The Shame of Motley | Page 6

the shrewd
wit he said was mine dictated.
"I hesitate, my lord, indeed; but more because I fear the frustration of
your own ends--whatever they may be--than because I dread to earn a
broken neck by again adventuring into Pesaro. Would not some other
messenger--unknown at the Court of Giovanni Sforza--be in better case
to acquit himself of such a task?
"Yes, if I had one I could trust," he answered frankly.

"I will be open with you, Biancomonte. There are such grave matters at
issue, there are such secrets confided to that paper, that I would not for
a kingdom, not for our Holy Father's triple crown, that they should fall
into alien hands."
He approached me again, and his slender hand, upon which the sacred
amethyst was glowing, fell lightly on my shoulder. He lowered his
voice "You are the man, the one man in Italy, whose interests are
bound up with mine in this; therefore are you the one man to whom I
can entrust that package."
"I?" I gasped in amazement--as well I might, for what interests had
Boccadoro, the Fool, in common with Cesare Borgia, Cardinal of
Valencia?
"You," he answered vehemently, "you, Lazzaro Biancomonte of
Biancomonte, whose father Costanzo of Pesaro stripped of his domains.
The matters in those papers mean the ruin of the Lord of Pesaro. We
are all but ripe to strike at him from Rome and when we strike he shall
be so disfigured by the blow that all Italy shall hold its sides to laugh at
the sorry figure he will cut. I would not say so much to any other living
man but you and if I tell it you it is because I need your aid."
"The lion and mouse," I murmured.
"Why yes, if you will."
"And this man is the husband of your sister!" I exclaimed, almost
involuntarily.
"Does that imply a doubt of what I have said?" he flashed, his head
thrown back, his brows drawn suddenly together.
"No, no," I hastened to assure him. He smiled softly.
Maddonna Lucrezia knows all--or nearly all. Of what else she may
need to learn, that letter will inform her. It is the last thread, the last
knot needed, before we can complete the net in which we are to hold

that tyrant? Now, will you bear the letter?"
Would I bear it? Dear God! To achieve the end in view I would have
spent my remaining days in motley, making sport for grooms and
kitchen wenches. Some such answer did I make him, and he smiled his
satisfaction.
"You shall journey as you are," he bade me. "I am guided by my sister,
assured that the coat of a Fool is stouter protection than the best
hauberk ever tempered. When you have done your errand come you
back to me, and you shall have employment better suited to one who
bears the name of Biancomonte."
"You may depend upon me in this, my lord," I promised gravely. "I
shall not fail you."
"It is well" said he; and those wondrous eyes of his rested again upon
my face. "How soon can you set out?"
At once, my lord. Does not the by-word say that a fool makes little
preparation for a journey?"
He nodded, and moved to a coffer, a beautiful piece of Venetian work
in ultramarine and gold. From this he took a heavy bag.
"There," said he, "you will find the best of all travelling companions." I
thanked him, and set the bag on the crook of my left arm, and by its
weight I knew how true he was to the notorious splendour of his race.
"And this," said he, "is a talisman that may serve to help you out of any
evil plight, and open many a door that you may find locked." And be
handed me a signet ring on which was graven the steer that is the
emblem of the House of Borgia.
He raised aloft the hand on which was glistening the sacred
amethyst--two fingers crooked and two erect. Wondering what this
should mean, I stared inquiry.
"Kneel," he bade me. And realising what he would be about, I sank on

to my knees whilst he murmured the Apostolic benediction over my
bowed head. The rushes of the floor were the only witnesses of the
smile that crept to my lips at this sudden assumption of his churchly
office by that most worldly prince.
CHAPTER II
THE LIVERIES OF SANTAFIOR
Such preparations as I had to make were soon complete.
Although it was agreed that I was to travel in the motley, yet, in my
lately-born shame of that apparel, I decided that I would conceal it as
best might be, revealing it only should the need arise. Moreover, it was
incumbent