hel in Orvieto. The girl was an orphan, and she has been terribly
abused. She is virtually their prisoner."

Simon's mouth twisted. "And we want to ally ourselves with such men.
How can such things go on in the same city with the Sacred College?"

Friar Mathieu shook his head grimly. "Nothing I have said has made any
difference. De Verceuil insists that the Tartars must have whatever they
want, even though it will damn their souls. They are Christians, after
all. If John dies with this girl on his conscience, he will go straight
to hell."

Simon sighed. "Little de Verceuil cares about that."

"Quite so," said Friar Mathieu. "Well, we must get the king's letter to
him."

He hailed a passing servant. "Tell the cook I want Cardinal de
Verceuil's supper sent up to me before it is brought around to him at
the cathedral. Tell him to be sure there is bread with the cardinal's
meal. The cardinal wants plenty of bread. And"--he turned to
Simon--"what is your equerry's name?"

"Thierry d'Hauteville." What on earth was Friar Mathieu planning? Simon
prayed that, whatever it was, it would work and get the letter through.

"Find Thierry d'Hauteville and have him bring the tray up to me."

Thierry had borrowed a fresh tunic and hose from one of the Baglioni
family servants. His dark hair, which usually hung in neat waves, was
wild and tangled from being rubbed dry.

He carried Verceuil's dinner, a mixture of pieces of lobster and
venison, with bread and fruit, on a circular wooden tray with a
dome-shaped iron cover. Friar Mathieu took a knife and sliced lengthwise
through the hard crust of a long loaf of bread. Using his fingers, he
hollowed out the bread, giving chunks of it to Simon and Thierry and
eating the rest of it himself.

"The Lord hates waste," he said with a chuckle. "This is white bread,
too, such as only the nobility enjoy."

As Simon watched, holding his breath, Friar Mathieu laid King Louis's
scroll lengthwise in the bread and closed it up carefully. The line of
the slicing was barely visible. To secure the package, he took a loose
thread from one of his blankets, tied it around the loaf, and covered
the thread with a bunch of grapes.

"Now, Thierry. Normally one of the cardinal's servants takes his meals
to him, but tonight you will. We want as few people as possible to know
about this letter. If Cardinal Ugolini found out about it, he would make
such a scandal of it that he might even end up being elect