‘Did you not think to inform us?’ was the question from the magistrate on the left.
‘We were going to inform you,’ Luca replied carefully. ‘As you see from our orders, we were commanded to inform you as soon as we had evidence to give to you. Indeed, we were on our way to inform you when our own palazzo was raided, and we were put under house arrest. Then we agreed that we should come and talk with you at dawn. But when our own servant was arrested by you this night, we had to come and disturb you – even though it was so late.’
‘Considerate,’ the third man said shortly. ‘Did you not think to inform us before you began your inquiry? When you arrived in our city looking for counterfeit gold? When you started questioning our merchants and deceiving our bankers? When you started buying counterfeit gold, trading in it, and profiting from the deception? Withholding information which would have affected the price?’
‘Of course not,’ Brother Peter said smoothly. ‘We were obeying the orders of the lord of our Order. We did not know what we might find. If we had found nothing, we would have been very wrong to disturb the confidence of your traders.’
‘They are disturbed now,’ the magistrate observed.
‘Unfortunately, yes.’
‘And what was your relationship with Drago Nacari the alchemist?’ the second magistrate asked ‘For we know he was an alchemist as well as a coiner.’
‘He consulted me about a manuscript that he had,’ Luca admitted. ‘He brought it to my house for me to read, and I returned it to him.’
‘And what did it say?’
‘I was not able to translate it. Not at all.’
‘And what was your impression of his work? When you went to his house?’
‘I did not see enough to be sure,’ Luca said. ‘He certainly had a lot of equipment, he had a number of pieces of work in progress. He had a forge and a vat of rotting matter. He said that it was his life’s work and he spoke of the philosophers’ stone. But I saw nothing of such importance that I would report to my lord or to you.’
‘Everyone speaks of the philosophers’ stone,’ the Council leader said dismissively.
Another nodded. ‘It is irrelevant. He had no licence to practise here so he was a criminal on that count alone.’ He paused. ‘Was he trying to create a living thing?’
Luca stifled a gasp with a little choke.
Brother Peter stepped into the awkward silence. ‘How could he? Only God can give life.’
Luca nodded. ‘Excuse me. No. I saw nothing but some dead and dried animals and insects.’
The clerk took a meticulous note.
‘So to the most important accusation: that he was coining,’ the first magistrate moved on. ‘Did you see any evidence of his coining?’
Luca nodded. ‘He, himself, showed me the moulds for the coins. He told me that the first coins had come from John, Duke of Bedford, that he had known him long ago in Paris. First he had the duke’s true coins and then here in Venice he made a batch of coins according to the duke’s recipe, and planned to pass them off as good, using the duke’s seal.’
‘And yet still, you did not report this to us?’ one of the men queried, his voice like ice. ‘Counterfeiting is a crime that strikes against the very heart of the Republic. Do you know what a run on a currency can do to traders in Venice?’
Luca shook his head, thinking it wiser to stay silent.
‘Ruin them. Ruin us. Ruin the greatest city in the world. And you did not think to report it at once? This criminal confessed to you and you stood in his house and saw the evidence and you did not tell us?’
‘We were on our way,’ Luca said. ‘We were coming to you tomorrow morning. At dawn.’
There was a terrible silence. Finally, the man at the centre of the three spoke. ‘Did he tell you how many chests of good coins he had released?’
Luca said: ‘No.’
‘Did he tell you how many forged coins? The bleeding coins, the weeping coins? They are going bad all over the city tonight. People will be hammering on the shutters of the bankers’ houses, demanding their money back as soon as it is light. Nobody wants bloodstained coins. Nobody wants forgeries. How many are out there?’
Brother Peter cleared his throat. ‘We were coming to you with the evidence against the forgers at dawn tomorrow. Of course we were going to report all that we knew as soon as we had evidence. We were prevented by the charges laid by Lady Carintha. But we don’t know how many coins.’
‘But you were able to send your servant out of the house though you were under arrest?’ one of the men said silkily. ‘In that gravest moment, you did not send him to us to warn us that the coins were melting and bleeding. In that crucial moment you sent him to them – to the alchemists. Why did you do that?’
