Philip nodded, half-convinced, despite his personal views, by Galbaccino’s arguments.
“I can understand that you are critical of Rome’s behaviour over the centuries. It is easy to find fault in a huge organisation which has tried to arrange the spiritual lives of millions of people. Perhaps we have chosen to restrict too much the amount of information we have given to believers in order to show Christ in the way we want him to be received by them. If his body was shown to follow the bloodline of the kings of Judah it does not mean he could not have also been the son of God. He could still have ascended back into heaven, even if he left his seed on earth.”
“And that leads me to the personal aspect,” continued the cardinal. “People are not going to be turned away from Christ by the fact that he had a daughter. Why should he not? Perhaps this is the little of God which is in all of us.” He pointed a finger at Philip.“Perhaps your discovery means that you are someone special. Perhaps you are even the son of God come again to us.”
“What!”
Galbaccino laughed. “Have you thought, Philip Sinclair, what millions of innocent people in this world will think if you are exposed as the direct first-born descendent of Jesus Christ? They will come flocking to hear your words. They will want to raise you up on high above them. Who knows, the Vatican may even make it worth your while to be installed in Rome.”
“Bloody hell.”
Jackie’s slightly hysterical laugh echoed round the shed.
“Do you want all that?”
Philip was speechless as the awful prospect opened up before him.
“Do you?”
“I most certainly do not.”
“Then the way out is to permit me to take away the scroll and keep the other four. In that way life will keep to its old, unjust, incompetent but safe pattern. You can marry this good lady, settle down to a happy and wealthy life, and live, I hope, to a ripe old age.”
“Wealthy?”
“Ah, yes. Of course, we do not wish to simply take away your property. We expect to pay a fair price for it. I even have the cheque with me, drawn on the Vatican bank.”
He reached inside his breast pocket, drew it out and handed it to Philip. When he looked at it he saw it was made out for five million euros. He passed it to Jackie.
“What do you think?”
She looked straight at Galbaccino. “Will you destroy these tubes and their contents?”
“Certainly not. I promise you that they will be carefully stored under ideal conditions and will not deteriorate.”
“So some time in the future the Vatican may decide to give this information back to the world.”
The cardinal nodded. “You have my promise on that.”
“Then I will suggest Philip accepts your offer.” She turned to him with a smile on her face. “I couldn’t have you turn into the New Messiah, darling. How could I go to bed with you again?”
She began to roll up the scroll, preparatory to returning it to its container.
Philip stayed silent for a long time. He didn’t know what to say. At last he spoke. “Thank you.” He breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you for saving me from that prospect, cardinal.”
“My pleasure.”
He suddenly thought. “I also have a number of photos and a copy of this document which we made. I think I should give those to you as well.”
“Where are they?”
“In the boot of the car.”
“I will collect them as we go. I propose that now we should all leave the good Abbe to continue with his valuable work here without further interruption from us.”
On their way back to Quillan Philip asked, “Do you think Abbe Dugard had betrayed us to the cardinal?”
“I don’t know. He hardly said a word after the great man arrived.”
“But he obviously knew him. He was shocked to see him. He was in Narbonne yesterday, presumably being interviewed by Galbaccino.”
“Perhaps he was. But he didn’t know then that we were going to call in to see him this morning. And he didn’t know what it was about.”
“He could have phoned the cardinal this morning.”
“Certainly he could. And I presume Galbaccino knew by then that we had the fifth bamboo tube because Lerenard had already taken the other four to him.”
Philip shrugged. “I suppose it’s not important any more. I know that you’ve lost an important document which might have enhanced your reputation.”
“But at what cost?” she interjected.
“And,” Philip continued, “you can now concentrate on getting yourself onto the team which investigates the treasure in the underground room at le Bezu. That should be a reasonable compensation for you.”
“But what will you do?” She asked. “That work is likely to take years. I don’t like the idea of it keeping us apart.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” He smiled at her. “I like this area. I think I’ll spend some of my five million on buying a house somewhere near le Bezu. Then I’ll be able to keep an eye on you. What do you think of that idea?”
She laughed at him. “Am I allowed to have an opinion, oh, lord and master.”
“Watch it,” he warned her. “If you’re not careful I might drag you back to the hotel bedroom and beget a son of god on you.”
“Oh, yes please.”
He reconsidered. “On second thoughts, perhaps we ought to be married before I do that.”
“Am I supposed to take that as a proposal?”
“Oh, no. I must do it properly. Let us make a secret tryst for eight o’clock this evening at our meeting-place by the river. Then I’ll get down on bended knee and beg for your hand.”
“That sounds more like it,” she agreed. “Maybe those two little girls will be there as witnesses. Then they’ll certainly have a story to tell their families.”
The Secret Of The Cathars (2011) Page 25