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Sforza.”
    ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
    By the time I reach Pesaro, I’m so queasy from the bumpy roads I have to open the door and get sick. My maids hold my hair back and assist me into the house. Giovanni’s rushed down and, seeing my poor color, pulls a chair up for me to sit.
    I push the fretting hands away, saying, “Leave me, I’m fine now.”
    Giovanni brings me a glass of water, and I say, “So nice to see you again.”
    He answers, “It’s always nice to see you.”
    There’s silence for a few moments as I drink the cool water. I try to think of what to say next, but he begins, “I know why you’ve come, and I’m not going to go with you to sign those papers. It’s a lie, and you know it.”
    “Giovanni, I’m at the mercy of the pope and my brother. I do as they tell me. I’ve hidden myself in San Sisto for months, and they’ll never relent in this. I’m sorry I’ve been such a disappointment, but I cannot change their minds. Can you understand that?”
    He looks at me, and I can see he’s absorbed it. His posture softens slightly. “Cesare’s been sending messengers daily. Becoming increasingly threatening if I do not obey. He’s even had his allies send letters showing me how many are against me.”
    “I know how Cesare is, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve little choice or say in my life.”
    He nods in empathy.
    “Will you please come back to Rome with me and free yourself once and for all?” I reach for his hand. “I will never be free of them but you can be.”
    He grasps my fingers within his warm hand. “I’ll go with you but not for my freedom, only to appease your abusers.”

Chapter 6
    The Cardinal College assembles three months later. Giovanni stands with a few of his advisors at one table, and Cesare, Father, and I stand at another.
    “Giovanni Sforza, do you agree to this annulment based on accusations of impotency?”
    Giovanni’s sideswiped by this new twist.
    “That is not correct, Your Excellencies.” He turns to Father. “We agreed to non-consummation, Your Holiness.”
    Father speaks, not to Giovanni, but to the papal court. “My son-in-law is embarrassed at the pronouncement of his impotency, but it most certainly is the reason for annulment.”
    This sends Giovanni into a tantrum. “This is a trick! You promised it would be non-consummation, but you’re doing this to blame this on me so that your Lucrezia goes on unscathed. I will not have it! I will not sign!”
    “Is it true that you are impotent?” one of the cardinals asks.
    Giovanni turns to me and says, “I know the lady well.”
    “Lucrezia, is that true?” the cardinal asks.
    I stand up and say, “I am still a virgin, sirs.”
    Giovanni laughs out loud in a hysterical way.
    Another cardinal asks my father, “Is there a doctor that can testify to this?”
    The papal doctor is brought in and stands before the court.
    “Doctor, you have examined the lady?”
    “Yes, Your Excellency.”
    “Do you proclaim her to be untouched?”
    “Intact, Your Excellency,” he lies.
    “Thank you, you may leave.”
    Giovanni pleads, “Your Excellency, my last wife died in childbirth. How do you explain that if I’m impotent?”
    “Is that verified, Your Holiness?” the cardinal asks of my father.
    “It is true she died in childbirth, but there has been rumor he paid for another to sire it.”
    Giovanni punches the desk and kicks a chair. “I will not have such lies spoken!”
    My father stays calm. “It’s simple, then. Let Giovanni prove to the courts by consummating with his wife before us all so he can restore his reputation.”
    The court is quiet.
    Giovanni states, “I will never!”
    Father pushes. “A potent man would jump at the chance to prove his virility.”
    “I do not want to have to prove myself in front of a papal legate. But you and Cesare would surely enjoy watching Lucrezia, I’m sure.”
    This catches my father off guard and infuriates him.
    “What do you