Luca opened his mouth to speak, found he had nothing to say, and closed it again.
‘Your own officer saw the coins bleed,’ Brother Peter said feebly. ‘He must have reported to you? He must have sent men to arrest the money changer and the counterfeiter?’
The door to the right of them opened and Freize stood in the opening. His clothes were torn, and he had a black eye and a bruise on his forehead. Someone pushed him from behind, and he took a stumbling step into the room. Luca exclaimed and would have gone forwards, but Brother Peter put a firm hand on Luca’s shoulder and held him back.
‘Freize!’ Luca exclaimed.
‘I’m all right,’ he said. ‘Took a bit of a kicking, that’s all.’
‘He resisted arrest,’ the clerk said to the gentlemen at the table. ‘He’s nothing more than bruised. He has been held in the inquiry room since his arrest. He hasn’t been harmed.’
‘Did you send him, this servant of yours, to warn the forger? So that they could get away before our men arrested them?’ the head of the Council asked Luca directly, and at once all the clerks paused, their pens poised, ready to write the incriminating confession.
‘No! Of course not!’ Luca said quickly. He tried to smile reassuringly at Freize but found his mouth was too strained.
‘What did you send him for then? Why did he go?’
‘I went,’ Freize said suddenly. ‘I went of my own accord, to see the pretty lass.’
All three heads of the magistrates turned to Freize. ‘You went to warn her?’ one of them asked him.
Luca could see the trap that Freize was walking towards. ‘No!’ he said anxiously. ‘No he didn’t!’
‘I went to see her,’ Freize said. ‘My lord didn’t send me. I went of my own accord. I didn’t know they were going to be arrested, I didn’t know they had done anything wrong. I didn’t know anything about them at all really, all I knew was that I had taken a fancy to her. I thought I’d make a visit.’ Freize scrunched his battered face into an ingratiating grin.
One of the clerks raised his head and remarked quietly to the leader of the magistrates, ‘He escaped from the palace after the guards had gone in. He must have known the alchemists would be arrested next. He took a rowing boat and went straight to them.’
‘They got away in the boat that you rowed to them,’ the second Council man said. ‘You helped them escape, even if you did not go to warn them.’
‘Oh for heaven’s sake! I asked him to go,’ Brother Peter said suddenly, very clearly and as if he were wearied beyond bearing. ‘He went at my request to collect some potion for me. I wanted the medicine before they were arrested. Nobody knew about it but me and the alchemist and then this . . . this dolt. If he had any sense, when he had seen your guards at the door he would have come away, but he pressed on, to get me my . . . er . . . potion. And so got himself arrested, injured, and exposed us to this difficulty and me to this terrible embarrassment.’
Everyone looked from Brother Peter’s scarlet face to Freize, who kept his eyes on the floor and said nothing.
‘And now he’s lying to try to protect me from my embarrassment,’ Brother Peter said, torn between fury and shame. ‘Of course, it only makes it worse. Fool that he is. Th
e alchemist had promised me a – er – a potion. For my – er – affliction.’
‘I didn’t know you were ill?’ Luca exclaimed.
‘I didn’t want anybody to know anything!’ Brother Peter exclaimed, a man at the end of his patience. ‘I must have been mad to trust Freize with such a delicate mission. It was a matter of urgency for me . . . I should have gone myself . . . and now . . . Now I wish I had never consulted the alchemist at all.’
‘What potion?’ one of the magistrates asked.
‘I would rather not say,’ Brother Peter replied, his gaze on the floor, his ears burning red.
‘This is an inquiry into a counterfeiting forge which has had more impact on the safety of the Republic than anything else in a decade!’ The magistrate at the end of the table slammed his hand down and swore. ‘I think you had better say at once!’
The colour drained from Brother Peter’s face. ‘I am ashamed to say,’ he said in little more than a whisper. ‘It reflects so badly on me, on my vows, and on my Order.’
