Beatrice and Benedick Read Online Free PDF Page A

object but to sit beside you in it.’
    She did not smile. ‘So you have no farther to travel?’
    â€˜I am to convey my young charge to Monreale in the morning to visit his uncle, who is the archbishop there.’
    â€˜But you do not stay at Monreale?’
    â€˜No, and nor does he. There is some great coil afoot, and
his
uncle thought it better that he stay with
yours.
’
    â€˜So you will be here for the month.’
    â€˜At the least. And I will sit by you in this chair for every day of it, if you give me leave.’
    Now she smiled and picked up her knife, as if selecting a weapon. ‘If you are to do that you must have many histories to tell, so that our evenings do not become tedious.’
    â€˜Lady Beatrice, I have been on this good earth for a score of years, and no one has ever taxed me with being tedious.’
    The next dish and her next question arrived together. ‘You must be a man of experience, then. What is your profession?’
    â€˜I am of no profession.’
    â€˜None?’ She raised one arched brow.
    â€˜Is that so rare in one of our class? Do you not have idle brothers?’
    â€˜I have one, older than myself.’
    â€˜And what does he do?’
    â€˜He brawls mostly. He is a great quarreller, and goes to seek trouble if it cannot find him first.’
    â€˜But he has no occupation?’
    â€˜His occupation is to wait for my father to die.’
    â€˜And will his labours be concluded soon?’
    â€˜No.’ She smiled. ‘My father is not very obliging. He will notaccommodate anyone if he can help it. Nothing prompts him to good health and long life as much as the idea of thwarting his heir.’
    â€˜And do you like your brother any better than your father does?’
    â€˜No. We fight like cat and cur.’
    â€˜Cannot argument be a sign of attachment?’
    â€˜Not in this case.’
    â€˜But in others?’ I asked swiftly.
    She leaned back in her chair, regarding me with her blue gaze. ‘Call you
this
an argument, Signor Benedick? I would never favour an acquaintance with one of my arguments on a first encounter.’
    â€˜We must be friends, then, before I am admitted to the pleasure of disputing with you?’
    â€˜Precisely,’ she said smartly. ‘But I prize honesty in my friends above all things, and I am afraid you have not been honest with me.’
    I spread my hands like a conjuror, hiding nothing. ‘I have spoken plain and to the purpose. Tell me how I’ve erred.’
    She looked down at her trencher. ‘When you said you had no profession, you did not speak truly. If you are delivering a young count to his uncle, you are a nursemaid.’
    â€˜Like you?’ I countered.
    â€˜I am my cousin’s companion,’ she corrected. ‘I teach her English, a little Latin and less Greek.’
    Now I had to change the subject, for I was a poor student, and could not parry with her in any of those tongues. ‘I joined Count Claudio at Venice, as his father asked mine if I would accompany him to Sicily. I was his
companion
,’ I said with gentle emphasis, ‘and made him laugh along the way.’
    â€˜You are a paid fool, then?’ Her coral lips curled a little.
    â€˜Is that not an honourable profession?’
    I raised my goblet to indicate a dwarf in motley, who turnedcartwheels between the tables before bowing deeply in front of the prince. But the fool was facing the wrong way, and at his cue the trumpets blared as if he had broken wind. Don Pedro played along, fanning his face with his long fingers. Beatrice turned to me. ‘Honourable indeed,’ she agreed, in a voice laced with irony. ‘You are the prince’s jester, then?’
    â€˜I hardly know Don Pedro. I have similarly only been in his company since Venice. We joined his company when he was collecting ships for his king. I have spoken no more than two words to him, but now I think