Ariadne's Diadem Read Online Free PDF Page B

replied.
    Hugh wasn’t inclined to be even vaguely polite. “Be off with you, whoever you are, we don’t want to be bothered by someone trying to sell something,” he said, tapping the ash from his cigar carelessly onto the otherwise spotless table.
    “I am not selling anything, sir,” Sylvanus replied with studied courtesy.
    “How true, for we aren’t buying, nor are we about to empty our pockets of scudis. You’ve made a mistake in choosing us, for we are armed and not easy targets, so if you are just another of the lazzaroni, you would be better advised choosing other victims.”
    Gervase could have sworn he heard Sylvanus stamp his foot with annoyance—or rather, he thought he heard the thud of a small hoof upon the stone floor—but if the strange little man was momentarily angered, he was soon in command of himself again. “You do me wrong, signor, for my purpose is to your advantage. You may think you have seen all there is to see around Naples, but I will wager there is one place you have never even heard of, let alone seen.”
    “I doubt it,” Hugh answered superciliously, gazing at the man through a curl of cigar smoke.
    “I speak of the grove where lies the wedding diadem great Bacchus gave to his beloved Ariadne. It fell from her fingers moments before she died, and now lies at the bottom of a pool, and Bacchus in his heartbreak decreed that it should never be retrieved because hers were the last fingers to touch it. Of course, if a human were to find it...” Sylvanus’s high-pitched voice died away tantalizingly.
    Hugh gave a disparaging snort. “I’ll warrant you make a handsome living this way! How many fake diadems do you sell each year, eh?”
    “I have already said that I do not sell anything, sir!”
    The cloaked figure bristled so comically that Gervase would have given much to see the expression on his face. However, it was time to pour oil on the troubled waters, before Hugh’s unpleasant temper got the better of him completely. Gervase gave Sylvanus a placatory smile. “You must forgive my cousin, sir, for I fear he is a little in his cups,” he murmured, giving Hugh a warning look.
    Hugh scowled, but to Gervase’s relief took the hint and said nothing more.
    Sylvanus turned his attention upon Gervase. “The story of the diadem is not a myth, signor, and if you wish to be the first of your countrymen to visit the grove, you must follow the track that leads up beyond the disused church with the broken spire. You will find your way straight to your destination.”
    Hugh had begun to pour himself some more wine, but irritated now, put the jug down with a thud. “Just go away and take your nonsense with you before I do something you may regret!” he growled, for Sylvanus irked him considerably.
    “You cannot harm me, sir,” was the quiet reply.
    Hugh began to rise furiously from his chair, but Gervase restrained him. “For God’s sake sit down!”
    Hugh hesitated, and then resumed his place, but Sylvanus suddenly seemed intent upon goading him. “Could it be that you are afraid of Bacchus, signor?” he taunted.
    “I’m not afraid of a nonexistent Roman god!” Hugh would have leapt up again had not Gervase held him back.
    Sylvanus shrugged. “Are you so sure he does not exist, signor?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then prove it by going to his sacred grove at dawn and risking his wrath by searching for the diadem.”
    “Risk the wrath of Bacchus? The only risk I will be taking by going to your damned grove is that of ambush by you and your lazzaroni cronies!”
    “You have my word that this has nothing to do with the lazzaroni, or indeed with any form of robbery. Sir, I am telling you of the greatest lost treasure in all Campagna. Can you imagine the fame and fortune that will be yours if you find it? Or are you indeed too timid?”
    “I’m not afraid of anything!”
    “Then come to the grove at dawn.”
    Gervase would endure no more and looked a little coldly at Sylvanus.