His misery was completely convincing. The leader of the three leaned forward and said to the clerks: ‘You will not record this.’ To Brother Peter he said: ‘You may speak in confidence. If I decide, nothing will go beyond these walls. But you must tell us everything. What potion did you order from the alchemist?’
Brother Peter turned his face from Freize and Luca.
‘Shall I order them from the room?’
‘They can stay. I am shamed. This is my punishment. They will think me a fool, an old fool.’
‘Tell us what you ordered, then.’
‘A love potion,’ Brother Peter said, his voice very low.
‘A love potion?’ the man repeated, astounded.
‘Yes.’
‘A man in your position? In holy orders? On a papal mission? Advising an Inquirer of the Holy Father?’
‘Yes. I had fallen into sin and folly. This is why I am so ashamed. This is why this fool is trying to hide his mission. To save me from this shame.’
‘Why did you want a love potion?’
Brother Peter’s head was bowed so low that his chin was almost on his chest. The bald spot of his tonsure shone in the candlelight. He was completely wretched. ‘I was very attracted by Lady Carintha,’ he said quietly. ‘But I have no . . .’ he broke off and struggled to find the words. ‘I have no . . . manly abilities. I have no . . . vigour.’
The three magistrates were leaning forward, the clerks frozen, their pens held above the paper.
‘I thought Drago Nacari could make me a potion so that she would be drawn to me, despite herself. And if she were disposed to be kind to me – she is such a high-spirited lady – I would want to be man enough for her.’ He glanced briefly at the table of gentlemen. ‘You can ask her if I was not attracted by her, dazzled by her. She knew it. She knows well enough what she can do to a man. My fear was that I would be unable to respond.’
Two of the magistrates nodded as if they had experienced Lady Carintha’s high spirits for themselves, and sympathised with Brother Peter’s fears.
‘I have little experience with women,’ Brother Peter said, his voice a thread, his eyes on the floor. ‘Almost none. But I imagined she would want a man who could . . . who would . . . I feared that if she were to look kindly on me I would not be man enough for her.’
One of the magistrates cleared his throat. ‘Understandable,’ he said shortly.
‘I was a fool,’ Brother Peter admitted. ‘And a sinful fool. But God spared me the worst of it, for the foolish servant I sent to get the love potion was caught while he was carrying out my sinful errand. And besides, Lady Carintha has turned against all of us. She’ll never look at me again.’
‘But you knew they were coiners?’ one man persisted.
Brother Peter dropped to one knee and rested his forehead against the table. ‘That’s the worst of it. That’s why I sent Freize then. I knew they were the coiners of the false coins, and that once you had found the money changer Israel you would find them. I wanted my love potion before they were arrested. That’s why I ordered Freize to go at once, although I knew it was dangerous for him to be found with them. I put him at risk for my own selfish . . . lust.’
The gentleman rounded on Freize. ‘Is that what you were doing there?’
Freize gulped. ‘Yes, just as my lord says.’
‘Why didn’t you tell us at once?’
‘Discreet,’ Freize said. ‘Lamentably discreet. Against my own interests sometimes.’
The three magistrates put their heads together in a swift exchange of words. ‘Release him,’ the leader of the Council said. ‘No charge.’
He rose to his feet. ‘If we catch Drago Nacari and his accomplice the young woman then they will be charged as coiners and counterfeiters and you will have to give evidence against them,’ he ruled.
‘We will,’ Brother Peter promised, rising to his feet, his face still downturned.
‘In the meantime, we have serious work to do. We are going to have to release reserves of gold to the banks. Everyone is selling gold nobles and everyone wants pure gold instead. The price of nobles is falling to that of piccoli. Our citizens and our traders will lose fortunes in the first hour that they open for business. And now the Ottoman Empire is refusing to take any English coins at all – good as well as bad. We are having to make good what those wicked coiners have done. It will cost us a fortune.’
‘I am very sorry that we did not catch them earlier,’ Luca said. ‘It was our intention, it was our mission.’
