What Remains of the Fair Simonetta

by Laura T. Emery

  But when Amerigo turned the key in the padlock and removed it, the door still wouldn’t open. I pushed past him, and rattled the wooden door furiously.

  “It is of no use, Simonetta,” Amerigo said. “It is locked from the outside.”

  “Damn!” I cried, and kicked the solid wood life-ruiner. “I’m really a prisoner!”

  “The only way out would be from my own bedchamber, through the palazzo itself. But I would not risk it,” Amerigo continued. “If you are seen by anyone, Piero will not allow you to return alive.”

  I sat down on the stairs and sobbed like a spoiled child. I had been released of my obligation to the Medici, but this was much worse. Lorenzo only required that I have sex with his hot brother. Piero wanted me to rot in my chamber, and keep me from the one I loved. The only upside to the situation was that it would be difficult to contract tuberculosis alone in a room.

  Amerigo and Antonella waited patiently for my tantrum to subside. When I finally stood and sauntered back to my chamber and flopped on the bed, Antonella laid down beside me while I cried more self-absorbed tears.

  “You should go to Amerigo,” I finally said. “You’ve done enough for me.”

  “Are you certain you will be all right?”

  “What could happen to me in here?” I chuckled, trying to be brave.

  “Very well. I shall see you in the morn.” Antonella slipped out of the bed, and left me to my misery.

  Chapter 41

  The days were long and painful. It’d been a week since our intimate night under the Tuscan sky outside the Porta al Prato and I ached for Sandro in a way I’d never experienced before.

  On my second day of captivity, I remembered the quills, ink, and parchment I’d stashed in my nightstand. I thought about writing letters to Sandro, but who would deliver them? Antonella was allowed to leave our joined rooms only to gather provisions, and was not authorized to vacate the palazzo without Carlo and a pat-down.

  I felt inspired to continue my biography of Sandro, but now also included what I’d learned about the other artists as well. I wrote about the Pollaiolo brothers and their fondness for human dissection, Verrocchio and his resolution to sculpt instead of paint, Ghirlandaio’s gift for accurate portraiture, and little tidbits about the deceased Filippo Lippi and his vivacious son, Filippino. I described how they were all inspired by Masaccio’s unfinished frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel, and how Filippino had a desire to complete them. I recorded fond words regarding the genius and personality of Leonardo. The prose flowed freely, and would momentarily take my mind off of Sandro and my desperate need of his warm touch.

  I tucked myself into the hard bed on the seventh night since we made love, when I heard the door between Antonella’s chamber and mine creak open. She entered the room and tried to gently rouse me, but I was still awake.

  Abruptly, I sprang up in fear when I saw the outline of a shadowy male figure behind her, but when he came closer, I recognized the soft dark curls of Sandro’s hair. I crawled to the edge of the bed, lunged for him, and held him tight.

  “You’re here!” I couldn’t stop smiling and staring at his beautiful face, so amazed that I didn’t even notice Antonella leaving the room. Sandro held my hands, while I remained on my knees on the bed. “How did you get in?” I asked.

  “After the initial shock of Uncle Jacopo’s death, I learned that he possessed a small fortune. Since he had no children and I was his favorite nephew, he left his estate to me. Enough to buy the palazzo next door.”

  “Really?” I asked, excitedly. Apparently there was no probate or escrow in the Renaissance. One week after Jacopo’s death, Sandro became my neighbor.

  “Yes, and my father could hardly argue against the move since it would save him eleven florins per year in rent to the Rucellai. It has a perfect spot for my bottega, which opens up to the street.” He let go of my hands to motion downward. “And best of all, the alternate exit happens to connect with yours.”

  So overwhelmed with happiness, the only way I could respond was to jump to my feet and kiss him over and over again. It seemed as though it had been a century since my lips last pressed against his. Reaching under his tunic to feel the smooth, warm flesh of his stomach and chest, I went to rip the garment from his body in one swift motion, but the material of the stiff, high-necked tunic wouldn’t give. It seemed a heated, Renaissance quickie was logistically impossible, so instead I slowly crept behind him, kissing his neck as I made my way around.

