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

in the courtyard and recognized Alessandro’s sarcastic tone.
    â€œGo now, Duchessina! At once!” Ippolito whispered urgently, and hurried to fasten the leather bag to the saddle of his horse.
    I quickly hid myself behind a manger and watched resentfully as the three prepared to leave. A short time later Alessandro, Ippolito, and Passerini led their horses up the ramp from the stables and out through a side door. The hooves of the horses clattered on the paving stones. When the sound had faded away, I rushed back up to my room and flung myself, sobbing, onto my pillow.

    I MUST HAVE slept a little, for the sun was already high when I heard shouting in the street and excited voices in the courtyard.
    Betta hauled me out of bed, babbling, “Mistress, it’s happening, the people have gone mad! A mob is forming at the gates!”
    We dressed hurriedly and ran down to the courtyard, where there was much confusion. “Where’s the cardinal?” the servants were shouting. “Has anyone seen him? He needs to speak to those at the gates. He must do something—but where is he?”
    Their panic increased my own. Didn’t they know yet that Cardinal Passerini had deserted us, left us to fend for ourselves?
    The side door opened, the same door by which Passerini and my cousins had left, and Aunt Clarissa stepped in, followed by Minna, her slave, who slammed the door and bolted it. Immediately Clarissa measured the situation: There was no one in charge. “Where’s Passerini?” she demanded.
    I flung myself into her arms. “He’s gone,” I whispered.
    â€œGone? Gone where?”
    â€œCortona.” I told her what I had seen in the stables a few hours earlier.
    â€œAccursed coward, that Passerini!” she spat. “I’m not surprised. All right, we must act. No one will do it for us.”
    Seizing the arm of the nearest manservant, a groom from the stables, Aunt Clarissa ordered him to carry a bench to the center of the courtyard and then to help her climb on it. “Stay close to me, Caterina,” she ordered, though I didn’t need to be persuaded.
    â€œNow listen to me, all of you,” Clarissa cried, her clear voice ringing in every corner of the courtyard. “Our beloved cardinal has departed, in order to save his own skin,” she said, her words dripping with scorn. “The young gentlemen, Ippolito and Alessandro, have accompanied him. Many of you may wish to follow their example, and you are free to do so. Others may choose to stay, and to you I entrust the care and protection of Palazzo Medici, which has been your home. It is my duty to see to the well-being of my niece,
la duchessina.
I intend to secure her safety, and then to return here as soon as I’m able. Have any of you anything to say?”
    For a moment the crowd in the courtyard was silent, except for the shuffling of feet. Then the cook spoke up. “God go with you, mistress,” he boomed. “And with
la duchessina.
I for one intend to remain here, with my wife and children. We’re loyal to the Medici. They’ve been good to us.”
    The cook’s fat wife and four stout daughters gathered around him. A few others—the head gardener, several kitchen helpers, and two of the grooms—moved to stand with him. But as we watched, several people edged toward the door; others wavered, heads down, eyes lowered. Outside the palazzo, the shouting grew louder and angrier, sending chills down my back.
    â€œ
Millegrazie,
” Clarissa said simply. “A thousand thanks.” She stepped down from the bench.
    A guard, ashen faced, made his way to her side. “Signora, they’re demanding to see the cardinal. I told them he’s not here, and that made them even angrier. A few are beginning to call for
la duchessina.
” He glanced at me and quickly looked away “They want her brought out to them.”
    â€œHold them off as long as