toward one another. One of the most
important is that the woman rules the man."

David smiled thinly. She had rarely seen a full open smile on his face,
but she remembered what a glorious sight it had been and wished he would
smile that way now.

"So, by scorning the way he spoke Italian, you believe you are making
yourself more attractive to him?"

"Far better than I would by letting him put his foot on my neck, the way
your harem women do."

"You know nothing about our women." But his eyes were crinkled with
laughter. "Less than I do about your courtly lovers. And what do you
think of _my_ Italian?"

"Better than his," she said, and was rewarded with a broader smile.

She felt a warmth inside as if her heart were melting. Trained from
childhood to hide her feelings, she turned her gaze toward the wall
paintings of the nude Adam and Eve.

A loud knock shook the outer door of the solar. At Ugolini's summons the
door swung inward. Sophia briefly saw the tops of the sun-dappled palm
and lemon trees in the inner court, beyond the arches and columns of the
galleria. Then the door closed again behind Lorenzo, Scipio at his side.
He carried a small parchment scroll in his hand.

"I met the Count de Gobignon at the entry way just now," he said. "Three
days ago I was bringing men back from Castel Viscardo, and I encountered
him, not knowing then who he was, on the road."

David muttered something in the Saracen tongue. It could have been a
curse or a prayer. But before he could speak, Ugolini's fist struck the
desk.

"He saw you bringing bravos to Orvieto?" he cried at Lorenzo. "You will
get us all killed. I see it now. De Gobignon did not come here to
persuade me to change my mind about the Tartars. He came here to spy on
us." His voice was shrill with fear.

Scipio growled at the cardinal, and Lorenzo slapped him sharply on the
head, then on the rump. The dog fell silent at once and trotted off to
the corner of the room farthest from Lorenzo. Ugolini and David both
eyed the animal with distaste.

"Perhaps the count should be killed, then," said David, "before he can
use against us what he has learned."

_Oh, no, please don't kill him!_

Sophia felt an urge to cry out, to do something to protect Simon. And
with that protective feeling she saw him again--the glossy, dark brown
hair that hung in waves almost to his shoulders--the startling blue eyes
in an angular, intelligent face. The tall, slender body.

An