a short ladder to the quay. With a jolt of anger he
recognized the man talking to Thierry as Sordello.

_What the devil is he doing here?_

Instantly Sordello was kneeling at Simon's feet, clutching at his hand
and kissing it and weeping copiously.

"I followed you all the way from Orvieto, Your Signory. I did not make
myself known to you before this because I feared you would send me
away."

"Get up," said Simon impatiently. "We thought we were being followed by
enemies. We took unnecessary precautions, thanks to you." This utterly
unwelcome encounter with Sordello, added to the impossibility of finding
a ship, filled him with an almost uncontrollable rage.

"Your Signory, on the roads of Italy there are no unnecessary
precautions." The man's expression shifted in the blink of an eye from
fawning tears to a cocksure grin showing his missing teeth.

"What are you doing here?" Simon demanded. "I did not give you leave to
stop watching Cardinal Ugolini's household."

"Circumstances gave me leave, Your Signory, as I was just explaining to
my good friend Thierry here." Thierry looked startled at being so
described. "The woman Ana who carried my reports to you betrayed me. She
told Giancarlo, the henchman of the merchant from Trebizond, that I was
in your service. That Giancarlo is the sort who opens a second mouth in
your throat before you can explain yourself with the first one."

"Does anyone else in Orvieto know where I am going?"

_Good God, was he lurking about when I was with Sophia?_

Sordello looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "No one knew,
Your Signory. I had to think it out for myself. I heard you had gone to
Perugia. But, I asked myself, whyever would you do that? There is
nothing in Perugia until the pope moves there. What, then, would be
important enough to make you leave off watching over the Tartars? A
message for Count Charles, I guessed--or perhaps for your king--too
important to be carried by anyone but yourself. Then I had to decide
which road you'd take. Directly north would lead to Siena, and we have
all heard that an army of Ghibellini is gathering in Siena to attack
Orvieto. So, you must be headed for the coast. And, as we see, my
guesses all turned out right." He finished up with a broad,
self-satisfied grin.

How could a man so often foolish also be so shrewd? Simon turned and
stared out at the water of the harbor, a deeper blue than the sky. What
a nuisance this fellow was!