natural strength of Solignola.

  CAMPO Yet in the end surrender we must. We cannot resist an army of ten thousand men for ever.

  SANTAFIORA (sharply): They cannot besiege us for ever.

  ALDI (to Sinibaldi): If we hold out, exCellency, may we look to Venice for assistance ultimately?

  SINIBALDI: I would that I could promise you that. But...(He sighs.)

  GUIDO: Yet it is in the interest of VeniCe that we resist.

  SINIBALDI: That is why I am here to-night. Ostensibly I am the Republic’s ambassador to the Duke. In reality I am her ambassador to those in Romagna valiant enough to stand against this Catalan adventurer. The interests of the Serene Republic are the interests of every fief in Middle Italy.

  PANTHASILEA; Then why does not the Serene Republic come in arms to our assistance?

  [Cries of assent.

  SINIBALDI: She would do so gladly, madonna. Unfortunately her hands are tied by her treaty with Valentino.

  GUIDO: I never knew a treaty bind a State one moment longer than convenient.

  SINIBALDI: The republiC would have to reckon with France — for the King of FranCe is behind Valentino. You perceive the danger, sirs. In the end...VeniCe may be compelled to incur it.

  GIANLUCA: Does not the Serene Republic consider that the end has been reached?

  [GIANLUCA’S voice is cold, almost hostile. Hostility towards Sinibaldi marks his bearing throughout, for he sees in the Venetian a crafty, cold-blooded schemer, who is slyly urging others at their own expense to pull (as he presently says) the chestnuts from the fire for Venice.

  SINIBALDI: No.

  ALDI: What remains?

  PAVIANO: Ay, what?

  SINIBALDI: You know — you all know by now — what had been planned in Sinigaglia. It failed. But that which failed in Sinigaglia might succeed in Assisi.

  [There is a general movement of awed surprise.

  SINIBALDI: Need more be said?

  SANTAFIORA: Ay — the how and the when, the way and the means.

  SINIBALDI: That, of course. But first...(To Guido.) Have you a mind to it? To rid Italy of this scourge at a single stroke? To save your dominions from being ravished by this insatiable devil?

  GUIDO (assentingly):
By Heaven’s light!

  SINIBALDI: Then to it. Destroy Cesare Borgia, and you destroy the head and brain of the Pontifical forCes. You make an end of this conquest of the Romagna whiCh will presently spread to a conquest of Middle Italy; for if he lives he will not rest until he is King of Tuscany.