The Strangled Queen (15 page)

come to?"

"None. And why this is so is perfectly clear."

Perfectly clear to Dueze, of course, who, like every candidate for election, ran over the number o
f votes in his favour ten times
a day, but less simple for Bouville who had some difficulty in understanding what followed, quavered out as it was in that voice from the confessional.

"The Pope has to be elected by two-thirds of the votes. We are twenty-three at the conclave; fifteen Frenchmen and eight Italians, Of those, eight, five are for Cardinal Caetani, Boniface's nephew, irremediably. We shall
never win them over. They want
to avenge Boniface, hating the Crown of France and everyone who, either directly or through Pope Clement, my venerated benefactor, has served it."

"And the other three?"

"Hate Caetani; these are the two Colonna and Orsini. A family affair. Since none of the three is powerful enough to have any hope for himself, they are favourable to me to the extent that I am an obstacle in Caetani's way, unless of course they were promised that the Holy See would be returned to Rome, which
might make them agree among themselves and leave them free to assassinate each other afterwards."

"And the fifteen Frenchmen?"

"Oh, if the Frenchmen voted the same way, you would have had a Pope a long time ago! But only six are for me, the King of Naples having, through my offices, been generous to them."

"Six Frenchmen," Bouville said, "and three Italians, that makes nine."

"Yes, Messire. That makes nine, and we need sixteen to have the required number. You will realise that the other nine Frenchmen are not numerous enough to elect the Pope Marigny wants."

"We need to find another seven votes. Do you think that any of them could be acquired for money? I have the means to provide you with funds. How much do you suppose it would cost per cardinal?"

Bouville thought that he had managed the affair extremely cleverly but, to his surprise, Dueze did not appear to receive his proposal with any particular alacrity.

"I do not believe," he replied, "that the French cardinals we require will respond to that particular argument. It is not that honesty is a major ;virtue in all of them, nor that they live lives of austerity; but the fear they have of Messire de Marigny places them for the moment above the things of this world. The Italians are greedier, but hate rules them in place of avarice."

"I see," said Bouville. "Everything rests with Marigny and the power he has over the nine French cardinals."

"Yes, Messire, everything today depends upon that. Tomorrow it may depend upon something else. How much gold can you provide me with?"

Bouville stared.

"But you have just told me, Monseigneur, that
gold would be of no use to you!
"

"You misunderstood me, Messire. The gold cannot help me to acquire new supporters, but I need it to keep those I have and for whom, so long as I am not elected, I can do nothing. It would be
a pretty business if, when you
have obtained for me the votes
I lack, I should have lost in the meantime those who support me now!"

"How much money do you require?
"

"If the King of France is rich enough to furnish me with five thousand pounds, I guarantee to use them well."

At that moment, Bouville needed once more to blow his nose. The other took this for diplomatic craftiness and feared that he had mentioned too high a sum. It was the single point that Bouville made during the whole conversation.

"Even with four thousand," whispered Dueze, "I could manage for a time."

He already knew that the gold would leave his purse only to meet his creditors.

"The Bardi," said Bouville, "will remit you the gold
you
require."

"Let them keep it on deposit," replied the Cardinal; "I have an account with them. I will draw on it as necessity arises."

Upon which he suddenly seemed in a hurry to remount his mule, assuring Bouville that he would not fail to pray for him and that he would be delighted to meet him again.

He extended his ring for the fat man to kiss, and then went off, dancing over the grass, as he had come.

"An odd Pope we shall have in him, occupying himself as he does with alchemy as much as with church matters," thought Bouville
as he watched him disappear. "
Is he suited to the vocation he has chosen ? "

As far as he was concerned, Bouville was not too displeased , with himself. He had been commissioned to see the cardinals, had he not? He had succeeded in meeting one of them. To find a Pope? This Dueze appeared to wish for nothing better. To distribute gold? He had done so.

When he rejoined Guccio and told him with a satisfied air the results of the interview, Tolomei's nephew cried, "It seems to me, Messire Hugues,, that you-have succeeded in buying at a very high price the only cardinal who is already on our side."

And part of the gold that the Bardi of Naples had lent, through
Tolomei, to the King of France returned to the Bardi of Avignon to reimburse them for the money they had lent to the King of Anjou's candidate.

7. A Pope is Worth an Exoneration

THIN-LEGGED, and rather lanky of body, his chin sunk upon his breast, Philippe of Poitiers stood before The Hutin.

"Sire, my Brother," he said in a calm, cold voice which somewhat recalled that of Philip the Fair, "you must admit the truth that has come to light in the enquiry; you cannot deny truth when it stares you in the face:"

The Commission of Accountancy, set up to look into the financial transactions of Enguerrand de: Marigny, had finish
ed its labours the day before.

For many days, under. the painstaking chairmanship of Philippe of Poitiers, the Counts of Valois and Evreux, the Count of Saint
Pol, Louis de Bourbon, the Canon Etienne de Morn
ay,
who was already beginning to take up his new duties, though the title had not yet been given h
im, of Chancellor to the Crown,
the First
Chamberlain, Mathieu de Trye,
and finally Archbishop Jean de Marigny, had read the documents, searched the archives, studied line by line the Treasury Journal over a pe
riod of sixteen years, and had
demanded subsidiary explanations and documentary proof. They had not spared thems
elves, and no avenue of investi
gation had been neglected. In an enquiry where so much hatred was involved, every possible line had been followed up.

