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father has made every attempt to do so, as you already know,” Orianna responded. “Rovere will have nothing less than you for his bride in order to settle the debt. I do not know if he has ever even seen you, Bianca. I believe he wants a blood tie in order to protect his own son, for if Marco were to go to the authorities first, it would be difficult to save Stefano from some punishment and would thereby tarnish Sebastiano Rovere’s reputation. He is a powerful man, but when a man is that powerful he attracts enemies both openly and secretly. They will always be seeking for a way to bring him down. But a marriage between our houses gives him the security of blood between us. And, too, your reputation declares you to be young, fresh, virtuous, and very beautiful. An older man with a beautiful young wife is much envied. Rovere likes to be admired and envied by others. Having you for a wife will be a coup for him.”
    “I know he is old, but how old?” Bianca asked her mother, thinking as she spoke that without her brother’s foolishness she would not be in this position.
    “Your father tells me he has thirty-six years to his life so far,” Orianna answered.
    “Madre di Dios!”
Bianca half whispered. “He is twenty-two years my senior!”
    “Your father is older than I am,” Orianna reminded her eldest daughter. “An older husband is not such a bad thing, my daughter.”
    “Papa had at least seen you. He told me he first saw you in a gondola with Grandfather passing him by on the Grand Canal. Although his suit was accepted by your family, despite the fact he was a foreigner to them, he was expected to court you, and you had the time to come to know him. When you wed you were familiar with the man you were marrying,” Bianca pointed out.
    “Sebastiano Rovere will come to meet you, Bianca. It will be several months before I allow this marriage to be celebrated,” Orianna said. “Trust me to protect you, for I will not allow anyone to force this marriage any sooner than I must. But your father is frightened of this man, and I will not be able to hold him off forever.”
    “I understand,
Madre
,” Bianca replied. “And you may trust me to do what I must to protect our family. However, I wonder if Signore Rovere were to escort us across the piazza to Mass once or twice, the young men who come to see me would understand the significance of his presence and depart, never to return. I must tell you that I am offended that my own honor would be questioned by a man who does not know me.”
    “A clever argument, Bianca,” her mother said approvingly, “but first I shall attempt to convince Signore Rovere to change his mind by telling him it comforts me to have my eldest daughter by my side at Mass. If he forbids you, then he takes something away from me. We will see what that argument brings us. Certainly he would not deny a mother her daughter’s company, especially as you will soon be gone from this house. It would not be wise, however, to reveal to him that you are a clever girl. He would be stricter with you then if he knew it.”
    Bianca smiled and bowed her head slightly in appreciation. “Thank you,
Madre
.”
    Orianna smiled back at her daughter. She was not happy about this union her eldest daughter was being forced to make. But she would keep Bianca from Sebastiano Rovere as long as she possibly could do so. She intended to see that every obscure custom was celebrated with regard to this coming marriage. And when her husband and Rovere complained, she would weep and sob that it was her eldest daughter being taken from her. The first of her children to get married. Would they spoil all her joy in such an occasion?
    And, of course, a dressmaker must be brought from her own home in Venice to design and sew the trousseau that was to be made for Bianca. Venetian fashions were the finest, and she would sigh regrettably, more elegant and original than those in Florence. Of course, when word of that got out,