The Council nodded. ‘Then you have miserably failed in your mission,’ the leader said icily. ‘You can tell the lord of your Order that you are incompetent and a danger to yourselves and others. And you,’ he turned to Brother Peter, ‘you failed in your vows. You will no doubt confess and serve a hard penance. You seem to be shamed and you should be ashamed. We are very displeased with all three of you; but there are no legal charges as yet. It seems that you are fools but not criminals. You are incompetent idiots but not wicked.’
‘Thank you,’ Luca muttered. Brother Peter was too crushed to speak.
‘Go then,’ the Council leader said, and Luca, Brother Peter and Freize bowed in the contemptuous silence and turned and filed from the room.
Not a word passed between them as they crossed the broad quay from the front door of the ducal palace and got into the rocking gondola. Freize gripped Luca’s hand as Luca helped him into the boat, but the two young men said nothing.
Brother Peter drew up the hood of his robe and sat hunched, in the prow of the boat, his back to the other men as they paddled swiftly down the canal and turned in the palazzo watergate and Giuseppe brought the gondola to the quayside.
The guard had already gone from the watergate and there was no soldier on the street door. Luca called up to the girls’ level: ‘Isolde! Ishraq! We’re back!’ and heard the girls cross the floor above and come down the stairs as they went into the dining room.
The two girls came in and looked at the three silent men, at Freize’s bruised face and Brother Peter’s dark expression. Isolde closed the door behind them. ‘What has happened?’ she asked fearfully.
Luca shook his head. ‘I swear that I don’t know,’ he said. He glanced uncertainly at Brother Peter. ‘Perhaps we should never speak of it,’ he said carefully.
Brother Peter rounded on him, exploding with rage. ‘Fool!’ he said. ‘Call yourself an Inquirer? And you could not see a lie as wide as that damned canal and twice as deep?’
Isolde recoiled in shock at Brother Peter’s rage but Freize went towards him and bowed, with his hand on his heart. ‘I thank you,’ he said. ‘It was the last thing that I expected you to say. I could do nothing but stare like a dolt.’
‘Indeed, I was certain that you would play the part of a dolt very well,’ Brother Peter said nastily.
Isolde took Freize’s hand and turned him towards the candlelight to look at his damaged face. ‘They hurt you?’ she said qu
ietly. Gently she touched his cheek. ‘Oh Freize! Did they beat you?’
‘Not much,’ Freize said. ‘But Brother Peter here saved me from hanging.’
‘Saved you?’ Luca asked, still shaken by Brother Peter’s abuse.
‘Of course,’ Brother Peter said roundly. ‘Did you really think that I was in the least attracted to that well-hung limb of Satan? Did you really think that I would send an idiot like Freize to a crook like Drago Nacari for a love potion? Do you think that I am a fool like Freize? Like you? To lose my head for a pretty face? And that one not so pretty anyway?’
Luca shook his head, slowly understanding. ‘I believed you when you spoke before the Council,’ he said. ‘Call me a fool, but I believed every word that you said.’
‘Then you had better learn the skill to look into men’s hearts even when they are lying,’ Brother Peter said. ‘For you cannot be an Inquirer if you can be fooled by a charade like that.’
‘You lied to save Freize?’ Isolde asked, grasping the main essential. ‘You pretended that you had sent him to the Nacaris for a love potion?’ Her voice quavered on a laugh and she tried to keep her face straight, but failed. ‘You confessed to lust, Brother Peter? And to needing a love potion?’
Brother Peter would not speak while Ishraq collapsed into giggles. Isolde started to laugh too and Luca gritted his teeth to stop himself from joining them. But Brother Peter and Freize were still grave.
‘You laid down your reputation for my safety,’ Freize said to him. ‘I thank you. I owe you my life.’
Brother Peter nodded.
‘You made a great sacrifice for Freize,’ Isolde said, recovering from her laughter as she understood the importance of what Brother Peter had done. ‘You made yourself look like a fool for him. That’s a great thing for you, Brother Peter. That is a great gift you have given for Freize.’
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