Duchessina - A Novel of Catherine de' Medici Read Online Free PDF

awake, I crept from my bed, pulled a dress over my sleeping shift, and stole silently out of my bedroom.
    This wasn’t the first time I had left my apartment in the darkness of the midnight hours. Relying on the map in my head, I made my way from room to room, counting seventeen paces to the first door, twenty-two to the second, careful to avoid the large oak table; six more paces to the left brought me to the top of the stairs. Then I counted each stone step to the landing and continued on down until I arrived in the empty courtyard. Smoky torches in iron brackets threw shuddering splashes of light among long, shifting shadows.
    Clinging close to the walls, I crept by the night guards dozing near the main portal. I moved through the shadows toward the second courtyard, hoping to overhear the conversations of sleepless servants. But as I passed the entrance to the passageway leading down to the stables, I saw that the door stood ajar. Curious, I peeked in, expecting to see the grooms tending to the exhausted horses ridden by the two priests from Rome. Instead, I saw three fresh horses saddled and ready for their riders: Cardinal Passerini’s sorrel mount, Ippolito’s gray stallion, and Alessandro’s bay.
Are they leaving? What’s going on?
    Hearing voices, I slipped behind the door and out of sight. Ippolito rushed in, dressed for traveling, a long cloak over his tunic and a leather bag slung over his shoulder. I was too surprised to remain still. “Ippolito, where are you going?” I asked, stepping out of the shadows.
    Startled, he swung around, dropping the leather bag. “Duchessina! What are you doing here?
Per favore
, go back to your apartment before the others come. The cardinal won’t be pleased to find you.”
    â€œNot until you tell me where you’re going. And I don’t give a fig if the cardinal isn’t pleased!”
    Ippolito looked exasperated, but he took both my hands in his and spoke gently “We must flee—Alessandro and I. Hatred of the Medici is growing by the hour. Passerini is afraid there will be an uprising, and the rabble will come after us. The cardinal is taking us away to his palazzo in Cortona, to wait until things are calmer here.”
    â€œI, too, am a Medici,” I reminded him. “Surely I am in danger as much as you!” Suddenly I was angry at this cousin, whom I had adored until I saw him preparing to flee to safety, leaving me behind.
And more Medici than you,
I thought. In my anger I came close to saying the words that must not be said: that I was a true-born duchess and he was only a bastard. But I swallowed those words and said instead, “Why can’t I go with you?” My lip was trembling, partly from fear, partly from fury.
    Ippolito laughed, and I hated him for that. Then he knelt down, still holding my hands. “Dear little cousin,” he said, looking into my eyes. I felt myself weakening, the anger draining away, replaced by hurt. “It will be a long, hard ride, and you would be very unhappy, I’m certain. But don’t worry—your aunt Clarissa will care for you,” Ippolito assured me. “You can depend on her. Soon we’ll all be together again, and everything will work out for the best. You’ll see, Duchessina!”
    His brilliant smile brought back a rush of my feelings for him, and I wished that his horrible cousin and the dreadful Passerini would never come back.
    Ippolito tenderly kissed my hand. “The others will arrive here at any moment,” he said, rising, “and they will be very angry to find you here.
Per favore,
Duchessina, go back to your bed and sleep well. I’m certain that our aunt will come for you tomorrow and make sure that you’re out of harm’s way and happy as well.”
    â€œCouldn’t Aunt Clarissa see to your safety also?” I asked.
    Ippolito shook his head. I would have continued protesting, but I heard low voices