  I untied the back of his tunic and gently slid the fabric down his shoulders, kissing every inch of exposed flesh as I eased my way back around to his chest and up to his supple lips. The mischievous part of me wanted to tease him as he had done so many times to me. But his hands firmly grasped the fabric of my shift and yanked it over my head, casting it to the floor before he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me tightly against his body. Gone was the quivering mass of nerves that nearly paralyzed him a week before.

  Sandro unfastened his own breeches, which dropped to the floor just as he grabbed hold of my hair and entered me against the wall fresco that danced with nymphs. I bit my lip as my body was overcome with ecstasy almost immediately, as if it had been waiting for his mere presence inside to release the pleasure within. The duration of our lovemaking was spent in silent, feverish rapture, muffling our pleasure so the sleeping household would not be awakened. Sandro stifled the moan of his own climax by burying his face in my neck and wild hair.

  With my legs still wrapped around him, Sandro swept me onto the bed, where he made love to me again, slowly and completely. His clothes now entirely removed, we spent the next hours with both our flesh and our souls fully exposed to one another.

  We stayed up the entire night, whispering, caressing, and making plans to repeat the experience time and again. He left me just before sunup, so he might catch an hour of sleep before he and Filippino opened the bottega in his new home.

  Chapter 42

  My days passed in anticipation of Sandro coming to me, and my nights spent wrapped in his arms. During the sunlight hours, when I wasn’t writing my biographies, I groomed or exercised out of narcissism and boredom. Antonella stared curiously as I performed all sorts of calisthenics to keep myself active, while remaining locked in my chamber, but abstained from partaking herself.

  Several weeks into my sentence, Marco solemnly invited me to join the family for supper, but I declined, preferring to spend my confinement away from my confiners.

  Giuliano still made the occasional visit in order to profess his “courtly love” for appearances’ sake, and Piero threatened my life if I didn’t maintain the farce that all was well in front of the Medici Golden Boy. I actually began to look forward to Giuliano’s visits to my sitting room to break up the day. Now past his pursuit of me, we could have real conversations, and he was still a decent piece of eye candy to behold. When his arrogance became too much for me to bear, I’d claim fatigue and return to my isolation.

  My only request of my captors was to have an hour a day to breathe fresh air and take in some sunlight; the view from my bedchamber window not enough to sustain me. Carlo would grudgingly escort me to the roof of the palazzo where I could see the comings and goings of Sandro’s now thriving bottega. I spotted Leonardo paying him a visit one day and longed for another intellectual conversation about my old life, while just being the old me.

  Mariano came and went with his wagon stacked with hides, making his way to the river each day. Without realizing I was perched on the roof high above, he gazed longingly at my window, and I knew my business with him was not yet done.

  I looked out on Florence like a princess trapped in her tower, waiting for Prince Charming to rescue me. And night after night, he would—if only for a little while. I spent glorious hours listening to Sandro chat about his day, make love to me, sleep by my side, then leave before the bells of lauds rang, and the Town Crier bore his morning news.

  One night, the hour was especially late when
Sandro finally came to me. Antonella had me bathed, plucked and primped, and I felt especially sexy when he entered my chamber exhilarated and chuckling. “What’s so funny?” I asked, preferring to tear his clothes from him than listen.

  “Have I mentioned how much I love to teach my craft?” Sandro asked, as he sat down on my bed and removed his boots, as if we were an old married couple.

  “Mmm hmm,” I muttered, as I crawled over to him and kissed his neck.

  “A disciple of mine by the name of Biagio, made an exact copy of a Madonna with eight angels that I had painted for San Francesco. I was so proud.” He stroked my face and kissed me a few times before continuing. “Today I convinced a patron to purchase Biagio’s copy for six gold florins.”

  “That’s great!” I exclaimed, as I unfastened the twenty plus buttons of the new pearl colored jacquard doublet he wore. Sandro’s response to his disrobing was to laugh some more. “I don’t get the joke,” I said, slightly annoyed.

