robes. On his right were three
French cardinals, including de Verceuil. Beside him was Guy le Gros,
whom Simon had met at the pope's council.

Le Gros looked angry. Simon hoped he was angry about Alain's murder;
every Frenchman in Orvieto should be. But what a shame that Alain had to
die in order that all these people care about him.

On Urban's left were three Italians, the diminutive Ugolini standing
right beside the pope. The sight of him was a blow to Simon's heart.
Simon had been in his mansion wooing Sophia when Alain was murdered.
Alain's bleeding body had lain across the street from Ugolini's mansion,
for how many hours?

And where was Sophia? Anxiously Simon scanned the crowd for a sight of
her. Would she not come? Had Alain's death frightened her? Would he ever
see her again?

He despised himself for still wanting to see Sophia, when his tryst with
her had caused Alain's death. He should give her up.

_I cannot give her up._

After the blessing, Pope Urban took his place, with his escort of
cardinals, at the head of the procession. They moved to the piazza
before the cathedral, as packed with people as it had been the day the
heretic was executed there. Death, death, here they were again, to
celebrate death.

When Alain's body reached the cathedral, Pope Urban blessed it once
more. Simon and the other French knights raised a pallet that was hidden
under the red samite cloth and carried Alain into the cathedral.

The cathedral was a festival of light, and the sight of it made Simon
feel a little better. Simon and de Verceuil had agreed to share the
expenses of the funeral, which included the rows of candles lighting the
altar, all of the purest beeswax, and the double line of fat candles in
tall brass sticks running down the middle of the church. Benches had
been cleared from the nave of the cathedral to make room for the funeral
procession.

The shadows where the massed candle flames did not reach were
illuminated by a dim, underwater glow--faint because the sky was
overcast--that seeped in through the narrow stained glass windows,
touching a mourner here or there with a spot of red light, or blue or
green.

The French knights carried Alain to the front of the cathedral and set
his body down on a red-draped platform. Simon took a position to the
right of the body. From here he could see rows of cardinals and bishops
on either side of him. The cardinals in their red hats sat in the first
row, and