And yet they had been able to find nothing to Marigny's disadvantage. His administration of the royal treasure and the public funds was discovered to be scrupulous and exact. If he were rich, it was merely due to the liberality of the late King and the fact that he had known how to invest his money profitably. But there was no evidence that he had ever confused, at least in matters of finance, his private interests with those of the State; still less that
he had robbed the Treasury as his adversaries accused him of having done. Was this result really a surprise to Monseigneur of Valois? At most, his was the angry disappointment of a gambler who has lost. He had been obstinate to the end, the only one of the Commissioners, with of course Mornay who had echoed his words and denied the evidence.

Louis X had now the Commission's conclusions before him, supported by six votes to two, and yet hesitated to, approve them; 'I
n
his hesitation deeply wounded his brother.

"Why did you make me Chairman of the Commission,
Brother, said Philippe, "if you
refuse to approve the report?"

"Marigny has many defenders who feel themselves bound u
p
with his destiny," The Hutin replied,

"I can assure you that he had none on the Commission, except
perhaps his brother ..."

"
and our uncle Evreux and yourself, perhaps?"

Philippe of Poitiers shrugged his shoulders but did not lose his
calm.

"I do not see how my future
" he replied "could be bound up with Marigny's, and to suggest it is to insult me."

"That is not what I meant to say at all, Philippe, certainly not."

"I am not here to defend anyone,, Louis, unless it be justice itself, and you should feel obliged to do the same since you are King."

History repeats itself; there are situations strangely analogous. The same temperamental hostility that had existed between Philip the Fair and his younger brother, Charles of Valois, was repeated in Louis X and Philippe of, Poitiers. But the characteristics were curiously inverted. Face to face with a brother who really ruled, the envious Valois had largely played the part of a
mischief
maker; now it was the elder who seemed unable to exercise p
ower
properly, and the younger who had a sovereign's mind. And as Valois, in his vanity, had during twenty-nine years said t
o himself, "Ah, if I were King
so today Philippe of Poitiers began to say to himself, and with greater justice, "I should certainly do better in his place."

"Furthermore," said Louis, "there are a number of factors that
displease me. This letter I have received from the King of England, recommending me to repose the same confidence in Marigny that;
our father did, and elaborating
the services he has r
endered to both our kingdoms
I do not care to have my actions dictated to me.
"

"Do you refuse to take good advice merely because it is g
iven you by our brother-in-law?
"

Louis X's large lustreless eyes refused to meet his brother's.

"Let us await Bouville's return. One of the equerries sent on ahead has reported that he will arrive today."

"What has Bouville to do with your decision?"

"I want news from Naples, and about the conclave," said The Hutin with grow
ing; impatience. "I do not wish
to oppose our uncle Charles at the very moment he is arranging for his niece to be my wife and is creating a Pope for me."

"So, at the caprice of our, uncle, you are prepared to sacrifice an honest minister, and remove from power the only man who understands today how to run the affairs of the kingdom? Ta
ke care, Brother; you will find
it difficult to make a compromise. You have noticed how, while we were investigating Marigny's accounts, as if he were a dishonest servant, everyone in France has continued to obey him as they did in the past. You will either have to restore him to complete power or destroy him utterly, pronouncing him guilty of invented crimes, punishing him for his loyalty; that would be to act contrary to your, own interests. Marigny may take another year to make a Pope for you; but he will give you one who is in conformity with the interests of the kingdom, as for instance the l
ate Bishop of Poitiers, whom
I know well since he comes from my own county! Our uncle Charles will pro
mise you a Holy Father from day
to day; but without doubt he will be able to move no more rapidly, and in the end will get some Caetani who wants to go back to Rome, appoint your Bishops from there, and direct affairs in France."

Louis gazed at Marigny's exoneration,
which Philippe of Poitiers had
prepared; as it lay before him.

"And thus approve, commend and receive the accounts of Sire Enguerrand de Marigny (Valois had demanded and obtained that
the titles of the Rector-General should not be included)
and hold
,
him exonerated, he and his heirs, of all receipts made by the administration of the Treasury of the Temple, the Louvre and the King's Exchequer."

The parchment only
lacked the
Royal signature and the affixing of the seal.

"Brother," went on th
e Count of Poitiers,
"you have made me a peer
of your real
m in order to help you and give
you counsel. As a peer I counsel you to approve it. It is an act demanded by justice."

"Justice is the prerogative of the King, "cried The Hutin with
that sudden violence he was apt to show whenever he felt he was supporting a bad case.

No, Sire; calmly replied he who was to become Philip the Long. "The King belongs to justice, is its expression, and is there to see that it triumphs."

Bouville and Guccio reached Paris in the late afternoon. The capital was already in the grip of frost and the early darkness of a winter evening.

They found the First Chamberlain, Mathieu de Trye, waiting for them at the Porte Saint-Jacques. He saluted his predecessor on behalf of the King and informed him that he was awaited at the Palace.

" What! Without time for a rest? " said Bouville ill-temperedly
I'm
as tired as I'm dirty, my good friend, and it's a miracle I can still stand upon my feet. I'm
too
old for these journeys."

He was not pleased at being so hurried. He had thought to I dine a last time with Guccio in some private room in a good inn, so that they would have the opportunity, to assemble clearly their ideas upon the results of their mission, and be able to say to each other the many things for which there is, never time during forty days of travelling, and which one always feels the need to express on the last night, as if there will never be another opportunity.

They had to part in the street without affectionate goodbyes,
since Mathieu de Trye's presence embarrassed them. Bouville was a prey to overwhelming nostalgia; he was subject to the melancholy of things past; looking at Guccio, as he went on his way, he realised that the wonderful Neapolitan days were disappearing with him, that the miraculous time of recovered youth he had been privileged to know in the autumn of his days was over. His new shoot of life was lopped off and would burgeon no more.

"I have not thanked ham enough for all he has done for me, and for the pleasure his company has afforded me," thought Bouville.