  “I told Biagio to hang the painting in a good light, then fetch the patron so he could see it in its place. Biagio replied to me, ‘Oh Master, how well you have done!’”

  “You did do good, right?” Doublet successfully removed, I searched for the way into his tan poofy diabolically-difficult-to-breach trousers.

  “Yes, but while he was gone, Filippino and I prepared eight red caps of pasteboard and fastened them with wax to the heads of the angels.”

  I pushed Sandro to his back, so better able to work on his pants, while he lounged with his hands behind his head.

  Amused with himself, and ignoring me, Sandro chuckled again. “When he returned with our patron, his angels were changed to the Signoria of Florence!”

  “Oh, my. What did the patron say?” I asked, looking up briefly.

  “Biagio raised his eyebrows and was about to cry out and excuse himself. But our patron was in on the jest and praised his painting, so Biagio remained silent.”

  I finally deciphered the code for unfastening his trousers and assuming he was done with his story, I yanked them off. But his tale continued, despite his nakedness.

  “Biagio went back with the patron to his house to collect the six florins.”

  “Oh?” In order to fully direct his attention on me, I decided to service him in a way he couldn’t possibly ignore. He quickly lifted his head, and his story abruptly ceased. I now had his full attention.

  He arched his back and clutched the sheets with both hands. I stopped for a moment and asked, “Was there something you were trying to tell me?”

  “No,” he squeaked.

  Proud of my distraction, I continued for a moment before he pulled me up on top of him, and my shift was sent flying to the floor. After we were both satisfied, and lay on our backs, sweaty and panting, I finally asked him to finish his story.

  “What was I speaking of, again?”

  “Biagio, silly.”

  “Yes, of course. When Biagio returned with his florins in hand, the red hats were gone. We removed them in his absence.”

  “What did he say when you told him what you’d done?”

  “Uh…we never told him. Biagio appeared baffled and said, ‘Master, I know not whether I am dreaming, but when I came in before these angels had red hats upon their heads and now they have none.’ I told him he had lost his wits, and the money had gone to his head!” Sandro smiled deviously.

  “That was really cruel.” I laughed.

  “Yes, I suppose it was. But not the cruelest joke I have ever played.”

  “What was the cruelest, Master Botticelli?” I traced my finger across his smooth, glistening chest.

  “Several years back, my father rented a house on the Borgo amidst all the cloth weavers. Our neighbor would run his eight looms at all hours of the day and night, causing the house to constantly shake. When I asked him to kindly stop so I could continue my studies, he stated that he could and would do as he pleased in his own house.”

  “So what did you do?” I asked, though a little afraid to hear.

  “My young friends and I carried a large boulder to the top of the wall that separated our houses, my roof being conveniently higher than his.” Sandro gestured to demonstrate. “We balanced the boulder on top of the wall, so if the looms caused any further shaking, the boulder would crush his roof, and his looms.”

  “What? How did he react?”

  “He asked me to take the boulder down, of course, to which I replied that I could and would do as I pleased in my own house.”

  “And?”

  “He miraculously became a better neighbor!”

  I slapped his arm in amusement. Sandro laughed again, before turning so our eyes would meet, and kissing me passionately.

  “Simonetta?”

  “Yes, Sandro.”

  “Lorenzo has recommended me to Pope Sixtus…to paint his new chapel. I have been summoned to Rome.”

  I feigned surprise at his revelation. “That’s great!”

  His face became grim. “It means I would be leaving Florence for a year, maybe two.”

  “Oh.” The obvious finally slapped me in the face. “But you have to go.”

  I pondered intently on the necessity of making every moment count with him. My time here would certainly be long over by the time he returned.

  He sat up and took my hands. “I want you to come with me.” Before I could reply, he continued. “I have made enough florin these last weeks to sustain us for a time.”

  “But how could we possibly—?”

  “Worry not. I will find a way,” he assured, then kissed me again as if to prevent me from questioning him further.

  Chapter 43

  Sandro and I spent the next few weeks exchanging fantasies of how our united life would be, once we were safely alone and away from the forces that kept us apart. Each time we were together, our future seemed possible, as if it could go on forever. But when I asked him pointed questions about how we were going to pull it off, he became evasive and would only answer, “Worry not.” Even though I saw our move to Rome as a way to escape my fateful death, I couldn’t fathom how the Vespucci, the Medici, and especially the Pope would allow us to live in sin while Sandro frescoed the sacred Sistine Chapel.

  Eight days before our set departure, Sandro announced that he had finished the Saint Augustine in His Study, and wanted me to be the first to see it before its unveiling. My escape from the palazzo had to be made through his house, and at an hour late enough for the darkness to conceal us.

  Sandro helped me into the servant’s gown, since Antonella had already retired to Amerigo’s room for the night. Just as he fastened the last few buttons, Marco barged into my chamber.

  “Simonetta!” Marco cried, his voice harried. We lurched back at his intrusion and Marco’s face froze for a moment at the sight of Sandro in my chamber, but he was clearly too preoccupied to react.

  “Luciana is gravely ill. You must come with me,” Marco demanded.

  “Where is she?”

  “My father cast her from the palazzo, and she has been forced to live on the streets. He forbade me from seeking her out. But tonight, I ignored him…and…I found her lying on the Ponte Vecchio.”

  It was all my fault.

  If I hadn’t suggested that Marco grow some balls, and tell his father he loved Luciana, Piero wouldn’t have felt the need to kick her to the curb.

  “Word has spread of the care you administered to Jacopo Filipepi in his final hour,” Marco continued. “And I wish for you to comfort Luciana in the same way.”

  “Grab the litter, Marco,” I insisted. “I’ll get Amerigo and Antonella to help.”

  “I cannot bring her here,” Marco sighed, as he shook his head.

  “The hell you can’t! You’re just gonna let her die on the bridge like a dog?” I pointed a demanding finger. “Do it right now!”

  Marco’s eyes grew wide, “My father still has Carlo posted outside,” he whispered. “He will wake my father, and we shall not make it past the
threshold with her.”

  “There is another way,” Sandro interjected. “I have a litter. Come with me, Marco.”

  My husband hesitated before following my lover through Antonella’s bedchamber and into the staircase that connected our two houses. I raced up to wake Antonella and Amerigo and once Amerigo grabbed some cloth napkins at my request, the pair reluctantly followed me into Sandro’s chamber.

  Sandro quietly led the four of us from his chamber, down the stairs, and out his front door, while he and Marco carried the tattered litter. It felt so strange to be outside again in the dark, torch-lit city-state, after all of my weeks of confinement; and the circumstances of my escape were even stranger.

  We hurried alongside the river, while Antonella grumbled continuously, wanting to know why we would help someone like Luciana, who had never meant us anything but harm. I understood her point, but something was still driving me to help her. Not even someone as wicked as Luciana should die alone in the streets.

  The normally bustling bridge was quiet as the butcher shops were closed for the night, and the only inhabitants of the Ponte Vecchio were a plethora of transients. Marco pointed to the far side of the bridge, where we found Luciana in a fetal position amongst the other discarded souls. Her arm was curled over her face, and a muffled cough shook her otherwise still form.

  As I drew near, I wrapped one of the napkins over my nose and mouth. Even though determined to help her, there was no way I’d let the likes of Luciana lead to my demise. As the others looked on, I bent down and rubbed her back. “Luciana, we’re going to help you,” I whispered soothingly.

  “Idiota?” Luciana snapped, then coughed profusely.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I answered, turning my face from her.

  It was good to know the illness hadn’t wiped the bitch out of her yet.

  As Marco and Sandro set the litter down and rolled Luciana onto it, there was anger on her face at being under my control—her rage only slightly diminished by fever and malaise.

  I went to grab a corner of the litter, but Sandro, Marco, Amerigo, and Antonella almost simultaneously protested that a noblewoman, even one dressed as a servant, should not carry out such a task. The realization that I’d probably rocked their world enough for one night came through, so instead I led them through the streets and simply opened the doors as they carried Luciana through Sandro’s house and into Antonella’s chamber.